Hi guys,
Last week we went to Italy to be at the MILLE MIGLIA. The Mille Miglia
(translated:
thousand miles) is one of the most famous and difficult historic races
in northern Italy,
established in the end of the 20’s. The last race was in 1957 where it
has been stopped
after a heavy accident (a car went into the group of spectators, over 30
people killed).
The usual country roads were used as a racing course and the cars had to
pass many
villages and some cities in Italy. Start was Brescia (south side of lake
Garda in northern
Italy) than the cars went southwards to Rome and back through Sienna and
Florence to
Brescia again within 2 1/2 days.
Since 1991 the Mille Miglia was ‘re-invented’ by some Italian guys in
Brescia as a historic
rally. 320 teams with their classic cars build between 1929 and 1957 are
allowed to
participate. The majority of the historic cars were the famous Ferraris
and Mercedes (300
SL - Gulling), Jaguars and Porsches after the 2nd world war and the
Bugattis, Alfas,
Audi Union (16 cylinder), Mercedes (SSK), Bentleys and many more
before1942.
My wife and I first visited Brescia to see the technical inspection
before the ‘race’. For the
Americans: there were 2 teams from California and one from Michigan in a
Ferrari
250LM (late 50’s), a Porsche Spyder (J. Dean had his accident with one
of those) and a
Maserati. The inspection was held on the market place in Brescia and we
stand just beside
the cars. I had a short chat with a guy in a TR3. Of course there were
also some VIPs
like Sterling Moos. He was driving a Mercedes 300SLR with was made
available and
serviced by the Mercedes Classic Museum Team (they also care about the
W196 -
Silver Arrow and SSKs). These cars are usually in Stuttgart at the Benz
Museum - sorry,
now Daimler-Chrysler! My wife was really excited (yes guys, she is now
seriously infected
by the classic cars virus) and she couldn’t decide whether she likes
more the 300SL, the
open Ferrari 2-seater racing cars or the Jaguar XK120. My favorite car
was - sorry, not
the TR3 - but a 1931 Mercedes SSKL with compressor, straight 8 and
around 10 litres
displacement. I can tell you, this car make a sound - incredible!
The first stage for the teams was a night drive to Ferrara, so the start
was scheduled for
8:15 PM. We did not stay until the start, but went directly to a small
village at the Mille
Miglia route about 20 Kilometers away. We had dinner and were just
finished when the
first cars passed by. Suddenly the complete restaurant (even the
waiters) went outside
and hundred’s of people were standing on the street and celebrating and
applauding the
bypassing cars. We were surrounded by Italians enthusiasts, with bottles
of red vine and
champagne. They offered us some vine, but the real reason was something
other: they
offered glasses of vine/champagne to the drivers and sometimes on of
them stopped for a
moment and drink the vine. As I already told, the Mille Miglia is not a
serious race
anymore, nowadays it's a big show and a great party.
Now what about LBCs you may ask? There were hundreds of them in the
area of
Brescia. Most of them were manufactured after 1957, so these cars were
not allowed to
take part at the Mille Miglia. Anyway, the Mille is Europe’s biggest
classic car event and
many owners of all kind of classic cars just did the same as I did:
travel to Brecia with the
own classic, in my case with a 74 TR6. It’s a great tour from Munich,
where I live, to
Brescia in North Italy. The distance is just 500 Km, but we have to pass
the Alps which
makes it a very nice and enjoyable tour. All the way down to Brescia we
met many LBCs.
I joined a convoy of 14 Triumphs and we met a convoy of Austin Healeys,
a few Jaguars
(E-Type, XKs), Alfa Spiders, Porsches, Mercedes, and , and, and.... My
wife already
recognizes the cars long before I was sure whether it is a MGA or an
Austin Healey. I’m
really wondering how she got the knowledge, is she secretly reading my
classic car
magazines?
We stayed a few days longer in Italy to by Italian pasta, vine and
shoes. These things are
much cheaper as in Germany. We drove back with a totally loaded TR6.
When ever you have the opportunity to visit Italy in May, do *not* miss
the Mille Miglia!
You will see, hear, smell and feel classic cars in a real classic
environment (I mean the old
towns of Italy) which you will keep as an unforgotten event in your
life.
I hope I was able to give you an impression about the Mille Miglia and
I’m pretty confident that there might be a report in the American TV
because there was an American TV team as well.
Best regards,
Jochen
Jochen Saal
1974 TR6 Carb.
Munich/Germany
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