I have been following this board for about 6 months both to help with my purchase decision as well as to learn more about my soon to be new toy. I finally received allocation for October build and have actually set up for European Delivery the week of Thanksgiving (for some reason, they hold the car for one month after production before you can pick it up for Euro delivery). In light of the recent world events, I am having some second thoughts about the wisdom of this trip. I would appreciate your opinions as this message board has been a rich source of information. I will be bummed if I have to cancel the trip, as I had planned on a factory tour of the Porsche factory as well as 2 days in Nurnberg to try the Beast out on the 'Ring (at the end of the trip so that the proper break-in will be completed. Thanks in advance for your opinions.
PaulF
1999 Porsche 996 Coupe White/Navy (soon to be for sale)
2002 M5 Lemans/Caramel Oct build
2002 Porsche 996 TT Lapis/NBL Nov delivery
Hey Paul. My understanding is that travel to and from Europe and within Europe need not be avoided at this time. You'll need to reassess the situation as the U.S. takes steps to answer the attacks last week. You might not want to be abroad if the U.S. is making retaliatory strikes.
U.S. citizens planning to travel abroad should consult the Department of State's Public Announcements, Travel Warnings, Consular Information Sheets, and regional travel brochures, all of which are available at the State Department Travel Site.
In addition to information on the Internet, U.S. travelers may hear recorded information by calling the Department of State in Washington, D.C. at 202-647-5225 from their touch-tone telephone, or receive information by automated telefax by dialing 202-647-3000 from their fax machine.
I don't see any problem in taking your Euro delivery. Security will be increased everywere. Even if USA attacks Afghanistan I don't think it will affect your trip or safety.
P.S. The "Ring" is not located in Nürnberg, rather around Nürburg, in the Eifel region.
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Stefan
Ex-owner of '99 Imola Red Beast
I agree with Stefan. No matter what happens over the next months, Europe will be relatively safe (maybe even safer than the US). You will probably see some more police and border checks, but that's it.
I don't think that the Nurburgring is a target in any terrorist's book...except maybe for environmentalists...
I agree with Keesdh,
We're going down to the South of France on Friday for a couple of weeks, all things point to 'business as usual' unless otherwise stated.
You may see some aircraft going over, but that's about it (hopefully)
AG
Originally posted by PaulF as well as 2 days in Nurnberg to try the Beast out on the 'Ring
The Nurburgring is in the Eifel mountains southwest of Bonn. If you're looking to find it on a map, Adenau is probably the largest of the three towns within the track. There's a bakery in Adenau that does tremendous cherry streusel, wish I could remember the name of the place.
A warning: the Nordschleife (the north loop, or 'old Nurburgring') is > 13mi long, has 100+ turns and for all that is a very fast circuit, it is often wet and if it isn't wet you'll be sharing the track with a bunch of bikers. It is very, very easy to do stupid things there.
I go to Europe 2-3 times per year on vacations and have one planned in 2 weeks. Here are a couple of things going through my mind. I think Americans typically overreact to threats and don't take into account the "relative risk" of situations. (i.e. they will avoid traveling for fear of a 1 in 2 million risk of dying, but they will frequently speed and DUI which carries a much higher risk).
1. I am not concerned about general safety for Americans in W. Europe (I'm going to Spain). Obviously, it might be a good idea to keep a low profile - don't be the "ugly American", but that holds true always.
2. I'm not concerned about travel safety as the overall risk is still extremely low. Even on last Tuesday, the calculated risk was very small considering the number of passengers scheduled to fly that day.
3. My big concern (and the reason I'm considering cancelling my trip) is the possible shutdown to the air transportation infrastructure and my getting stranded for a protracted time. This possibility becomes much higher if any retaliation occurs in the near future.
Bottom line, if your job situation does not critically require you to be back on time, then I would go and have a blast!
Paul, I must tell you that I was FURIOUS when I found out the my moronic salesman was wrong and I actually could take European delivery. My family has done this twice with Mercedes and it is a blast.
Not only that, but my wife is a flight attendant and I fly free!
If you go, please visit the beer garden by the river in Salzburg, Austria, make sure you get one of the monster radishes with lots of salt, goes great with the brew. Murph
Thanks everyone for your input, especially the fact that the Nurnburgring is not in Nurnberg. I had not looked closely at this so now I need to change my route to include this. I will plan on going unless the State Department advises against which of course depends on world events.
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