"The winding roads of Austria - Healying the Austrian alps"
Cross-Country with a big Healey 3000 MK III to some of the most beautiful places in Austria. [ (Part I ) ]
To drive, not to be driven - "The way that you wander is the way that you choose. The day that you tarry is the day that you lose..."
Text by Aisha Hajdin and Reinfried Marass.
Photographed by Reinfried Marass for 'Healey Marque'.
Surrounded by springlike mild temperatures, paired with a scenical view on Austria's snow-covered pikes, a removed top and the marvolous agility of an Austin Healey makes a trip across mountain routes a special kind of life experience.
Austria is a small country located in the heart of Europe, with a landscape scenery that is famous for it's mountains, lakes and rivers - a fact which is even anchored in it's Hymn.
A short road-trip - exclusively done for the readers of the 'Healey Marque' magazine - leads us to one of Austria's most beautiful areas called 'The Salzkammergut', which is a resort area spreaded among three counties. The name Salzkammergut means "Estate of the Salt Chamber" and derives from the Imperial Salt Chamber, the authority charged with running the precious salt mines in the Habsburg empire. Large parts of the region were listed as a 'UNESCO World Heritage Site' in 1997.
Covered with numerous lakes and mountains, 'The Salzkammergut' offers many opportunities for recreation. Famous objects of interest, inherent natural beauty and variety, and especially small narrow roads and alleys are almost disputing to be discovered in a Healey roadster.
"The Loser"
The Healey gear box is pretty well matched to steep and winding mountain roads and the driver in a sporty Healey roadster feels encouraged to switch gears more often than necessary. Just for fun and just to enjoy the quadrophonic sound, produced by the torquey engine with it's huge 3 Litre displacement, and echoed among the surrounding faces and walls of snow.
Quite sure these are the roads that Donald had in mind when he did design the 3000 series - these are the roads a Healey really is made for and should be forced to be driven whenever possible. (Fortunately 'someone' adds an overdrive unit, so the roadster keeps driveable on freeways as well).
What goes up must come down, and some care shall be taken when driving downhill. Old-fashioned drum brakes fairly tend to overheat when overstrained. One of the the last things a driver likes to experience are fading brakes when going downhill - especially not on a mountain named 'The Loser' .
With an elevation of of 1,838 metres 'The Loser Mountain' is one of the major landmarks and most important ski resorts in this area. It is possible to almost reach the peak by car by using a toll road of nine kilometres, named the 'Loser Panorama Street'.
Although this road isn't a mountain pass by itself, some of the most beautiful and scenical mountain roads in Austria, like 'Timmels Joch' or ' Stilfser Joch' , are a great gateway to the south, right into Italy's 'Dolce Vita'.
Female Model
Model Aisha
Photographer Reinfried Marass
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