The roads in Northern Italy, just south of the Swiss and Austrian borders, are among the best in the world for drivers. While the entire region offers up an embarrassment of riches, no road is more renown than the one up Stelvio Pass, which was named by Top Gear as “The Greatest Driving Road in the World.”
With some 48 hairpin corners on the eastern side of the pass alone, many linked by relatively long and straight stretches of asphalt, the Stelvio pass will test the handling and braking ability of any car, truck or motorcycle (or bicycle, as the route is often used in Italian cycling events). We’d jump at the chance to drive it a blandmobile rental car, so we can only imagine what its like to drive a Ferrari 458 Italia Spider on it.
Actually, we can do one better: thanks to Car and Driver’s YouTube channel, we can show you video of its European correspondent, Jethro Bovingdon, driving that very car on the Stelvio Pass. It’s eleven and a half minutes of pure Euro-Ferrari-porn, and worth every second of viewing time. Maximize the video, turn up the volume, sit back and enjoy a brief trip to Italy in a Ferrari.
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
