WE SEEM TO BE DOING THIS A LOT LATELY. Bidding farewell to cars that have been a formidable presence in our lives. This time not only is the bell tolling for the Audi R8 and Lamborghini Huracán, but also for the spectacular naturally aspirated V10 engine that powers them.
All three deserve a proper farewell, but where to take them? For a while the whole idea hangs in the balance, with neither an R8 GT RWD or Huracán Tecnica available in the UK. Then the Gods of Internal Combustion (and Google Maps) intervene. Bookings synched with Audi AG and Automobili Lamborghini’s press fleets and collection arranged from Munich and Sant’Agata respectively, all that remains is to find a suitably spectacular rendezvous point that doesn’t devour too much of our three-day trip to reach.
It doesn’t take long to find our destination: Italy’s snaking, 2757-metre-high Stelvio Pass. Roughly equidistant between our German and Italian start points, it’s a brisk five-hour drive to the second highest road in Europe and one of the most famous driving destinations in the world. Yes, there are more flowing mountain passes with less traffic, but trust me, there are few more remarkable places to take any car. As a place to celebrate two of the best-sounding cars money can buy, this 30-mile mountain pass, complete with a staircase of hairpins on one side and a bunch of avalanche tunnels on the other, is hard to beat.
We meet at the summit in the early evening, dep ed James Taylor in the Audi, myself and photographer Parrott in the Lamborghini. Both cars look gloriously out of place street-parked amongst the beaten-up Subarus preferred by the locals. Rather than booking accommodation down in nearby Bormio, we’re staying in one of the small hotels found atop this famous peak. It buys us more
