FLYING WITH MANTUANS

Is anything more idyllic than three days of spirited driving in Italy in a pre-war Aston Martin? That might depend on the weather, says James Elliott

And did you at any point think about just giving up?’ Even with rally headphones and mic, I feared my co-pilot might not hear my loaded question, because only the constant involuntary chattering of my teeth was stopping my jaw from locking up. He did. Not for a second, he said, as he gripped the wheel with added zeal and ploughed on through near zero visibility, falling trees and icy rain as a once-in-a generation storm battered Italy’s Apennine mountains.

My question was prompted by ex-airline pilot Robert Blakemore’s shivered comment that he had only once driven through such extreme adverse conditions, on the Mille Miglia. Yet this was in mid-September on the 32nd Gran Premio Nuvolari, though we were in the same Aston Martin 2 Litre Speed with aeroscreens and no weather gear or undertrays, so our drenching and hypothermia could be a fully immersive’ experience. At the lunch stop our sodden legs and bodies didn’t work anymore and we hobbled to the food like a pair of Albert Steptoes; after we'd eaten we left actual puddles rather than mere damp patches on our chairs.

It would be churlish to dwell on just a couple of hours of this sensational three days, though. The adventure had started when I visited pre-war Aston specialist Ecurie Bertelli, owned and run by Robert, and whinged that we never get as much time as we would like with the cars we write about. Would 1100km do; well, 50 if we share the driving?’ Yes it would. The opportunity would be the Gran Premio Nuvolari, a three-day road rally mixing hard driving and headily wonderful roads plus rough sections debatably too challenging for older cars) with sensational scenery, incredible ancient towns and cities, and even a visit to the tiny country in the clouds, San Marino.