19 year old tubby, 2400miles to the south of france and back in 5 days

[willbutler1]

Just thought I would share, last week I took a trip down to the south of France to a small town just next to Monaco, spent a day round there, drove back up through the Alps and managed it all in 5 days. 2400 miles, breathtaking scenery and all done in a car that is 19 years old and it didn’t let me down once!! What an amazing trip, an amazing car and would recommend it to anyone! Sometimes you just need to do these things

[raptor95GTS]

I think you should post some pics!

[willbutler1]

Will do

[Martian_333]

Awesome

Yeah pics would be good!

Thats definate Toyota reliability right there, amazing.

[willbutler1]

Here are a few pics of my road trip to the south of France, The camp site was in a small town called Sentaney just south of Dijon, then it was on to a town on the Med called Menton right on the Italian border. Then its back up throught the Alps stopping at Col De La Bonnette, 2800 meters high. great trip and the car did the club proude I think































Yes I nearly ran out of fuel but I would like to point out my speedo does read 5 mph slow so I was not breaking French speeding laws

[Dale_V]

looks like you had an awesome trip I would love to do something similar

[willbutler1]

Cheers, it was great but next time I will do it over a longer period. 5 days wasnt really enough.

[JJ]

[James Junior]

Bravo mate - I am very envious, I always wanted to do that exact trip in an MR2 Turbo.

I left the fold a while ago but have been gazing at MR2 turbos on pistonheads over the last few weeks wondering if maybe I could buy another and make the trip to the Cote D'Azur and back up through the Alps.

Did you go alone or with Mrs/ mate? What towns did you visit in the Riviera? My work used to take me there and I am dying to go back - great place with some incredible roads!

[tonigmr2]

Good stuff, I love driving around France. Going in September. In a Sharan though unfortunately, it's good for bringing wine back.

[monkeymax]

It's great isn't it? I took my Mk1 to France (through central Paris then also Dijon/Champagne area for a wedding) a couple of years back and covered the same distance - 2500-ish miles in 5 days. Tell you what, driving through Paris in a car you love is definitely a bottom clenching experience!

I got back a couple of days ago from Estonia where I'd gone to help a mate drive his car back home. We covered 2800 Km in 3 days going through France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. With the exception of Poland, all of them were less stressful to drive in than England is! We took his E30 BMW 318is, definitely a sweeter cruiser than the Mk1!

[willbutler1]

Bravo mate - I am very envious, I always wanted to do that exact trip in an MR2 Turbo.

I left the fold a while ago but have been gazing at MR2 turbos on pistonheads over the last few weeks wondering if maybe I could buy another and make the trip to the Cote D'Azur and back up through the Alps.

Did you go alone or with Mrs/ mate? What towns did you visit in the Riviera? My work used to take me there and I am dying to go back - great place with some incredible roads!

Hi James

!YOU HAVE TO DO IT! in fact everyone should do it


I went on my own as a sort of last min descision just to get away for a bit, and it was worth it. I stopped in Sentaney (just south of Beaune) and it was such a pretty place. I didnt really get the chance to visit many places, I drove round Monaco and gawped at the stunning cars and boats but I spent most of my time in Menton. then up through the Alps (amazing roads). I wanted to get to the highst point I could and I managed col de la Bonnette wich was 2800m high. stunning views and it really was like another planet. the following stop was back to the camp site in Sentaney. amazing places and I think I could like in the south of France now, apart from the language issue ( I dont speak a word of French) maybe one day

Hmmmmmmm Estonia? sounds interestin. Maybe this could be my second road trip!! I bet it was a stunning trip!

Cheers for all the coments people, I must admit that I really want to go to switzerland and do a winter holiday. Maybe next year

[raptor95GTS]

nice pics thanks for posting, looks like you had a great time

[willbutler1]

Thanks very much, it was a great drive

[matt_mr2t]

Out of interest, how much petrol did you get through in 2.5k miles?
Off the top of my head, in my old tubby that would have been 10 tanks

[craig]

Nice one Will, looks like you had a fab time! Nice pictures

[willbutler1]

Cheers people, I lost count of the times I filled up. A rough guess the whole trip I spent about £350-£400 . . . . Ish. I just kept on filling it every time it needed it. I was also very carefull with my right foot, until I reached roads up in the Alps then I will admit I did get a little carried away

[xanthus400]

cool looking trip fella ive just done edingburgh and back........ok a small amount of miles compared to your good self but still 640 miles was the most ive ever done in the 2 n am damn proud that mine also never skipped a beat just goes to show how good the 2 is

[Alex O]

I did exactly that for the week after the Monaco grand prix. France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany (Nurburgring) and home.

8 days, 2800 miles, 15 yr old tubby...raced the whole way with a VX220 and 200 SX.

Awesome fun, didn't skip a beat and will be doing the same again this year but adding an Exige into the fray!!!

Would recommend it to everyone!