Going West. Who hasn’t dreamed, at least once in their life, of crossing the USA from ocean to ocean? For me, this desire stemmed from a mix of beautiful and inspiring ‘on the road’ books, Hollywood films, and stories of the legendary pioneers who made the journey in their Buckboard wagons. I didn’t even once envisage the journey being from West to East. No, to my mind a proper Trans-Am odyssey has to follow the sun.
As for the car, forget a practical rental. It has to be a classic, even better if it’s pre-war, to add some atmosphere to the adventure. As for my companion, I met Filippo Sole (coincidentally, his family name means ‘sun’ in Italian) a few years ago; he is ten years younger than me and crazier in his approach to life but we share many ideals, including a love of pre-war classics. He restores his mostly with his own hands.
We first talked seriously about a coast-to-coast trip in late 2019, proposing to use Filippo’s 1938 Lancia Astura Cabriolet Pinin Farina. Then Covid hit and the project was put on hold; the car won its class at Pebble Beach in 2021 and, as as
