Getting a Fulvia to Italy

[Scott]

Something I've always wanted to do is a driving tour of Italy in my Fulvia so 2018 is the year!

I'd like to transport the car to Italy to start the holiday and had assumed that I could use a motorail service as I've heard about these in the past. However these services seem to have shrunk somewhat! I can't just hop on a service in Calais as I'd expected and the only option seems to drive 250 miles to Dusseldorf where, assuming a service is still running in 2018, a motorail service could get me to Verona. Not bad but this not only restricts travel dates (limited service running in the summer only) but is 500 miles of 'unncessary' return driving to Dusseldorf.

Another option could be to use a car transportation service and fly out and meet the car there. Has anyone used such a service and have a rough idea how much this might cost (and any company recommendations)?!

Thanks.

[lancialulu]

Have fun and drive your Fulvia to Italy. Much more of an adventure so long as your car has a history of good reliability. Take some spares or course and a bit of oil/water.

Alternatively you could look at Paris to Nice then drive the Riviera into Italy.....

[Scott]

Thanks Tim.
I have driven to the south of France in the Fulvia before but to make it pleausurable rather than a slog I did it in hops ... and to repeat that is then reducing my time in Italy where ideally I want to get down to Sicily!
The motorail to Nice howver and then along the Riviera is a great suggestion! 

[fay66]

Why not drive through France to Genoa and catch the ferry to Sicily, as Tim Said , Paris to Nice,  lovely drive from Nice to Genoa, and the ferry to Sicily.
A member just bought a Fulvia Gte Berlina in Sicily and did the reverse, catching the Ferry to Genoa and drove back through France.
Brian
8227

[peterbaker]

We are driving our Flavia from Worcestershire, following Monte Carlo Rally Historique from Reims to the finish. And then home again. Why put your car on a train, enjoy the drive.

[DavidLaver]

"car transportation service"

Maybe recruit a friend/family to drive the french leg and fly back, and another to fly down at the end and do the "dull" return leg.

[Paul Greenway]

I don't know where you are based but if you want to get to Dusseldorf it will cost around 800 Euro each way to transport. When I imported my Fulvia Sport in Nov '15 that was the cost from Stuttgart to Lancashire by Exmod (www.exmod.info).

Having said that if you have the time and your comfortable with your Fulvia's reliability, I agree with what others have said- you should drive the whole route, I don't think you'd regret it.

[lancialulu]

"car transportation service"

Maybe recruit a friend/family to drive the french leg and fly back, and another to fly down at the end and do the "dull" return leg.

There's no such thing as "dull" when driving a Fulvia, or any Lancia for that matter! The food in France is excellent and Petrol off the motor ways is cheaper than Italy....

[Scott]

Thank you for all the great suggestions and advice.
I think I've been convinced that 'putting up' with a long drive through France is worth it! This has also been swayed by the fact that, whilst I want to maximise my time in Italy, the transportation to get the Fulvia there seems far from cheap. Putting some options in for Dusseldorf to Verona (Autoverladung) return online then for the car, a basic couchette and meals onboard comes in at over two thousand pounds. I haven't looked at the Nice option but suspect motorail in general is going to be pricier than I naively anticipated. I can make better use of that kind of money towards a road trip!

I usually do all the mechanicals on the Fulvia myself but may get a marque expert to look the car over before I go just for peace of mind.

[davidwheeler]

Ferry Portsmouth to Bilbao or Plymouth to Santander, along the Pyrenees and the Riviera?

[stanley sweet]

You could use some of the £2000 you've saved to pay for autoroutes down to the south, just to save you time initally and get that bit out the way. Then on the return journey come back on the French route nationales with some Alpine passes thrown in. The autoroutes, while not wildly exciting are always pretty empty as you probably know. Sounds like a nice trip. I took my Fulvia to Corsica years ago, ferry from Nice to Ajaccio. I remember countless hairpins, wild pigs in the road, and discovering after a lengthy drive I'd hardly got anywhere on the map. Beautifu island though. Oh, and the ferry boarding crew applauded as I drove the Fulvia on!

[Parisien]

Sounds like a bucket list trip, I did a part drive from Nice to Italy as far as Lucca following the SS1 Aurelia, written up in the Viva Lancia a few months back if of interest.

The Italians started the slow cooking movement in the 1980s, and effectively since the 90's Italy has become the slow driving country of Europe, unless on motorways.

P