Around the World in a Ford GT

[MCipriani]

On August 13, 2011 Ford GT owner and co-author of the Ford GT Complete Owners Experience, "GT Joey" Limongelli will begin a trek "Around the World in a Ford GT". With his co-pilot and fellow GT owner, Chris McGregor, Joey will begin his trip on the easternmost tip of Long Island, NY and make stops along the way to visit with fellow GT owners, enthusiasts and even members of the original Ford GT build team!

We will have periodic updates of the adventures of GT Joey and "Nardo" Chris (owner of the Ford GT that ran over 200 mph at the famous Nardo race track in Italy) right here on this forum thread!

Check back for photos, video and updates on this exciting trip!

Itinerary: http://www.svtoa.com/svtoaforums/sho...701#post108701

Photos: http://www.svtoa.com/svtoaforums/sho...he-way........

Map of the Journey: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=...8651d803&msa=0

[MCipriani]

The car is being prepped, the route has been mapped out and SVTOA will post updates on Joey and Chris's journey across the country right here at SVTOA.com. I'm sure there will be many surprises along the way!

[GTJoey]

Thank you Marcie, on behalf of Chis and Myself, hope we can generate some excitement in a time when being a COWBOY is all but dead.....Come along and enjoy the ride. Anywhere we go or stop, anyone that latchs along for the ride...will be in the new book "AROUND THE WORLD IN A FORD GT"....so keep reading hope to see you all along the way........DREAM...............GTJOEY1314

[vger]

Detroit stop?

[GTJoey]

Detroit stop?

Will be at the GTGUYS by 12 oclock noon from long island...750 miles..........they will put new tires,tranny cooler and others, we will meet at the Henry on the 13th for a special photo shoot at 7pm.....Then off at 6am to Texas straight!!!!!!!!1,200 miles in a day or so ............enjoy the ride........We will be back in Detroit on the way back......too.....

[vger]

GT guys on the 12th or 13th?
If I'm free I would like to come out and say hi.

[GTJoey]

The dinner is all booked up but there will be people milling about signing the car from Ford outside the hotel lobby, It will be neat...gtjoey

[GTJoey]

We are one week away with 3 gt's following from new york to detroit......we have over 30 Ford employees at the dinner..........Once we hit the big D , the GTGUYS will be putting new tires...bridgestones,tranny cooler, check the oil pump belt and then join us for the festivities........get ready its gonna be great....gtjoey1314

[GTJoey]

The silver gt is on the way to texas....soon to land in amsterdam...........we will meet up with the entire cobra group at the end of june....and away we go...............gtjoey

[GTJoey]

Update................Chris will be driving silver 360 to Houston tomorow at its docking point....Then it will be crated with all the other cobra/mustangs...........Off to Holand it goes.......Chris please post pictures......
Guys we are pumped to go.............again thanks to sean for all your help......
gtjoey1314

[GTJoey]

Update................Chris will be driving silver 360 to Houston tomorow at its docking point....Then it will be crated with all the other cobra/mustangs...........Off to Holand it goes.......Chris please post pictures......
Guys we are pumped to go.............again thanks to sean for all your help......
gtjoey1314

Well everyone, we are of in less than 2 weeks.........wish us luck!....will have plenty of pictures and video for all......See you at LeMans classic.......gtjoey1314

[Schab01]

It's going to be an excellent trip. Enjoy! ...and bring extra gas if possible...and scotch.

[GTJoey]

The eagle has landed.........we arrived in Amsterdam yesterday and on the way to the ship yard today.......Will fill in with pictures later...........Guys this is real exciting....we are even pumping up locals about the svtoa reunion to come........gtjoey1314

[MCipriani]

Joey and Chris and their wives are continuing their journey Around the World in a Ford GT along with Shelby Run Europe.

From the Shelby Run Europe website: We will depart Almere, Netherlands on Saturday, June 30, 2012 at about 10:00 am and will begin our epic journey covering over 2500 miles through eight different countries in ten action packed days:

6/30/12 - We are on our way to Nurburg, Germany.
Driving 325 kilometers into Germany. For the next 5-6 hours we will travel through the lowlands of the great rivers and the forested area of The Netherlands. We pass Arnhem and Nijmegen. On the bridges we cross over the rivers Rijn and Waal, where the American and Canadian troops had severe battles with the Germans in WWII. Everyone knows the Operation Marketgarden where the 82nd (Screaming Eagles) and 101st (All-American) Airborne Divisions had to conquer those rivers. We will cross the German border and go south into the hills of the Eifel. We will arrive at the Hotel
Eifeldorf in Nurburg, Germany in the early afternoon. We will have the opportunity to get in some laps on the world famous Nurburgring! The 'Ring is a race track about 13 miles long with over 70 turns! Think of it as a "toll road racetrack"!

7/1/12 - Sunday we rise and head out after breakfast for some Autobahn travel. Driving 560 kilometers through Germany. We will leave for a longer drive on several beautiful German Autobahns through German states Rheinland-Pfalz, Hessen, Baden-Wurtemberg and Bavaria in the South. We will cross the rivers Mosel and Rhein. We will stop for lunch around noon at the Meilenwork in Stuttgart. Meilenwerk is a renowned centre near Stuttgart for enthusiasts and their motor vehicles: vintage cars of all kinds, sports cars, rarities, motorcycles and also boats. Owners have the opportunity to park and store their exclusive motor cars in special glass cases. The restaurants, event and club areas at each Meilenwerk are recognised nationwide as prestigious meeting points for “petrol talk” between tenants, customers and visitors. Here we will meet German Shelby owners who will accompany us after lunch to Hotel Müller in Hohenschwangau.

7/2/12 - Monday we will have the opportunity to tour the Neuschwanstein castle which is walking distance from our hotel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_castle
Driving 285 kilometers into Austria. We travel into the Alps. We will drive the very famous 188, the Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse (tollroad 14 Euro). Get ready for some cornering. This dream road among alpine passes winds its way gently in more than 30 hairpin bends up to the peak, the Silvretta-Bielerhöhe. At the top you will be impressed by the imposing mountain landscape and the lake - the Silvrettasee - embedded harmoniously within it. At a height of 2032m (6700ft) the mountain summits up to 3300m (11000ft) are already close enough to tackle. In the late afternoon we arrive at Hotel Tirolerhof in Nauders, close to the border of Italy.

7/3/12 - Tuesday begin by driving 340 kilometers into Italy, through Switzerland and Italy again. Leaving the Alps for the Dolomites. We will drive the road the guys from Top Gear drove. The most beautiful road in the world they say, the SS38 Passo dello Stelvio. 48 numbered hairpin turns on the northside and 39 at the southside and the top is at 2758m (9000ft). This is a very challenging road. Then we drive the SS301 into the region of Lombardy, famous for the Italian food and lakes. We will travel into Switzerland on the 28 into Zernez and St Moritz. In St. Moritz we will be joined by Swiss and Italian Shelby owners. We follow the 27 south and back into Italy. We will drive along the shores of Lake Como, where many Hollywood celebrities have homes. Our hotel in Milano is very close to the famous Monza racetrack.

7/4/12 - Driving 335 kilometers through Italy and France into Monaco. We drive the Italian Autostradas (toll) to Genua, San Remo and the Riviera coast. At some point we leave the Autostrada for a detour along the Ligurian coast. This narrow strip of land is bordered by the sea, the Alps and the Apennines mountains. Some mountains and steep cliffs rise loftily above 2000 m out of the Ligurian Sea in this most northerly part of the Western Mediterranean. We will pass the old fishing villages Spotorno, Noli and Finale Ligure. We travel into France and end in the small state of Monaco, Monte Carlo. We will spend some time here to walk around, visit the harbour or drive the Formula 1 racetrack route and the famous Monte Carlo Tunnel!

7/5/12 - Driving 577 kilometers in France. Going north on the Route Napoleon towards Castellane and the Gorges du Verdon. We travel through the Provence. This is the area where painters like Van Gogh and Monet got their inspiration from. The Gorges du Verdon is the Grand Canyon of Europe. It is about 25 kilometres long and up to 700 metres deep. It was formed by the Verdon River, which is named after its startling turquoise-green colour, one of the canyon's most distinguishing characteristics. We will travel the southern route, the Corniche Sublime. This is another corner carver with breathtaking views at the Balcons of Mescla. After this scenic route we will go faster on the French Autoroutes (toll). We will cross the largest suspension bridge in the world, the 1000ft high Millau bridge. We will arrive at Hotel de la Muse in a small village surrounded by high countryside. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millau_bridge

7/6/12 - Day 7 finds us driving 558 kilometers through France. This day we travel on the French Autoroutes (toll) at a modest 130 km/h to cover the 5 hrs to Tours. We travel the provences of Lozere, Haute-Loire, Puyde-Dome through the mountains of the Massif Central. We follow the river Loire and end near the city Tours. We are just 1 hr away from Le Mans. After dinner people can choose to stay at the hotel to relax or go to the Le Mans racetrack to watch the night practice. Our era cars, the 1962-1965 grid 4 and 1966-1971 grid 5, have their practices from 23:05 till 00:20.

7/7/12 - Driving 315 kilometers through France. This day we will leave early for the big day to watch the Le Mans Classic races. Carroll Shelby, Stirling Moss and many others drove this track in the 50s and 60s. You will see over 400 race cars and 8000 classic cars on exhibition. Shelbys, Ferraris, Jaguars, Maseratis, Porsches, Aston Martins, Ford GT40s, BMWs in abundance. We will park our cars in the paddock/infield area together with the French Mustang clubs. We plan to do two parade laps as a group. The spectators (some 100.000 in 2010), should also come to Le Mans Classic correctly dressed; jackets and ties are not compulsory for admittance to the paddocks. There are many ways of being sport/chic. Thus everyone would have the joy of participating, in his own way, in one of the most important events in the world of vintage automobiles. This would create an allure and the paddock with everyone dressed in the day would make this trip back in time surreal. Tracksuits, shorts and bare chests, sandals, flipflops are prohibited. In the late afternoon we will leave for a short 2 hour drive to Rouen where we will stay.

7/8/12 - Driving 617 kilometers through France, Belgium into The Netherlands. Last driving day. We travel the northern hills of France into Belgium. We enter The Netherlands in the SW in the province Zeeland. We will go through the Westerscheldetunnel (toll 5 Euro). We will drive on the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier. This symbolizes the fight of the Dutch against the water. We pass Rotterdam and travel through the green heart of The Netherlands with many polders. We end at the same hotel in Almere.