A Detourist’s Detour to the Pyrenees
When Martin Reynolds was planning a two-week road trip to Spain in his newly-restored Jaguar XK150, he turned to Detour for guidance.
Ultimately the goal was to fill the Jag’s boot with wine, including a few bottles of Shiraz to match the car’s colour, but along the way he wanted to put the XK through its paces on a mix of roads – including taking in a mountain pass or two.
After looking through the wide selection of Spanish road trips on the website Reynolds elected to tackle the Col du Portillon. No sooner had he and the XK made it up and down the Pyrenees pass Reynolds got in touch. “I did this today in my 1959 Jaguar XK150 – one of the first mountain pass routes I have ever done and certainly the first for me and the XK,” he wrote. “Car didn’t miss a beat – unlike the driver. Route was quiet and the distance on the way down between the switchbacks deceptively long. Saw several on bicycles – well done to those. Thank you Detour for bringing this to my attention.”
Reynolds later went on to include his experience in a story for the XK Gazette, writing: “The XK150 cruised up and over the pass, taking the hairpins in its stride stopping en route to enjoy the stunning views, passed a lovely MGB coming down, overtook lots of masochistic cyclists and was overtaken by several fearless motor bikers. Pausing at the top I met a German couple from the Baltic coast riding an enormous BMW motorbike and via a serpentine route from home had covered 2500 miles already and overtaken me twice on the way up the mountains but somehow, I had beaten them to the top- the hare and the tortoise come to mind…”
After completing his 2,000-mile road trip Reynolds is already plotting his next drive to Ireland – fortunately we’ve got a few Detour guides for that as well.
When Martin Reynolds was planning a two-week road trip to Spain in his newly-restored Jaguar XK150, he turned to Detour for guidance.