Day six of the Autodelta 'European Tour 2005', and it was finally time to get the long journey back to London underway.

Baking in the hot Italian spring sunshine, the final day of the 'My Special Car' Show in Rimini quickly passed by, and by 1800 we were extracting the GT Super from the Ragazzon stand, and the other three cars from their display area, to start the trek northwards, across Europe.

"The show has for sure been worth all the effort," comments Autodelta boss Jano, "We have been really pleasantly surprised at the level of knowledge of our company, and the enthusiasm for what we are trying to achieve, from the people here in Rimini. We have worked really hard to bring cars to Italy that we could be proud of, so it's really pleasing."

I can certainly vouch that interest has been very high all tour. The Autodelta cars look simply stunning, the design and tuning firm's visual presentation levels are without doubt second to none, and including the GranSport in the convoy, has set matters off just nicely. Throughout the tour people have inspected the cars, held impromptu discussions with the Autodelta personnel, who, being real enthusiasts of the brand, are always happy to talk about their cars. Countless digital cameras, camcorders and camera phones have been pointed at us on our travels.

Sunday evening would see us diagonally crossing Italy to break the journey in Milan. Just three cars would return as part of the tour, the blue 147 GTA AM had an appointment near Venice, and so would be following its own route home. In fact this car, which belongs to the Maserati GranSport's owner would be put up for sale by Autodelta once the tour was completed. "I will miss the sheer fun and exhilaration of the 147 GTA AM," comments Brett Edbrook, "but that said I have been seduced by the GranSport's luxury and refined GT motoring on this trip."

And so we speed off. I'm ensconced in the GT Super once again, and for comfortable and genuinely affordable 'Grand Touring' little can match this Autodelta tuned and refined car. There isn't much to report on our fast, straight drive up the A14, and then the A1, to Milan, passing Bologna, Modena, Parma and Piacenza en route. The sleek GT Super races through the darkness, eating up the kilometres, and soon we arrive at our hotel in Milan's sprawling suburbs.

Monday morning and we rise early, taking the cars into the city of Milan for yet another appointment, before we begin the long trip home. We speed up the A4, past Novara, and slice across to the A5, as we head for the Mont Blanc tunnel. As we do so, we pass a prototype Brera 'mule' clad in traditional all-enveloping disguise, out and about motorway testing.
 

It's a delicious, completely unscripted moment, as we absorb this exciting new car very briefly into our convoy, eyeing it stunning Giugiaro lines which are still so clearly identifiable under the reams of plastic covering. It is a fitting moment for the tour, back at Autodelta's London HQ, their skilled engineers are literally counting the days until they can get their hands on the next generation of Alfa Romeo models: the Brera and Alfa 159.

We raced up the Alps towards to Monte Blanc tunnel, the superior torque of the Autodelta cars once again making light work of the climbs we encountered. It's another hot and sunny day, and the high snow clad mountains are dazzling to the eye. No matter how many times one travels this route into France, the scenery is simply breathtaking. In the GT Super we are really 'touring' now in some style, refinement and luxury, this is the sort of journey that the car really relishes.

Leaving the sharp twists and turns of the Alpine mountains behind, we drop down into France to being the long drag north to Calais. The kilometers quickly rattle away as we chase up the fast moving motorways, via Dijon and Rheims to Calais, and as we do so the glorious sunshine is replaced by rain showers. From there it is onto the channel tunnel train back to England, where a quick blast up the M20, and a drag round the M25 is in order before we finally arrive at Autodelta HQ shortly before 2330.

The 147 GTA AM Super, its power and torque-boosting supercharger conversion, which was completed just days before the tour started, hasn't missed a beat all trip, and its owner Sarin is clearly delighted. In fact this car, having participated in the excursions to San Marino and Imola, has now covered more kilometres than the remaining two other tour cars, a tour total of 3942km (2464 miles) in seven days. "This car just gets better and better," he comments, "with 400bhp now available, it's really unmatched, and still an excellent car I can use everyday."

A short debrief, and the tour splits up as we tiredly head home. Without doubt the tour has been a huge success, seven days of a jam-packed schedule, that has taken us straight though some of the finest scenery in Europe, and throughout the tour there has been great interest in what Autodelta are aiming to achieve.

by Edd Ellison in London