[Mick Sheppard]

Its a little odd given that the recipe being followed now to ensure the future of the brand is very similar to that used by DeTomaso. I’m sure that if SUVs had been a thing at the time we’d have seen BiTurbo powered ones.

It was these cars that got me interested in owning a Maserati as I never thought I’d be able to have a second car just for fun. Instead I wanted something exotic that could still be the family car. In the end I never bought one but it did lead to my Ghibli purchase a couple of years ago.

It would be good to see Maserati acknowledge their history more and try to keep more than just the stars of the 50s, 60s, and early 70s on the road.

[Mick Sheppard]

I’m glad for the bump here I’d forgotten all about putting my claim in. Something to do when I get home.

[Mick Sheppard]

Waiting to hear back from them. I’m too far away for a personal visit but could do the interview via Skype or some such instead,

[Mick Sheppard]

We are blessed to live in a lovely part of the country. The start of that drive is 15-20 minutes away. It was unusual to find so little traffic on it and also that the road stayed clear of sheep.

[Mick Sheppard]

Last weekend we decided to take a trip to Whitby via the moors. The weather was great and it was good to have some fun in the Ghibli again.

[Mick Sheppard]

Merry Christmas everyone from Mick and Melissa.

[Mick Sheppard]

Its a shame that Maserati don’t see the benefit in keeping older cars on the road in the same way that other Italian marques do. One thing that will help the brand, and negative reliability impression that people have, is to see older cars on the road and having manufacturer support.

I suspect that if Maserati did make parts available then it would increase the price of older models and potentially push more people to buy new ones than pick up cheaper older models.

[Mick Sheppard]

Final short video from the trip editing together some of the narrow roads and tight spaces I managed to squeeze through

[Mick Sheppard]

I have found some motorised systems to roll a film in front of the lens. It would mean having to push the side camera further out from the wing which would increase the possibility of clipping it on something/someone as I drive past. I’ll just have to remember to stop to clean more often.

[Mick Sheppard]

I was wondering about a wiper setup. Seems like I’d need some sort of F1 like setup with a film in front of the lens that rolled across periodically. Haven’t seen one I wonder if there’s a market for that sort of thing?

[Mick Sheppard]

Did a bit of back road driving going to a local Cars & Coffee event yesterday. Ironically it was at a detailing company premises given how dirty the car got on the short trip

[Mick Sheppard]

Talking of close squeezes we did stay in Bergamo Citta Alta for a night. Driving in and out was an experience in a wide RHD car. I really wish that manufacturer fitted SatNav systems would take into account the size of the car that they are in!

[Mick Sheppard]

I wondered what the noise was as well. It was only when I was looking at it on the TV screen that I noticed the rumble strips.

The bus did get very close, though I think that the Dutch Mercedes on the Lake Iseo run was closer. There was a sharp intake of breath from the passenger seat. Luckily, sitting on the right, I didn’t get to see just how close I got to either!

The lake drives were very different to the mountains but equally engaging. We did take a trip up to Bellagio on Lake Como as well, I need to take a look at the video for that yet. The lake side drives were good, though narrow in places. I found the little lakes better than Garda though as there was less traffic.

[Mick Sheppard]

Next one is the trip up the west side of Lake Garda to Limone Sul Garda. Lovely road, just a shame about the traffic.

[Mick Sheppard]

All of the passes were great, and all very different. Even with the traffic they were great to drive. One thing I’ve found editing the videos is that I’m seeing more than I did at the time. There was a fair amount of concentration, especially with the narrow roads and perilous drops.

At bit of a change now. I finally got some recent weather and clear(ish) road driving alongside one of the Italian lakes. Not one of the particularly well known ones, Lake Iseo, but that probably helped with the traffic. The car did feel very very wide at times

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