Detour #245: Foot Down to the Heel of Italy
The curvaceous coastal roads of the Ionian and Adriatic, beautiful Baroque architecture – and a Maserati – make for a perfect Puglia road trip.
The narrow, cobbled streets of Lecce’s centre cause a few sharp intakes of breath as I squeeze between ancient limestone walls and erratically parked cars, trying not to scratch the immaculate paintwork of a £110,000 Maserati.
At least there are no tailpipe emissions to eat away at the ornate stonework that forms the city’s famous Baroque churches as the Grecale Folgore is the first all-electric car from the 110-year-old Italian carmaker.
In the summer months the town is over-run with tourists looking to explore its architecture and sample its sensational cuisine. Positioned between the Ionian and Adriatic fresh seafood is the staple, but don’t miss out on the focaccia, panzerotti, spaghetti all’assassina, or sweet treats like pasticciotti and cartellate.
In the off-season Lecce is quiet, and that means it’s a relatively easy exit to take the SS101 towards Gallipoli on the Adriatic. It’s a mostly straight road through farmland and watched over by police cameras, so not the place to test the Grecale’s speed. With a pair of 205 kW electric motors and a 105 kWh battery pack it can whoosh to 62 mph in just 4.1 seconds and go on to top 140 mph. At a more sedate cruise it’s impressively refined with just a subtle engineered soundtrack designed to be reminiscent of Maserati’s V8 engines. Even more notable is an especially smooth ride on air suspension that breezes over bumps in the road.
At Gallipoli I take the SS274 which throws in a few gentle curves en route to Morciano di Leuca where I turn towards the sea, picking up the coast road at Torre Vardo. It’s a slow ride, but a breathtaking one, running parallel with the water, waves crashing ashore and spraying the road. The harbour at Santa Maria di Leuca is full of yachts awaiting better weather, but the view from the lighthouse at this pointiest part of Italy’s heel is all the more dramatic. It’s here that the Ionian and Adriatic meet and today, at least, they both seem pretty angry about it.
The SS275 takes me briefly inland before a right turn at Gagliano di Capo sees me pick up the SP358 to head north up the Adriatic coast. It’s the twistiest part of the journey and the Maserati makes the most of it with an agility that is far from typical in an SUV. The steering is wonderfully direct and there’s plenty of punch out from the tightest turns.
I continue to Otranto, pick up the arrow-straight SP48 to Martano and then the SP28 and SP16 back to Lecce where a superfast Ionity charger awaits.
The Maserati’s range on a single charge is said to be 311 miles, and, although it doesn’t quite meet that in practice there would probably be enough juice in the battery to go around again – and that’s a very tempting thought.
ROADBOOK
CLASS: COAST ROAD
NAME: HEEL OF ITALY
ROUTE: LECCE to LECCE
COUNTRY: ITALY
Distance: 117 Miles
In fair Verona where we lay our scene is a hidden gem of a motor museum.