The first week of our trip has seen us lay quite a few miles under the wheels of the Rogue Sport and it’s time for a slight change of pace. Leaving St Petersburg behind, we head north along the Gulf coast. As delightful as the historic district is, it perhaps doesn’t shout ‘Florida’ with quite the same unmistakeable glee as Miami or the Keys.
In truth, I’ve never had any great desire to visit Florida. While I’ve always been fascinated by the Louisiana Bayou, the nodding donkeys of Texas and the beat of Nashville, the palm trees of The Sunshine State have never really spoken to me. And yet, here I am at 37,000 feet staring down at another ‘plane, careering through the sky at 500mph on my way to a two-week sojourn around the southern-most state in America.
With our ears still ringing and our livers having taken quite a battering, it’s time to continue north. Mrs Motorcardiaries doesn’t share quite the same enthusiasm as me for car museums and niche automotive diversions but she has granted me the opportunity to take a pilgrimage to Penske’s headquarters in Mooresville, about half an hour outside Charlotte.
Friday dawns clear once more and we’re back on the road. We have a leisurely four-hour drive south to Florence and we’ve planned a number of diversions to add some spice to an otherwise fairly uninspiring journey. It’s somewhat troubling to leave Lake Como behind; not due to its otherworldly beauty – though that is undeniable – but because the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este is taking place mere kilometres from our base. Mercifully, scruffs like us are not permitted entry until Saturday but the presence of special cars in the vicinity, yet just out of reach, is traumatic.
Given the mania around the MotoGP at Mugello, we elect to avoid the legendary Futa and Raticosa passes this time and instead head to the epicentre of the Italian supercar industry: Modena. Those legendary roads can wait until next time.
Our first stop is Sant Agata and the Lamborghini museum. The local roads offer their fair share of interesting machinery and we spot an undisguised Maserati Levante out testing. We never seem to be far from an old Porsche or a 90s Ferrari. The countryside is agricultural and lacking much character or visual stimulation: it’s not unpleasant but it’s slightly barren and rather flat.
Nestling on the Mount Panorama outfield just before Murray’s Corner sits the National Motor Racing Museum. For a country steeped in proud racing tradition, this is a significant building housing a fine collection of cars, motorcycles and associated automobilia.
The museum’s location is a crucial aspect of its status and it was originally founded in 1988 by the Bathurst Light Car Club before being subsumed by the Bathurst Regional Council. The museum’s mission statement is simple: “The…conservation and preservation of material relevant to Australian motor racing history, and to enhance the understanding and significance of motorsport within Australia.”
