One for the road

Martin Gurdon rounds up some unusual driving breaks, from hiring classic cars to taking a tour around Florence in a fabulous Fiat 500

Taking a traditional driving holiday can seem like a great idea when booking. After all, who doesn't find the prospect of a roadtrip romantic? But all too often the dreams switch to holiday hell, as the promised sports coupé turns into a hatchback. But there are solutions, for those who would rather be guaranteed of driving something interesting to somewhere interesting.

1.High-class hire
Several car hire firms offer so-called "prestige" collections for those not keen on driving the run-of-the-mill hire car. The Hertz Prestige Collection offers you a choice of superior car—from a Jaguar, Mercedes or BMW—and guarantees that the car you order in advance is the car you drive away.  With locations across the world, it's a good opportunity for a fun driving break.

Guy Salmon Prestige Rental enables you to rent a Mini Cooper S for £91 a day (£235 for the weekend), a Saab 9-4 convertible (£147 and £367) or Mercedes CLS four-door coupe for £286 a day (£785 for a weekend break).

For an even more memorable experience, you can join one of the expanding number of supercar clubs, which allow you to drive the sort of cars most of us will never be able to own. These schemes work on a points basis with members buying points that are redeemed for days in the cars. The best companies are those with the biggest collections (making it more likely you can drive the car you want). Ecurie 25 and P1 International are good examples, although several clubs have launched recently.  On the minus side, these expect you to stump up thousands of pounds for a one-off joining fee and several thousand more for annual membership. So, it's not an option for one-off hire.

2.Classic cars
If classic cars are more your thing, then don't forget the original fractional car scheme, the Classic Car Club. It owns a fantastic collection, some of them "modern classics" (a TT Roadster), some of them simply classics (E-type Jaguar), all available to drive away from its London garage or one of its overseas locations. The joining fee is £500 and annual membership starts at £3,750. 

Britain also boasts a well developed classic car hire industry, which even has its own trade body, the Historic and Classic-car Hirers' Guild, with a website (www.hchg.co.uk) that can direct you to operators in your area. One example is Tunbridge Wells-based Classic Touring, run by ex-hotelier David Sloan, who inherited an interest in cars from his father and turned it into a business. The company fleet includes a four-seat, 1966 Alvis TD21 convertible. Upgraded with power steering and a five-speed gearbox, it costs from £220 a day to hire, £530 for a weekend and £990 a week. You'd pay the same to hire Sloan's fantastic 1968 Jaguar Mk2 3.4, 1964 Bentley S111 saloon or his 1970 Mercedes Benz 280 SL.

3.Scenic routes
For those seeking a fast car and culinary fix the Grand Hotel La Florida near Barcelona is offering a weekend break mixing an hour's drive in a Ferrari F430, a restaurant with tasting menu, and a "relaxing bath with a bottle of Gimonet Brut Premier Champagne",  for £1,269. Should you desire it, an upgrade to a Presidential Suite is another £413.

If you fancy taking your own cars on an interesting holiday, Driving Adventures offers packages in Europe and beyond. An example is a nine-day Alpine group driving holiday, taking in Swiss and Italian mountain roads. It costs £2,490 per person (assuming you're with a partner), staying in five-star hotels. Running in June, the event is a charitable fundraiser to help build a South African orphanage.

With a fleet of 20 convertible Alfa Romeos—including the classic Giulietta Spider and 2600 Spider—Nostalgic organises self-drive tours across Europe, putting you in control of some of the classiest wheels ever made. Prices for a long weekend staying in four-star hotels start from £1,337 per person.

Closer to home, Classic Escapes offers holidays mixing old cars with B&B holidays in Cornwall and Devon, and will hire out anything from a 1948 MG TC to a 1965 Austin Healey 3000 for between £234 and £876, depending on when and where you want to go and for how long.

4.Small is beautiful
Fun doesn't always mean fast and those keen on quirky might enjoy a guided tour of Florence in a convoy of classic Fiat 500s. The brainchild of Sophie Bye, who chucked in a TV documentary-making career to go to Florence to set up the business, the 500 Touring Club offers guided convoy tours of the city for £18.50 per person, picnics from £67.45, photographic tours from £131 and car hire from £299 a day. Later this year there will be countryside tours with meals, wine tastings and overnight stays. There are also plans for a diminutive drive-in cinema, and a baby Fiat driving-simulator to help those used to driving modern cars.

5.Overseas track days
Sometimes, a driving holiday can benefit from a focus. For years, father and son team, William and David White, have owned insect-like Caterham 7 sports cars and have often taken them to track days. But they rarely enjoyed the experience ("too much hassle and too stressful," says William). So the pair set up BHP Trackdays, which runs events at circuits in the UK and France for owners of sports cars who want to give them the sort of exercise that would be antisocial on public roads.

The pair describe their operation as "middle market" price wise, charging £140 for a day at a circuit 60 miles from Calais. Here the emphasis is not just on the track, but the social side of events.

Contacts
www.500touringclub.com
www.bhptrackdays.co.uk
www.classiccarclub.com
www.classic-touring.co.uk
www.cornwallclassiccarhire.co.uk
www.driving-adventures.co.uk
www.ecurie25.co.uk
www.guysalmon.com
www.hertz.co.uk
www.nostalgic.eu
www.p1international.com