The Selvio pass (twice)

Today it was the infamous Stelvio pass, the best driving road in the world according to Top Gear. We set off early to beat the traffic and all was going well for the first 10 miles. I had been looking out the back window trying to spot oncoming traffic through the hairpins when I noticed smoke coming from the engine. We pulled over and fretted over the problem only to realise that there was no mobile signal at this point so we were left with a dilemma, turn back and hope to get to a garage on our own power or push on in the hope of getting a phone signal at the top station. A passing motorist told us it was only another 2 kilometres to the top so the decision was made to push on. In reality it was closer to 4 miles and we arrived at the top in a cloud of smoke. Fortunately there was good mobile coverage at the top and we were able to contact the recovery company. Four hours, a flurry of snow and a good lunch later the flat bed recovery truck arrived to ferry us down the pass back to a garage in Bormio. Having a trip back down the pass in the truck gave us a completely different perspective of the road, the scenery is stunning.

The mechanics at the garage seemed very happy to get the chance to work on a classic Ferrari although there was much debate over what was causing the problem, we definitely could smell oil in the smoke but the mechanics seemed convinced it was a water problem. In the end the oil filter was replaced, fluids topped off and we were away again.

We had looked at the map with the intention of taking an easier route, there are none from Bormio and the only other realistic option was several times further. After pondering the options we decided to have another crack at the Stelvio pass. This turned out to be a fantastic decision, not only did the car behave the weather had cleared significantly from our morning attempt and the sun was not directly in front of us making the tunnels much less threatening. We drove the pass end to end on this attempt up and down it took us 1:15 to drive the 30 miles.


The Stelvio does live up to its reputation. A stunning drive and technically challenging well worth driving.

With the Stelvio conquered we were off to Altenau in Bavaria to visit some more friends. Clear across Austria and over the Fern pass to Garmish and then Oberammergau.