Sheer and Utter Violence

Another long yet wholly satisfying day. We enjoyed our overnight in Lexington, VA, and hightailed it for Tennessee. As an aside, a shout-down to AT&T, which provide virtually no coverage at all today. Sure, it's understandable in the mountains and national parks, but we were in not tiny Tennessee cities and town which *showed* AT&T coverage, but zero data actually received or phone calls made. Grrrr.


Made it to Knoxville ("How 'bout dem Vols?"), where we were desperate for lunch. A google search turned up what was promised to be the best BBQ in Knoxville. Was it good? Yes. Dan said that it was the best smoked pork sandwich he'd ever eaten (the pork was thinly sliced, not pulled). The atmosphere was, uh, untraditional. There were padlocks on the soda refrigerators, the money Glenn put into the tip jar was immediately emptied, and all of the coin-op games had "not working" signs on them, as did the bathroom. When I walked in, the counter worker eyed me suspiciously, and asked me why I came in. I thought it was because of the cars we arrived in. No, she was just surprised because, as she put it, "no Chinese folks like BBQ. Never seen one come in to order before." Ah, back in the South!










While we were eating our sandwiches, fried okra, mac salad, baked beans and giant plate of rib bones, the owner rushed into the place. The cook had called him and said that a pair of Ferraris had pulled up. The owner didn't believe it, and came down to see for himself. "Now, I'm delighted you came, but what the heck are you doing in the ghetto?" "Sorry, did you say ghetto?" "Yup. This is the ghetto of Knoxville!" We told him that the food was fantastic, and we were glad that we braved the visit (we had no clue as to the neighborhood). The owner brought us a round of "Ghetto Tea, Sweet" on the house.

Scruggs Real Pit Barbecue, 1920 E Magnolia Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917-8024, (865) 524-4333





Unfortunately, the transporter with the McLaren was caught for longer in yesterday's torrential downpours, so couldn't catch up to us, which meant no unleashing of the McLaren F1 on the Tail of the Dragon. Undaunted, we proceeded to the Tail from the TN side. This is one of the most famous motorcycling roads in the Eastern US, with a campground/gas station at the base on the NC side. Hundreds of motorcycles, from sportbikes to touring rigs to fully chromed Harley Davidson beasts.






We ended up doing the Tail of the Dragon THREE TIMES, swapping seats. We met some great motorcyclists who followed us and shot some great videos on their hero cam, promising to post them here later. Read the upcoming magazine article for more details of this afternoon, including impressions of the cars, why there was smoke, and the impressions of the gathered motorcyclists. I will hint that the most dramatic impression that the Scuderia gives is that of sheer and utter violence. One simply cannot turn away from the shrieking sound, the blow of the mace the transmission makes on a full-demand upshift, and inhuman stopping power of the carbon brakes. Violence, indeed.




From there, we took the Cherahola Skyway west. 36 miles long (over 50 if you add in the bits at the start and end that are equally impressive), this will undoubtedly join the pantheon of great American roads.

As the clock was ticking, we were making a run for Nashville, when we passed a roadhouse bar. Seeking dinner and a beer, we slammed on the brakes, pulled a u-turn, and went in. We wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible, just eat and get out and back on the road, but it was not too be (shocking). Still, the wings and cheesesteaks were more than passable, longnecks were $1 on special today, and the locals were incredibly friendly - I shook hands with over a dozen of them, and we felt quite welcome, for such an odd collection of Northerners.











Dark now, we put the hammer down, cruising up Route 68 and flying west on I-40, doing 102 miles in an hour and 18 minutes. We're spending the night in Nashville.



What's up for tomorrow? Well, the mystery of the Bertone is revealed - really! And Dan and I are getting on a private jet back to New York in the morning.


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Video shot from Ferrari 16M Scuderia convertible as it climbs Tail of the Dragon. Moron shooting it (me) can't find where mic is on little digital camera, so can't cover it up. So you hear a fair bit of wind noise, sorry. But it does give you a small taste of what the road is like. Stay tuned later in the week for full length, HD versions shot from the trailing 612 Scaglietti.

Hey, Nirvana on Day 2. Who'da thunk it?

[yeah, I'm new to this blogging game. Couldn't get Picasa to export more than four photos per blog post, so I broke up today's recounting into multiple posts. Read all of today's posts if you want the full scoop....]


As expected, Skyline was stunning. Vistas opened up on either side of the road, and we stopped at plenty of overlooks for photos and just to gape. Our average speed to Skyline was great, and now it was plummeting, but we didn't care.








At the 60 mile marker, a ranger pulled out right behind us. Doh! Speed limits are strictly enforced here, and while we were being very, very cognizant of traffic and tourists (e.g., no passing), on deserted sections we did hit 60-65 mph for a few straight stretches.
















The ranger then proceeded to follow us for THIRTY MILES, at 25-30 mph. Ouch. Still, he never did pull us over, so we're counting our lucky stars. And even at this slower pace, we were able to enjoy the sun setting over our right and the moon rising to our left.

After exiting Skyline Drive, we decided to continue South on the Blue Ridge Parkway. No longer monitered by the rangers (we thought), and well into deep dusk, it was time to pick up the pace.
As Dan said later, it was transcendent. I thought it was nirvana; we spotted all of 4 oncoming cars, bi-xenon headlights cutting through the rising gloom, top and windows down, the ripping sounds of Italian engines, and a winding, rolling ribbon of pavement ahead. Nirvana.

After making it back to the highway, our intrepid gourmands end up having an admittedly delicious dinner at Burger King while gassing up the cars. We felt we were the "kings" of the road today (ouch).

Oh, and where IS that Bertone? It's still in a box, though it's kicking to get out. And it's getting sick of Gromper keeschelche. Stay tuned.

The full effect was breath taking. The misty gloom settled down upon the valley, while we looked from on high.

More pics. Wish I were better at this blog thing. See our FB fans page, Supercars Across America for a video too.

Some more pics....

Day 2: Manhattan to Lexington, Virginia

Ah, quiet Sunday mornings in NYC. Daniel, the photographer shooting the magazine article, met us at the Dylan early. We pulled the cars out, and went around the city shooting in various spots. He radioed us from his car (drive by assistant Reese), while he shot from footbridges, building roofs, street corners and even while sitting in the back of his hatchback. Started raining while we cruised up Third Ave and around the Plaza. Even did laps of the Columbus Circle roundabout.

Had to fill up ($3.55!!!) in Manhattan, before heading off to NJ through the Holland Tunnel. The sounds of the cars in the tunnel were PROFOUND. In a surprisingly pastoral part of NJ (looking more like Virginia horse country, Daniel shot us while standing up and facing backwards in the 16M.

Then torrential downpours hit, as bad a rainstorm as I've ever seen. Cars were pulled over on the side of I-78. The 612 Scaglietti was supremely stable and confident even in these conditions; the 16M slightly less so. The McLaren was scary. And the downforce it generates was literally vacuuming the water off the road, making it impossible for anyone behind it to see.

So we decided to call in the cavalry. Reader Rich H wrote, "What definitely has me concerned about this adventure is that they're doing it with no support vehicle. My guess is that outside direct visual contact with an ocean, there are no tires in sizes suitable for any of those cars available 'off the rack.'"

True. So we decided to bring support - indeed, as we later joked, if you're crazy enough to drive four supercars across the country, all with differing needs for replacement tire (and wonky Italian electrics), you need support. So Dan arranged for his Ferrari Challenge race team transporter to accompany us. Yes, over the top. But it's hauling spare tires, and can take two cars if need be.

And in this rain, the need was real. The truck had spent the night in NJ waiting for us, so we arranged to meet it, and loaded the McLaren. We sent the truck directly down to Roanoke to meet us, so we could take the McLaren for the special roads tomorrow, while we continued our plan for the day.

After stopping for lunch in a traditional Jersey diner, we finally crossed into PA after 2 pm - about 4 hours behind schedule, due to the photo shoot requirements. Could we make it up?

We entered cruise-mode. Carefully picking our way through the 2-lane traffic down I-78 and I-81, we made up a lot of the deficit, arriving in Front Royal in the late afternoon. We set off for Skyline Drive, acccepting the fact that the drive would be slow, but we wanted to see the scenery.

Sadly, a small bird did a kamikaze into the front grill of the 612. Foreshadowing? We hope not.

Why? Because driving is better than... not driving

First day of the trip was a success, though not without stress. The team made it to Manhattan!

Dramatis Personae: Glenn, an ever-congenial, laid-back builder from Maine. Glenn is who we're depending on to sweet-talk us out of difficult situations. Mark, a Brit, just flew in and will be serving as the voice of reason and science, as well as using his considerable amateur photography skills. Dennis, the self-aggrandizing, obsessive-compulsive who's attempting to keep up with all of this new-fangled technology and serving as scribe for the trip.

And Dan, our favorite ex-pat from England, now a successful software executive and Ferrari Challenge racer. Dan is the happy owner of all four cars. He needed to get them to Monterey for the concours next week, and rather than ship them out in a transporter, decided that the PROPER way to do it was to invite some good friends to make the trip behind the wheel(s).

An article on this journey will appear in an issue of a major automotive magazine later this year, in which we'll discuss our opinions of the cars, how they compare, how they worked, amidst the background of a hopefully-humorous travelogue. So we won't get into that here (or on the social networks). Rather, this blog is intended to update our family and friends of our travels, as well as the challenges we'll inevitably face. The regular Twitter and FB posts will consist mostly of the daily/hourly ephemera that those darn kids today seem to lap up.

So, how was Day 1?

Mark flew in from London and, despite having to come the longest way, made it to the hotel first. Dan and Glenn put the top down on the Ferrari 16M and cruised to Long Island, where they picked up the McLaren F1 (shop manager: "wait... you're taking the F1 into the city?!?"). Dennis had a thousand things still left to do, but made it down in time to rendezvous in TriBeCa.

We had an impromptu car show outside the future home of Trattoria Cinque, an Italian speed and style-themed eatery to open late summer in this surprisingly large former stable space. We met up with friend Roberto Tata in his black Ferrari 430 Scuderia, and traversed the city up to Alfredo's of Rome in midtown, sister restaurant to the original in Rome (and where Fettucini Alfredo was invented in 1914).

We had permits to park the cars in front of the restaurant, where waves upon waves of tourists visiting Rockefeller Plaza next door washed over the cars. Inside, we enjoyed a proper kick-off to our journey, with wine, pasta and a surprise dessert.

Dennis had picked up a custom-made cake in Framingham, MA. It was a recreation of the Bertone Mantide, made by Laura Kean Anes. Spectacular, as you can see, and quite tasty too. It even survived the drive down to Manhattan in the 612 with Dennis doing his best to make dinner on time. http://www.sweetresults.blogspot.com/.

We're staying at the Dylan hotel on E 41st, a new luxury boutique with surprisingly reasonable rates. My suite has, literally, vaulted ceiling approximately 20' high. I feel like I'm sleeping in the back of St. Joseph's.

Our biggest challenge of the day was to find overnight parking. Multiple garages turned us down, as we needed to park the cars ourselves and keep the keys. So we drove around midtown, until we found the giant Hyatt at Grand Central Station, where after security looked underneath the cars for bombs, we were able to tuck them in securely for the night.

We're meeting Daniel, the photographer shooting the start of this journey for the magazine, in the morning at 7am, for some hero shots around the city and on our way out. Tomorrow will be a long one, as we are aiming for Virginia and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The stretch goal is to make it to Tennessee... we'll see...

Oh, and where's the Mantide? Ah, good question. It's in a box. How are we getting it out of the box? Stay tuned...