1. F.A.T. Mankei, Grossglockner Pass, Austria
Not quite a coffee at the end of the rainbow, but for driving enthusiasts surely just as good. After climbing 2,500m (8,400ft) via 36 switchback corners over 48km of mountain pass, you will have earned your latte. This is Porsche’s new coffee stop high in the Alps.
The Grossglockner High Alpine Road is Porsche territory. The Porsche family have a house nearby, it’s where Porsche Design is based, where Ferdinand Porsche restarted the GP Ice Race and where his grandfather, Ferry Porsche, used to test Porsche prototypes to see that they wouldn’t overheat and run out of brakes. And it’s where this month the F.A.T. Mankei cafe opened. Weird name, but stick with it.
The stopover with views to die for used to be a wooden hut on the toll road (the highest sealed road in Austria), but that burnt down in the 1980s. Its rebirth is down to Ferdinand Porsche who has now rebuilt the cafe in the traditional style and added a sleek glass pavilion where a car can be displayed – surely a car showroom with the world’s best view. And the name? F.A.T. was the logistics company sponsor of the Porsche 962 that won Le Mans in 1994 and which now backs a range of automotive cultural and sporting projects. Mankei is some form of local wildlife.
Porsche’s Marlis Gottwick tells us: “We’re celebrating 75 years of Porsche sports cars in 2023 and this has been a great opportunity for people from Porsche to hang out, drink coffee and talk cars with some totally like-minded people. We drive up the mountain every morning in a convoy.”
The F.A.T. Mankei café is open Monday to Sunday 0800-1800 in the summer months.