Ask any Victorian driver where they would take a sports car on a Sunday morning, and they will name the Black Spur. The road, officially the Maroondah Highway between Healesville and Narbethong, threads through the kind of forest that filmmakers pretend to find in fantasy films. Mountain ash trees taller than office buildings line both sides of the tarmac. The light comes down in shafts. The road itself is a string of cambered second and third gear corners. There are days when the surface is shaded so deeply you can almost smell the tree bark.
Why the Black Spur Works for Supercars
A great driving road needs three things. Surface, sequence and scenery. The Black Spur has all three. The surface is largely smooth, recently resurfaced in sections, and free from the patchy potholes that can make rural roads punishing for low-slung supercars. The corners come in a rhythm, second gear into third, brake before the apex, ease back on the throttle through the exit. The scenery, frankly, is the main reason it gets called Australia’s prettiest stretch of road.
Most importantly, the speed limit is sensible. There is no need to drive faster than the law allows to enjoy a Lamborghini Huracan or a Ferrari 488 here. The road’s character is in the corners, not the straights.
Local Etiquette
The Black Spur is shared. Tourists drive it. Cyclists ride it. Locals use it for everything from school runs to grocery trips. Our convoys move at a pace that respects all of that. The point of a Dream Prestige Drive day is to enjoy the cars, not to dominate the road.
We also brief every guest on overtaking etiquette before they leave. The Black Spur has a small number of legal overtaking zones marked by dashed centre lines. Outside those zones, we hold position. That is part of driving in Australia.
When to Drive It
Early morning is when the Black Spur is at its best. The road is quiet, the air is cool, and the light through the trees has not yet flattened out. Our convoys typically leave the Yarra Valley side of the Spur in the late morning, after the helicopter arrivals from Melbourne CBD. The traffic by that point is light and the road is set up for a proper drive.
Autumn and spring are the most reliable seasons. Summer can bring heat haze and increased weekend traffic. Winter is beautiful but cold, with a small risk of ice in shaded sections, which is why our hosts adjust pace to suit the conditions.
The Stop at Narbethong
We do not just blast through and turn around. Our route includes time to stop, take photos and let the cars cool. Drivers swap into the next car in the fleet, the engineering team checks the tyres, and our photographer captures the moment.
More Than a Driving Road
The Black Spur is part of the story we tell at Dream Prestige Drive. The cars are the headline. The road is the reason any of it matters. By the time you are halfway back through the Spur at the end of the day, you will understand why we built the entire experience around it.
