It was cold, damp and very misty in London first thing this morning as the cars assembled at Autodelta's headquarters in Park Royal for the start of their ‘European Tour 2005'. This signalled the start of a long trek across Europe which will finish in Rimini on Thursday afternoon.

The mist shrouded the buildings, which looked dark and brooding, the 04:00 CET assembly time not helping matters one bit. However, the gloom and stillness was suddenly shattered by the piercing scream of what could only be an Alfa Romeo V6 engine firing itself up, clearing its throat raucously as it kicked into life ready to begin this most epic of trips. Then another Alfa V6 burst into life, to be swiftly followed by the unmistakable howl of a Maserati V8 warming up, and suddenly, it was all systems go: The Autodelta tour was live.

The cars formed up outside Autodelta HQ, their bright headlights piercing the gloom, while a host of courtesy lights peeped from exposed door and tailgate apertures. The 320bhp Autodelta GT Super, was burbling away, the new 400bhp 3.7-litre 147 GTA AM, its young owner enthusiastically dipping the throttle, car and driver both eager to be underway, Phil Ward and Roberto Giordanelli from Auto Italia magazine were settling into another 147 GTA AM, already poring over tour maps, while finally the Maserati GranSport, idling provocatively, was itching to roar off on its way.

We pulled away, heading down the almost deserted A40 towards the M25, anxious to be round and away from London’s main arterial motorway before it succumbed to gridlock from the post Bank Holiday early morning rush hour traffic. Reported roadworks at Junction 8 failed to produce any of the reputed congestion, and quickly the convoy moved onto the M20, and the dash down to the English Channel.

The cars were racing ahead, thoroughbreds straining at the leash, powerful machines which were never conceived for the humdrum and tedium of daily commuting life, although their comfort and convenience levels keep them ready and able to perform the task when so required.

The rolling Kent countryside soon became a recent memory as by eight thirty we had pulled up at Eurotunel’s sprawling Dover complex. Stopping only briefly for a spot of breakfast, we boarded the shuttle train to Calais.

The mist was still rolling across the French countryside as we disembarked from the train, chased our way along the coast to Oostende, and picked up the A42 to Lille. By the time we had passed the latter location, the sun had burst out, and the four tour cars, gleaming in the morning sunshine, looked positively gorgeous, as well as seriously potent.
 

We were starting to rapidly eat up the miles that we had to cover before our scheduled overnight stop in Basel, Switzerland, would loom into view.

However, no sooner had sped by the Southern Belgian town Charleroi, and picked up the A4 to Luxembourg, roadworks started to impede our schedule, and a 16:00 CET arrival in Basel, where we were to be greeted by B+K Automobile staff and invited guests was starting to look distinctly unlikely.

From Luxembourg it was to be a case of heading due south down the E25 to Metz, then picking up the E21 to Nancy, climbing over the ‘Des Ballons’ mountains to Colmar, before a last motorway dash south would take us to Basel. More roadworks and intermittently heavy showers, helped to keep us behind our schedule as the tour cars kept gobbling up the miles. Leaving the French motorway network behind at Nancy, the tour headed for the sharp twists and turns of our new road, chiseled into ‘Des Ballons’, and finally, unleashed after a day spent pounding simple, fast, multi-lane roads of France and Belgium, this quartet of muscular cars, eager to show what they could do, burst into action.

In a line astern formation, these aggressive bundles of raw horsepower and energy, took to the hills, the Alfas tightly gripping the damp road surfaces with their fat, bulging 18-inch wheels and 225/45 tyres.

From the cockpit of the Autodelta GT Super, as we snaked up and down rises and descents, cornering as if on rails, company boss Jano Djelalian explained more about the cars. “Roads like this are really great, they bring out the true characteristics of the bespoke packages we have worked so hard to create. It’s no good chalking up highly impressive power output numbers if you can’t use the resulting bhp properly. Very capable handling and improved brakes are every bit as important.”

The GT Super flies over these roads, snapping at the heels its two smaller and athletic sisters, making simple work of the obstacles in its path. Autodelta have done truly great job with this car, bags more power is now available, but none of its highly refined ‘GT’ characteristics have been lost along the way. This is both a luxurious motorway cruiser, and nimble sportscar, at the same time, and with 320 horses available the instant they are required.

The mountain roads gave way to motorway, a brief stop at the Swiss border, and a finally dash through beautiful mountain scenery to B+K Automobile in Füllinsdorf, Basel. There, despite our late hour, Autodelta's newest agent has assembled a crowd of invited and eager guests who literally descend on the cars. Although these extreme machines had not rested for more than twelve hours now, evening test drives swiftly get underway as the enthusiastic crowd get the chance to sample Autodelta's products first hand. We leave Autodelta personnel in deep discussion and head to our hotel, day one has been a success.

by Edd Ellison & James Granger in Basel