XKR and the Stelvio Pass

[gsxr1000]

Hello all. I recently purchased a 2001 XKR convertible which was superficially rather scruffy but had a great history and solid mechanicals. I then spent a considerable amount of money (much more than I'd ever anticipated) getting her back to her former glory with local specialists and she is now immaculate and looks truly beautiful. The day after I picked the car up after its final fettling my wife and I embarked on a road trip to the Italian Lakes, from which we have just returned. The XKR simply gobbled up the miles and helped make the holiday such a wonderful experience. That car on those roads - with 'On days like these' playing as we tackled the Stelvio Pass - was absolute bliss. Steve.

[Rictus]

Hello and welcome gsxr1000

You have done a wonderful thing for a deserving cause in restoring your XKR to its prime. But most importantly did you take pictures of it in Italy

[gsxr1000]

Unfortunately by the time we reached Italy we had driven through so much rain the car was too filthy for glamour shots but these were captured on the way. I'm sure you eagle-eyed folk out there will know where these were taken...

[mike020150]

Welcome! I hope you managed a clear run through the Stelvio for maximum enjoyment. Most of the time it seems so full of slow traffic, it's like the M1 with better views! Mike.

[PaulE]

Pleased to see the pits at Rheims have been repainted - they were a mess last time i paused there.

[gsxr1000]

Thanks for the welcomes. And it was of course Reims, which is a really evocative and somehow spooky place to visit. Finally apologies to anyone hoping for spectacular Stelvio vistas as a backdrop to the equally lovely lines of the car to look at - sadly those images are just in my head. The run up and down was actually pretty good although the tiny pass we did straight after it was blummin' terrifying.

[J44EAG]

Rheims has that wonderful cathedral.

I went there in about 1970 on a school trip in two ex British Airways, Hovis loaf coaches. I was chief engine oiler. They used a gallon each for every three hours of running!

We arrived in time to see a special Molotov cocktail display put on for us by anarchistic French students who were at war with the local police and the national establishment. I can`t remember who won on this particular night. We were told to behave ourself for fear of starting a riot. The protesters were as volatile as the contents of their primed beer bottles which were on every street corner loaded into wine racks like mortar bombs. Heady times. Vive De Gaulle or Civil War!

We stayed in a YHA hostel which was like a huge military barrack block. My most vivid memory was of the wash room water supply being the worst example of air locked nineteenth century plumbing in existence. So we turned on all the sink taps and pulled all the toilet cistern chains together in the loos to see if we could fix the problem. The effect was incredible....heck, did we cause a flood!!! The dormitory had four inches of water in it in ten minutes. No one knew where the stop cock was. The French were never good at drains. All sixty of us were told to pack our bags and leave....so we got back in our coaches and transferred our skills and knowledge to Paris where the plumbing was altogether better if not so much fun.

That`s about all I remember about the city. Must go back sometime and see if things are still as I recall. Probably not. They probably got a plumber in after we left.

Mike K

[gsxr1000]

Great story J44EAG. I think I found some of that water while I was over there...