Mille Miglia - Ferrari Owners' Club

Historic motorsport has seen a tremendous revival over the last decade, as events such as the Mille Miglia encourage owners of some of the world’s most exotic vintage and classic racing machinery to put their cars back into competition. Brescia and the Mille Miglia are an endless love. This year again, the Mille Miglia was a great event maintaining faith in its equally great charm. The 23rd edition, staged from 19 to 22 May 2005, celebrated the world’s most famous race again. Over 780 valid entry applications from 35 countries had been sent to the organiser’s office and 372 competitors were finally chosen: 55 makes from Abarth to Ferrari to Veritas, from 22 nations.

There is no doubt that Brescia wouldn’t exist today without the Mille Miglia. And the Red Arrow symbol, without Brescia and its province, wouldn’t be born and grow up so much as to gain the worldwide renown it can boast at present. In the speed editions from 1927 to 1957 and in the retrospectives since 1977 up to now, the Mille Miglia and the city of Brescia have risen above the boundaries of mere sporting values and coming to express a wide range of meanings of historical, social, economic, touristic, technological and commercial importance. They have turned into a unique automobile travelling museum promoting Brescia, its province and the whole of Italy.

This year’s retrospective edition took place on the classical Brescia-Rome-Brescia route and offered countless novelties. There was the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1955 overall record set by Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson, who averaged 157,65 kph in their Mercedes 300 SLR. The second novelty was that this year’s edition was the first held after the official opening of the new Mille Miglia Museum to the public in late 2004. This is a sensational new place, located in the old monastery of Sant’Eufemia in the outskirts of Brescia. It’s a must see and there’s even a genuine 1953 Ferrari 250 Mille Miglia Pinin Farina Berlinetta and the original AAC 815 Spider Touring of 1940 on display.

One of the makes most prevalent in the Mille Miglia 2005 was Ferrari, with no fewer than 33 cars, thanks to many private car collectors. The crew composed of American Jack Croul and Massimo Raimondi attempted a winning assault in the wonderful 340 America Coupé Vignale, in which Italian Gigi Villoresi triumphed at the 1951 Mille Miglia. The 340 MM Spider in which Gigi Villoresi and Pasquale Cassini ran the 1953 Mille Miglia was at the start with Roberto Crippa at the wheel. Other jewels that made the 2005 Mille Miglia more precious were two Ferrari 166 MM Barchettas, bodied by Carrozzeria Touring, one painted red and the other one in a gorgeous ivory with tobacco leather seats. A further 166 MM at Brescia was the special 1953 Dino Ferrari Spider Scaglietti, entered by Oscar Davis and Onofrio Triarsi from the East Coast of the U.S.. From Florida came Bob Selz with a 166 MM/53 rebodied by Belgian coachbuilder Oblin.The 250 GT Tour de France Berlinettas are ideal for an event such as the Mille Miglia and there were no fewer than seven examples at Brescia. Especially spectacular was the metallic silvergrey 14-louver TDF owned by a Spanish pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Among the stars at Brescia this year were former racing drivers Alessandro Zanardi, Jacky Ickx, Jochen Mass, Miki Biasion, Lothar Motschenbacher and naturally Stirling Moss. On the starting list was even Roger Penske. Going through the list of VIPs coming from the world of business and finance we noticed Galeazzo Pecori Giraldi, president of Morgan Stanley Europe in a Bugatti and Rudi Lamprecht, managing director of Siemens Mobile driving a powerful British Bentley. Franz-Josef Paefgen, president of Bentley and Marco Saltalamacchia, president of BMW Italia repeated last year’s successful experience. Not to forget Aldo Bonomi, president of the Brescia Industrialist’s Association in an Aston Martin and Baron Erich Hilmar von Baumbach, president of the pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the main sponsors of the Mille Miglia. Emilio Gnutti, well-known Ferrari collector, financier and president of Hopa, naturally drove an open sports racing Ferrari. Federico Imbert, top manager at J.P. Morgan, also tried a Ferrari from Gnutti’s collection.

Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, newly-appointed managing director of the new Alfa Romeo-Maserati sports division, and Holger Lapp, head of BMW Mobile Tradition, as well as Wolfgang Schrempp, CEO of Daimler Chrysler, joined the Mille Miglia this year. Italian gossip lovers call them “Nobil-VIP”, but seeing crowned heads and aristocrats of half the world participate in the Mille Miglia has become a custom. At the starting grid we observed Prince Anton Von Liechtenstein, the king of the Prince of Liechtenstein’s cousin, as aristocratic navigator in a Bugatti. There was also Prince Leopold of Bavaria and Alessandro and Augusto Ruffo di Calabria, Paola Queen of Belgium’s brother and sister. The Italian Army was represented by a Lancia Aprilia and the Italian Traffic Police took part in the event with a historic Alfa Romeo. In a rare and precious example of a Cisitalia 202 D of 1952, Admiral Giovanni Vitaloni, deputy Chief of the Navy Staff, was at the start.

As in any prestigious event in the worlds of art, sport and culture, and in show business as well, sponsors play a major role. The Mille Miglia is no exception, since it can boast privileged partnerships with worldwide brand names. Many of them have been linked to the Red Arrow’s emblems for years. For most people, the Mille Miglia is and will remain an extraordinary event, where the joy of starting turns into unforgettable happiness at the finish line. What really matters is being there and taking part with style in the playful journey across Italy, discovering many picturesque places without agonizing too much over race schedules. The Mille Miglia transcends far beyond a mere motorsports event, it is part of the Italian custom, a social and cultural event offering the best possible selection of sports and competition cars built between 1927 and 1957. The Mille Miglia fever continues and is incurable, so make sure to be in Brescia in May 2006.