In 1977 the Mille Miglia returned, no longer a round of the world sport scar champion-ship, but a nostalgic reminder of those 30 years when the world’s most evocative cars and

drivers would scream around Italy. To avoid a repeat of the terrible events of 1957, the organisers turned the Mille Miglia from a flat-out race into a series of time trials, with the most precise drivers earning points for accuracy and consistency.

In 2005, this format still remains. However, the Mille Miglia is by no means a gentle stroll through the rolling hills of Tuscany. Nothing could be further from the truth...

The start of the Mille Miglia is one of the most remarkable events on the motoring cal-endar. The streets of Brescia come to a standstill as approx. 375 cars line up in age order to cross the start ramp. Tens of thousands of people pack the pavements to wave the cars on, urging the drivers to rev their engine and bounce a wall of sound off the buildings nearby.

The policemen love it, too. Although the event is no longer a race, for three days those charged with enforcing traffic laws do more than turn a blind eye. In fact, they actively encourage the participants to get a move on.

Northern Italy is the centre of the Italian automotive industry and with the factories of Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini on their doorstep; everyone seems to know some-one who works for one of the great Italian marques. Consequently, there is a passion for cars that simply cannot be explained until one has seen Italian motorcycle police acting as impromptu outriders to Mille Miglia competitors, charging down the road at three-figure speeds, clearing oncoming traffic out of the way.

The Italians turn out to see not just the cars but the stars in them, too. Part of the Mille Miglia’s revival strategy has been to coax famous names from all walks of life to take part. In 2003, former F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen competed in a Mercedes 300SL, while 1970s Grand Prix star and Le Mans winner Jochen Mass drove Stirling Moss’s 1955 winner.

The aristocracy still makes its presence felt as well, with nobility from across Europe taking part. From the UK, Lord March of Goodwood Festival of Speed fame drove a Chrysler, while Prince Leopold von Bayern, a BMW ambassador, with King Gustav of Sweden flew the flag for Munich’s most famous marque.

Although the event is now spread over almost three days, the cars must still run from first thing in the morning until midnight. Often squeezed into a tiny cockpit, that is a long, long day behind the wheel.
while Prince Leopold von Bayern, a BMW ambassador, with King Gustav of Sweden flew the flag for Munich’s most famous marque.

Although the event is now spread over almost three days, the cars must still run from first thing in the morning until midnight. Often squeezed into a tiny cockpit, that is a long, long day behind the wheel.

Nearly forty-eight hours after the race has started, the participants roll across the fin-ish line on Brescia’s Viale Venezia, for 70 years the start and finish point of the Mille Miglia. Of the 375 cars many professional teams and perfectionists complete the regu-larity trials to within a thousandth of a second!

The Mille Miglia is a delightful anachronism. Nowhere else in the world can you see (and even chase) the world’s most valuable vintage racing cars being driven flat-out in the surroundings in which they were intended. For 362 days of the year most of these cars are museum pieces, wrapped in cotton wool and given a regular waxing. But for the remaining three days the wraps come off, their engines burst into life and hun-dreds of millions of pounds worth of machinery pours onto the roads of Italy.

Join us as we race with more than 370 entrants along the 1000-mile course through Italy’s exquisite vineyards and farms and pass through over 50 cities and towns be-tween Brescia and Rome.

With archive material (never seen before) we will capture and express the feeling, passion, character of the original race. At the same time you will see the Mille Miglia of today from the driver’s perspective, experiencing an adrenaline rush as superbly restored and maintained Jaguars, Aston Martins, Ferraris, Mercedes, Bugattis and Alfas ... and over 45 other marques ... pass on winding turns and are cheered by affectionate fans along the way.

“The Mille Miglia created our cars and the Italian automobile industry. The Mille Miglia permit-ted the birth of GT, or grand touring cars, which are now sold all over the world. The Mille Miglia proved that by racing over open roads for 1,000 miles, there were great technical lessons to be learned by the petrol and oil companies and by brake, clutch, transmission, electrical and lighting component manufacturers, fully justifying the old adage that motor racing improves the breed.”

(Commendatore Enzo Ferrari)