Harry's Road Trips

[Aragorn]

In the vein of the many touring/traveling videos posted by our brother Gio, but without derailing his own threads, I thought I'd start a new thread dedicated to the road trips of Harry Metcalfe.

For the non-petrolheads among you, Harry Metcalfe is a now retired automotive journalist and former editor at EVO, a British motoring magazine — you can find their YouTube channel here — and he himself owns two YouTube channels, Harry's Garage and Harry's Farm — the latter dedicated to his activities as a farmer.

On the Harry's Garage channel, Harry regularly reviews new and exciting automobiles, as well as that he also details the restoration and/or repairs of his many classic cars — of which he owns a great many, among which a Lamborghini Countach, a Lamborghini Espada, a Ferrari Testarossa, a Porsche 930 Turbo S, a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, a Jaguar XJ12, and so on — as well as a number of historically important motorbikes.

Every now and then, Harry and his wife also embark on a road trip in one of his venerated vehicles. Some of those trips have turned out quite epic and yielded some beautiful footage of the scenery. For instance, Harry has taken the Ferrari Testarossa to the edge of the Sahara desert, and the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow all the way up to the arctic circle.

Even though the emphasis of Harry's road trip videos does of course lay with the motoring aspects of the journey, there is a lot of impressive scenery and interesting travel information in his videos, which is why I've decided to start posting them here. I will however not be doing it in chronological order, but that shouldn't be any problem for anyone — the videos are all recent enough. The videographer on Harry's road trips is his wife; for his other motoring-related videos closer to home — which I won't be posting here — it is usually his son doing the filming.

We'll start off with Harry's most recent road trip, of which he has just uploaded the video. In this one — 48 minutes long — he's taking his Porsche 930 Turbo S to Spain, and it appears to be consuming quite a bit more fuel (and oil) than he had anticipated.

Enjoy!

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4anhPIyQncc

[Aragorn]

This one is of Harry's trip to the Sahara in his Ferrari Testarossa — 29 minutes.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRjGN--R4pE

[Aragorn]

And for contrast, driving a 1969 Rolls-Royce all the way up to the arctic circle in winter — 38 minutes.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIdNcbsgOiM

[Chuckie]

The Jaguar has always been one of my coveted automobiles. Those are all epic automobiles, of course. I love that beautiful red with power under the hood that cannot be beat. I've driven mostly Chevy hatchbacks and other such degrading autos. Though, now I do have an aging Audi that I actually bought for my daughter but then she said she didn't want it, I think because she was embarrassed that I was driving an aging Chevy Malibu Maxx (hatchback, of course). My older brother use to race back in the day. I know a couple of people that have Porsches (the corksuckers)


If they're in Hell at least they're moving North...

[Aragorn]

The Jaguar has always been one of my coveted automobiles. Those are all epic automobiles, of course. I love that beautiful red with power under the hood that cannot be beat. I've driven mostly Chevy hatchbacks and other such degrading autos. Though, now I do have an aging Audi that I actually bought for my daughter but then she said she didn't want it, I think because she was embarrassed that I was driving an aging Chevy Malibu Maxx (hatchback, of course). My older brother use to race back in the day. I know a couple of people that have Porsches (the corksuckers)

Well, I don't want to get too carried away here because I know myself, and I first want to see where this thread is going in terms of views and replies, but I will say here and now that I've always had a soft spot for Lamborghinis.

In the USA, Lamborghini is probably the best known exotic marque — seeing how many rappers, rock stars, Hollywood celebrities and other wannabes are driving one — but over here in Belgium, the marque does still enjoy a reputation of sophistication, unfortunately paired to a lower degree of popularity among automotive journalists than, say, Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche.

Over here in Belgium concretely, Porsches are the cars to buy if you have lots of money and only little (or no) sophistication. They're the ultimate show-off cars for flaunting your wealth, and most Porsche drivers I know are indeed antisocial assholes with more money than brains.

At the moment, I myself am absolutely in love with the brand-new Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica — see the image below.

It is basically a more comfortable and more civilized version of the very track-focused but road-legal Huracán STO, with which it shares its drive train. In other words, it has the same high-revving, naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10 engine, with the same 640 PS (~631 bhp) — albeit that peak torque has been lowered to 565 Nm, versus the 600 Nm in the Huracán EVO 4-wheel-drive — mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission that's driving the rear wheels only. It has 20% more down force than the Huracán EVO and 35% less drag — both the front and rear ends were redesigned for better aerodynamics and improved cooling. It can be spec'ed as hardcore as you like (with a stripped-out interior and even a titanium roll cage) or as luxurious as you like (with electrically adjusted and heated comfort seats and lots of leather and alcantara), including with regard to the exterior touches and livery.

"You buy a Ferrari if you want to be someone. You buy a Lamborghini if you are someone."

(Frank Sinatra)

[Chuckie]

yeah, nice ... I can dig it ...

[Wind]

I've only seen once a Lamborghini here as a young boy by chance. It looked cool.

Some young guy with his brother had made a lot of money with their IT business.

[Chuckie]

wow...

[Aragorn]

I've only seen once a Lamborghini here as a young boy by chance. It looked cool.

Some young guy with his brother had made a lot of money with their IT business.

That's a Lamborghini Diablo, which was introduced in the late 1980s as the successor to the Countach, and it was the predecessor of the Murcielago, itself the predecessor of the now outgoing Lamborghini Aventador with its 6.5-liter V12. I have seen one of these — in yellow, just as in the picture — back in the 1980s. It was owned by the guy who owned a discotheque that I regularly hung out at. There was another Lamborghini — a red Countach — that I regularly saw parked here in town in the mid 1980s, and out on the road, I have once or twice run into a black Murcielago.

All of the above are V12-powered, though. The Huracán on the other hand is the successor to the Gallardo and is "the baby Lambo". It has a V10 engine, and it's a little more compact. It's also less of a handful to drive than its brutal bigger brothers with their whiplash-inducing, old-school single-clutch automated manual gearbox, and it's a lot easier to thread through traffic.

I've also seen a yellow Ferrari 430 once, but supercars are really rare in this area nowadays. You will on occasion run into an Aston Martin Vantage — a guy I know owns one of those — and I've also already seen an old Maserati BiTurbo once, but those are GT cars, not supercars. And there was a rich guy here in town who owned a Rolls, and a couple more who own a Jaguar, but that's about as "exotic" as it gets. There's also someone here in town who owns a new Mustang, and one with a BMW i8, but those aren't supercars either, and while they may be expensive, they're not quite as expensive as a Lambo, a Ferrari or a McLaren.

And speaking of McLaren, I've never seen one of those in the flesh. Sure, there are videos up on YouTube of McLarens in Knokke-Heist, a very wealthy city at the coast, but I've never actually seen one with my own eyes. But Porsches, Mercedes-Benz, BMWs, Teslas, Audis... If I had a Euro for every time I see one of those, then I'd be able to afford one of them myself.

I reckon that the biggest prohibiting factor here will probably be the annual amount of road tax you pay on cars with large-displacement engines. It's them carbon dioxide emissions, you know? It's even the main reason — well, the EU emission standards, to be precise — why most manufacturers of family cars are now replacing all of their medium-sized naturally aspirated engines — say 1.6 liter and above — by turbocharged engines with fewer cylinders and a (much) smaller displacement.

While there still are large-displacement engines around, we are now witnessing their swan song. Lamborghini categorically refuses to put turbos on its supercars — the Lamborghini Urus does have a twin-turbo V8, but that's an SUV and it has a slightly more powerful version of the engine in the Porsche Macan — and for good reason too, because a turbocharged petrol/gasoline engine just isn't as linear and predictable as a naturally aspirated one, but even Lamborghini knows that their next models are going to have to have smaller engines. They'll probably stick to a V10 again for the successor of the Huracán — which is scheduled to be released in 2025 — and they have definitely already announced that the successor of the outgoing Aventador will still feature a V12, but they are going to focus on hybridization instead. McLaren and Ferrari already have plug-in hybrid supercars out now — both of them with a V6 engine — albeit that the internal combustion engines in those do come with turbochargers.

But that naturally aspirated Lamborghini V10 engine really is something special, and I sincerely hope they'll decide to keep that configuration. Nothing sounds quite like it, and its design and engineering are simply staggering. It has a 12.7:1 compression ratio, both direct and indirect fuel injection, it redlines at 8500 rpm, and it already has more than 70% of its peak torque available from 1000 rpm, which is only just above idle. It's a masterpiece in engineering.

Hmm, I said I wasn't going to allow myself to get carried away, and yet here I am, raving on. Oh well...

[Chuckie]

That's a Lamborghini Diablo, which was introduced in the late 1980s as the successor to the Countach, and it was the predecessor of the Murcielago, itself the predecessor of the now outgoing Lamborghini Aventador with its 6.5-liter V12. I have seen one of these — in yellow, just as in the picture — back in the 1980s. It was owned by the guy who owned a discotheque that I regularly hung out at. There was another Lamborghini — a red Countach — that I regularly saw parked here in town in the mid 1980s, and out on the road, I have once or twice run into a black Murcielago.

All of the above are V12-powered, though. The Huracàn on the other hand is the successor to the Gallardo and is "the baby Lambo". It has a V10 engine, and it's a little more compact. It's also less of a handful to drive than its brutal bigger brothers with their whiplash-inducing, old-school single-clutch automated manual gearbox, and it's a lot easier to thread through traffic.

I've also seen a yellow Ferrari 430 once, but supercars are really rare in this area nowadays. You will on occasion run into an Aston Martin Vantage — a guy I know owns one of those — and I've also already seen an old Maserati BiTurbo once, but those are GT cars, not supercars. And there was a rich guy here in town who owned a Rolls, and a couple more who own a Jaguar, but that's about as "exotic" as it gets. There's also someone here in town who owns a new Mustang, and one with a BMW i8, but those aren't supercars either, and while they may be expensive, they're not quite as expensive as a Lambo, a Ferrari or a McLaren.

And speaking of McLaren, I've never seen one of those in the flesh. Sure, there are videos up on YouTube of McLarens in Knokke-Heist, a very wealthy city at the coast, but I've never actually seen one with my own eyes. But Porsches, Mercedes-Benz, BMWs, Teslas, Audis... If I had a Euro for every time I see one of those, then I'd be able to afford one of them myself.

I reckon that the biggest prohibiting factor here will probably be the annual amount of road tax you pay on cars with large-displacement engines. It's them carbon dioxide emissions, you know? It's even the main reason — well, the EU emission standards, to be precise — why most manufacturers of family cars are now replacing all of their medium-sized naturally aspirated engines — say 1.6 liter and above — by turbocharged engines with fewer cylinders and a (much) smaller displacement.

While there still are large-displacement engines around, we are now witnessing their swan song. Lamborghini categorically refuses to put turbos on its supercars — the Lamborghini Urus does have a twin-turbo V8, but that's an SUV and it has a slightly more powerful version of the engine in the Porsche Macan — and for good reason too, because a turbocharged petrol/gasoline engine just isn't as linear and predictable as a naturally aspirated one, but even Lamborghini knows that their next models are going to have to have smaller engines. They'll probably stick to a V10 again for the successor of the Huracàn — which is scheduled to be released in 2025 — and they have definitely already announced that the successor of the outgoing Aventador will still feature a V12, but they are going to focus on hybridization instead. McLaren and Ferrari already have plug-in hybrid supercars out now — both of them with a V6 engine — albeit that the internal combustion engines in those do come with turbochargers.

But that naturally aspirated Lamborghini V10 engine really is something special, and I sincerely hope they'll decide to keep that configuration. Nothing sounds quite like it, and its design and engineering are simply staggering. It has a 12.7:1 compression ratio, both direct and indirect fuel injection, it redlines at 8500 rpm, and it already has more than 70% of its peak torque available from 1000 rpm, which is only just above idle. It's a masterpiece in engineering.

Hmm, I said I wasn't going to allow myself to get carried away, and yet here I am, raving on. Oh well...

My older brother use to own one of those Maserati GT thingy bobbys. I was with a couple of grand nephews one time here in Houston at a mall and they bolted toward a car that was idling on one of the intersection. I was thinking, "What the hell is that all about" ... I guess it was a Lamborghini ... I was like ,ho-hum, yawn, what about the Ferrari ... that would likely get my attention. I was running around one time in the 'rich' part of the city and a Rolls rolled up next to me ... I didn't want to stare or let my eyes bug out, but it was cool.

What about the Corvette. I remember long ago I was walking across a minor thoroughfare and about 2-3 blocks down the road A Stingray was sitting at a light, when the light turned I watched it gain velocity and just literally hug the road and its small curves. It was a very impressive sight. I never forget it and I still think wow when I remember. It was a beautiful sight.

[Aragorn]

I was running around one time in the 'rich' part of the city and a Rolls rolled up next to me ... I didn't want to stare or let my eyes bug out, but it was cool.

When I was in England during the Easter holidays of 1981, we got to see Rolls-Royces, Bentleys and Jaguars by the busloads, and especially so in the heart of London, where our hotel was.

[Aragorn]

40 minutes, this one.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhYGgid82yE

[Lord Sidious]

Porsche + Spain = win

[Chuckie]

40 minutes, this one.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhYGgid82yE

Wow, beautiful!

I know you're not going to believe this but I just found out I am working on the tech side of the company that owns Jaguar ... That guy must be super rich, he owns everything. I had the grand honor of working for one of the family for about a week before another branch overrode the hire so I would have to work on their project but on a Verizon product. (I told Verizon to f*ck off a few years ago, I hope they don't remember). It is a small world and everything is connected. Something I constantly try to emphasize.

[Aragorn]

I know you're not going to believe this but I just found out I am working on the tech side of the company that owns Jaguar ...

Tata Motors? They're the ones who own Jaguar these days. And they own Land Rover too.

That guy must be super rich, he owns everything.

You mean Harry Metcalfe? Well, he has certainly done well for himself, that's a given. But you do have to keep in mind that most of his cars are old-timers, and as such, they were quite a lot less expensive when he bought them than when they were new, plus that there are also special insurance and tax arrangements for such vehicles.

Now, if you're going to talk about being super rich, then you should check out Jay Leno. He's got a YouTube channel about his cars as well, and there's some stuff in his garage that Harry Metcalfe can't even begin to touch, plus that he's got a whole crew of mechanics and engineers just to keep that stuff in pristine condition.

Here's another guy that's super rich, and he's still very young. He goes by the name Shmee150 on YouTube, but his real name is Tim Burton. He's only 34, but he "owns a couple of websites", and he does come from a wealthy family — they own a house in Monaco.

He started off as a car spotter on YouTube, and then he began buying cars and then selling them on again after a while in order to buy different ones and then enjoy those for a while. He has in the meantime owned several McLarens — McLaren even has a custom dark blue color in their catalog that was named Burton Blue, because it was custom-designed with him for his McLaren 650S Spider — and Ferraris. He currently has a garage very similar to that of Harry Metcalfe's, but filled with supercars and hypercars, among which a Ford GT, several McLarens, several Ferraris, a completely custom-designed Lamborghini Huracán STO, several Mercedes-AMGs, and a lot more.

He also does a lot of road trips, but they're more car-focused than Harry's videos, and he generally travels together with a bunch of friends, so that he can take multiple of his cars along on the same trip. He also regularly meets up and travels with other YouTubers with car channels, and he is often invited by both car manufacturers and dealerships to do early reviews on their new cars — that's how popular his channel has become, with over 2.33 million subscribers.