Peter Dumbreck, Racing Driver
Peter Dumbreck has raced professionally for Aston Martin, Lexus, Mercedes and Opel but the 46-year old hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons when his Mercedes CLR attempted to fly like a bird, during the 1999 Le Mans race. Fortunately his Favourite Detour was less eventful.
“Take your time, take your foot off the gas and take it all in. ”
“I pretty much did my dream road trip, last year. It involved driving a 1965 Porsche 911 Short Wheelbase Coupé from Frankfurt to Austria, then onto Italy, through Switzerland, before hitting France and ending up at Monaco. Along the way we took in the very best mountain passes that the Alps have to offer.
And what I enjoyed most about the trip was how often we’d meet other people also on a road trip of their own. It reminded me of cycling, another passion of mine. If you do something like a ride from John O’Groats to Lands End, you discover how many other people are also cycling on the same adventure.
Also, it was refreshing to find out how friendly strangers were when they saw the old Porsche. Even at all the tourist haunts, like the top of the Stelvio Pass, or in Monaco, where exotic cars are everywhere, the Porsche drew a crowd. I think that’s because pretty much anyone with a good credit rating can afford a modern sports car but a Short Wheelbase 911 is a very rare thing.
Some of the highlights were the Silvretta Pass, Stelvio, Furka and Gotthard. Up and down and up and down we went, and at every summit we’d get a picture of the car parked next to one of the signs showing the elevation. We also made a video, together with Falken Tyres, and that will be a four part diary capturing the trip.
I loved the sights but equally I loved the sound of the 911’s flat-six engine. It had straight-through exhaust pipes so it was super noisy, and there wasn’t any radio so you just tuned into the engine note.
Also, I enjoyed the relaxed pace of an older car like that. After years of racing, and my back taking all sorts of punishment from compression and accidents, I now prefer a relaxed car to a really fast one. I used to own a Porsche 911 Turbo – a 996 – and just occasionally I hanker after one. It was on German plates, too.
My advice to anyone going on a similar road trip would be to take a decent camera and make a journal of the journey. Take your time, take your foot off the gas and take it all in.
We had a couple of issues with the car along the way. The most significant one was early on. It was a misfire, caused by the spark plugs, near Zell am See. We ended up going to the Porsche family’s Porsche dealership, where an old guy who’s been working with them since the Sixties knew exactly what to do and got the car running again. Again, what was lovely about that was to share in his memories and meet someone during a roadtrip who has such great stories to share.
