Epic European journeys - London to Warsaw in my new 328 GTS

Greetings to all Ferrarichatters - I can now truly say I am a Ferraristi as I picked up my 328 GTS two days ago and am proud to announce myself as the first Ferrariowning fchatter in Poland .

You can read Marc's story on the pick up of the car in "The handover" thread. Here's my story. Firady morning I flew in on a 6.a.m. flight from Warsaw. Marc picked me up at Luton Airport and we went to his house to pick up the beast. Had quite an eventful trip home. In the UK immediately after leaving Marc's house I was greeted by torrential rain which was to stop only in Germany. The motorway to Dover was CLOSED because there had been no ferry sailings the last day and it was blocked by trucks waiting to get out of the UK. I missed my ferry and had to take Eurotunnel on a standby ticket - ouch!

Finally got to France around 4 p.m. The next 600 kms were mainly stuck behind idiots with their rear fog lights on in traffic jams and heavy rain. Antwerpen was worst - spent about 2 hours there. Then in Germany the traffic lightened up and I finally got to the hotel in Porta Westfalica (chosen because of the Italian name of the town).

Saturday was to be the fun day. Left the hotel at 7 a.m. and got on the empty and dry autobahn to Berlin. Watched the sunrise and enjoyed really effortless cruising at up to 200 km/h with ease. As it got later noticed the attention the Ferrari was getting with cars jostling behind me to be first in line behind the car but not wanting to overtake. Lots of waves and smiles - coool .

I stopped for photos at the old iron curtain border crossing between East and West Germany. Having grown up on the "other side" and having crossed the border in this particular place, remembering the East German guards searching the car for stowaways means I still get a lump in my throat and a nostalgic reflectional mood whenever I pass it. I thought it fitting to have a photo of my new Ferrari in this chilling place.

The drive to the Polish border was a blast - great empty autobahn and great weather. I crossed the border into Poland in a little town north of the autobahn crossing - Kostrzyn. The reson was that the road from Kostrzyn to Pniewy is one of the nicest driving roads in Poland - starts through a national park with marshlands and goes on through forests and small villages. Completely empty, winding road - loved every minute of it. I then got back on the A2 to Poznan and got a phone call from Fchatter Marek from Poznan who knew I was driving back and wanted to see the car. I picked him up at a McD's off the motorway and took him for a little spin. It was his 1st time in a Ferrari so as the seasoned Ferrari veteran (by 24 hours ;-) ) I showed him what the magic was about. He seemed to enjoy it ;-). Trip back to Warsaw was uneventful save for the wonderful brand new motorway which is really deserted and just made for cruising at 160-200. Made one or two high speed bursts and the GPS sat nav showed that the fastest was 244 km/h which I think is pretty good for an 18 year old car.

Car is now sitting in my garage waiting for a wash. Surprisingly it's not so dirty - only the wheels have a great coating of brake dust - a tribute to the 20 coats of Zymol Marc put on the car .

All trip the car did not miss a beat and performed flawlessly. I am hooked in the noise, performance, raw power and acceleration. I love the looks. I still need to work on the handling and always getting the gear changes right. Still can't find the right seating position for me either - the Maranello Clib de Masochisti must have designed it. Also if ever a car was crying out for a 6th gear - this is the one!

Thanks to Marc for the car and for the professional way of handling the transaction - it involved a lot of trust. Basically if it wasn't for what I was able to read up on the car from his posts on here I would not have done this -this is a great forum and I hope to continue to pick your brains and contribute when and where I can.

--
Przemek (PoleApart)
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Congratulations with your new car Przemek! I am happy you brought your baby save at home. The empty roads in your pics look so tempting! I can imagine you had a great trip. How many km did you drive?

Peter

 

About 1600 km in total during the 2 days.
I've actually done it a couple of times in 1 go but not in a Ferrari ;-).

Roads in Poland - well some are great like the A2, others nice and empty and winding but others really crap. You need to know where to go. In a couple of years when they finally connect the A2 between the German border and Warsaw it should be great. Now there's about 100 kms missing on each end but the 300 km in the middle is great.

 

Congratulations! I wish you all the best with this beautiful 328 GTS.
The last owner treated her very well. I hope that you will do the same. She is a pretty car.

See you in Tuscany.

Ton

 

Congratulations with your new toy, handle it with car and much love !

Kinnie

 

Congrats... Take care of it and enjoy

 

Great post Przemek! Looks like you had a great fun trip despite the weather and traffic!

I am really pleased that the car performed and you are hooked on the noise and power - I knew you would be!! Know what you mean about a 6th gear tho, she does rev up high!

Great pics too. Any more?? Wierd to see pics that I did not take!! I will enjoy your postings in the future and cannot wait to hook up with you in Tuscany 07!!!

 

Great story! Nice to read about your joyfull experience
Take care!

Yes, Antwerpen can be hell... and on top the weather was miserable friday evening...

That 328 surely has seen a lot from Europe allready... from down south in Greece to up north in Scotland and several countries in between... great!

 

I'm actually wondering whether because it's first home was Greece that is the reason why it doesn't have front fog lights. There is a blanking plate between the seats, no light for them on the dash and no bulbs. I thought all 328's had them. Since in winter we need to drive with our lights on this is not good as I must have the pop up lights on all the time.

Still it's now going for a wash and off for a good sleep until the weather gets better.

Here are some more pics - I didn't take a lot because of the weather.
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bet you spent a fair bit of time at the petrol pumps!

 

Przemek,
Just curious: what will it be the new registration? Will you have a "special" like Marc had or will it be standard?
Ciao
Eugenio

 

That could indeed be the answer... or maybe it was an option in some countries at that time?

What about Marc's British license plate? I guess you were just permitted to use it for transit? A Polish plate allready on the way?

 

Congrats with the car!!
Great story and pics indeed!
Wish you many awesome kms with the car in the future

 

Hey guys - I'm the lucky soul that was picked up for a ride in Poland. I confirm - the car is just perfect!! Stunning in every aspect. I imagined it was going to be a blast but never did I expect what I experienced; the raw power, acceleration and noise. I was VERY pleasantly surprised... speachless I think is the word :] I'd like to once more, publibcly this time, thank Przemek for making a 16yr dream come true - finally a ride in a Ferrari. Przemek you're a great and open person, I suspect not everyone would be willing to meet up with a person you barely know to share such a prized treasure. I spent the rest of the day with a huge smile on my face... what an experience!
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@Przemek: Congats with your new perchase. I ahve read a lot of Mark's car the last years and I think you bought one of the best 328's there is.
Great to see you shared the experience with Marek. For me that's one of the nicests things to do: sharing with other Ferraristi. Nothing beats a smile of someone sitting next to and enjoying the trip

Have fun with it.

 

Przemek that wash a great ride i tink.
i hope you will have a lot off fun with the car.
end maybe we see you a time around europe with a meating.

 

Przemek

Great write up on your trip home and look forward to meeting you in June in Tuscany

 

Congratulations, what a nice journey! Considering the times only 16 years ago and the life people had, it is certainly inspiring to see such progress and personal 'success' stories.

I've seen some 328s with aftermarket fog lights added to the lower part of the grille and it looks ok. I'm sure you could add something like that instead of having the popup lights on all the time.

 

Thanks for the suggestion but this car is staying 100% original, exactly the way it left Maranello. No ghetto alloy wheels or other after market add ons. Anyway - at high speed it's quieter with the pop ups up

 

On the licence plate issue. I can get a personal plate in the format:

W[single digit number] xxxxx

So for example these are possibilities:
W3 28GTS
W1 FORZA
W8 BELLA
W8 FORME
W0 FRARI
W0 FCHAT

At the moment the 2 most likely options I'm considering are either W3 28GTS or W6 DO100 which in Polish means 0-100 in 6 seconds ;-). If anyone has any creative suggestions feel free to contribute.

 

Seconded Mark.

Przemek if you enjoy the car half as much as Marc you'll have a fantastic time

 

Congratulations on the car Przemek and thanks for the great write up about your trip back home. The 328 must be a very rare car in Poland. Any idea how many are there?

BTW I also have no fog lights on my '89 GTB. As original.

 

hey fellow, this is a fantastic story and experience from you, for which we all thank you for sharing it with us! we all understand you very well, f.i. the pics from that open road in Germany; woooow! heaven man! so step on it! you go guy! greetings form holland. (i have a 328 gts as well)

 

Absolutely great!

Nice combinations!

 

Hello Przemek, Millions of Congratulations, with the purchase and the story on F-Chat! I got the same, isn't it a jewel? You seem to be the kind of guy who's gonna look very well after it, pamper and cherish it! Big Bravo!
Is Poland a growing F-market, how many dealers around, I guess a F is a very rare car over there!
CIAO