Hi there, this is Sytske, Alwin’s wife. Alwin and I have visited the Gaydon factory several times now. It is always great fun and on two occasions we got a glimpse of cars that were not presented to the public yet. One was the new Vanquish, the other the limited edition The Dragon 88, for the Chinese market only.
Next week, we are going to participate in Aston Martin’s Centenary Rally to London! 1,000 miles, 5 days, 7 countries and 100 (one hundred!) Aston Martins. The trip starts on Wednesday in Como, Italy and will take us through Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, to end in London, for a big centenary party on Saturday, then a picnic in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park on Sunday, with 1,000 (one thousand) Aston Martins!!!
I am a member of the Dutch Cars and Business club, which organizes multiple road trips each year, plus a couple of cars and coffee meetings. This weekend, 30 club members went on a 2-day trip to Hamburg, Germany, bringing 30 supercars, including four very nice Aston Martins, one being our blue/yellow V12 Roadster. But I must warn you, this post also includes photos of some Italian and German monsters.
Sadly, our fantastic trip had to end. This is the final day, in which we drove back to Newcastle starting at the hotel in Torridon. Not the most exciting roads, but still… who can complain about driving an Aston all day?
For the sixth day of the Scotland Tour, no route was planned. Just a special event late in the afternoon. The rest of the day, everyone was free to go (or not go) where they wanted.
With the Isle of Skye so close to the location of our hotel (not a coincidence of course), we just had to visit the island. So that was the destination of the fifth day of our Scotland tour.
The plan for day 4 of our Scotland tour: first go west to drive the spectacular Applecross mountain road, then head east to visit Nessie at the lake of Loch Ness.
Day 3 of the Scotland Highlands Tour, but actually the first day we start exploring the beautiful roads of Scotland. This day we ventured north, in the direction of Ullapool, then further north and back to Torridon (I on the map below) via the east. I am afraid I do not have a lot of photos of this day, but I’ve got something better: a video shot from the dash of my V12 Roadster.
The Dutch Power Beauty Soulmates go Scotland, day 2. This day we arrived in the UK, in Newcastle and then drove from Newcastle to our destination, the Torridon Hotel in Torridon, Scotland. A trip of roughly 550 kilometers (330 miles), but mostly over 2-lane 60 mph roads, so taking nearly 8 hours.
Each year, the Dutch Aston Martin club “Power Beauty Soulmates” (PBSM) organizes a one week trip to a location suited for lots of driving fun. Previous destinations include Le Mans, Isle of Man and the italian Dolomites. Sixteen teams (so 16 Aston Martins!) signed up for this year’s trip: to the Scottish Highlands! Watch this space for my day-to-day report of the Scotland Highlands tour. Here’s day 1: