Mazda
MX-5
“Sydney”
- Year
- 1989
- Driver
- Sam "The founder" Edwards
- Giro appearances
- 24 25 26
From the road
She may not be perfect, but she is the poster child of GDE.
Road book / 2026 / Road Book
Giro D’Europa
2026
The Italian job.
UK / Monaco / Northern Italy / Germany
The overview
The Italian job.
A steering-wheel workshop, the streets of Monaco and some of Italy’s greatest automotive names. The 2026 Giro went south for the cars and the roads, then changed course when the weather had other ideas.
- Giro edition
- 03
- Trip year
- 2026
- Route stops
- 10
The route / 2026
Lines in the road book.
-
01
UK
-
02
Les Leston
-
03
Monaco
-
04
Bologna
-
05
Florence
-
06
Motor Valley
-
07
Lake Como
-
08
Stuttgart
-
09
Cologne
-
10
Home
The journey at a glance. The Dolomites were planned, but missed because of incoming weather.
GDE / 2026 / 5 cars Meet the convoy. Show cars Hide cars
Mazda
Mx5
“Mr Reliable”
- Year
- 1998
- Driver
- Ed "fix it" Fitchett
- Giro appearances
- 24 25 26
From the road
She's green, she's mean, she can never make it to commo
Renalt
Megane GTS
“The Tank”
- Year
- 2010
- Driver
- Tyler And Dom "The speed cameras worst nightmare"
- Giro appearances
- 26
From the road
Its blue and its french most importantly it can actually fit a backpack in it.
Mini
Cooper S
- Year
- 2011
- Driver
- Jack "how tall are you" Hewitt
- Giro appearances
- 26
From the road
black box may be fitted but next year we are all in trouble. Roof box full of Sam's stuff equipped.
Ford
Fiesta
- Driver
- Josh "faster than you thought" Wood
- Giro appearances
- 26
From the road
most sightings of this car are followed with F*** that was josh. monegasc car parks are its kryptonite
The journey
A route becomes a story.
01
Leaving the UK
Every Giro begins with a route. This one took us south to Monaco, into northern Italy and back through Germany. What happened between those points became the story.
02
A visit to Les Leston
The first stop brought us up close to the craftsmanship behind Les Leston’s steering wheels. A fitting place to start a trip built around the pleasure of driving.
03
South to Monaco
After Les Leston came the run south to Monaco. The principality was our stop before heading into Italy, trading one automotive setting for another.
04
Bologna & Florence
Bologna and Florence formed part of the Italian stretch. Alongside the cars and the next destination, the shared stops were part of what made this another Giro.
05
The Motor Valley
Pagani, Lamborghini and Ferrari were all on the itinerary through northern Italy. Standing among the hypercars and classics felt especially good after arriving in our own rather more travelled cars.
06
Back to Lake Como
Lake Como returned to the route. So did an unwelcome tradition: one of the MX-5s failed before making it all the way there. Rough Italian roads had contributed to the trouble.
07
Heading north
Incoming weather put an end to the planned Dolomites visit. Germany became the next chapter, with Stuttgart and Cologne our bases for the final stretch north.
08
Home, with another story
The route changed. A car gave us trouble. And the trip still became another collection of roads, shared stops and stories to carry home. That was Giro D’Europa 2026.
Field notes
The damage.
The Dolomites will have to wait. Weather took them off the route, while rough Italian roads contributed to another MX-5 failure before Como. The journey did not follow the plan all the way — it rarely does.
From the road / 2026
More than the miles.
Giro D’Europa 2027
The next route
starts here.
Future trips, new films and the next chapter of GDE.
Join the 2027 list