PAST IMPERFECT:HELD OVER a period of 30 years, from 1927 to 1957, the Mille Miglia was considered the finest road race in the world. An extraordinarily tough 1,000-mile dash at full speed through the towns and villages of the Italian countryside at speeds that – incredibly – were known to reach 200mph, writes BOB MONTGOMERY
Millions followed the race, worldwide, while in Italy, thousands lined the route to cheer their heroes on. All the great drivers of the day took part in this great spectacle, all hoping for victory – to win the Mille Miglia was, arguably, to claim the title of the greatest driver in the world.
The Mille Miglia was the dream of one man, Conte Aymo Maggi, who enlisted the help and support of three friends: Conte Franco Mazzotti, Giovanni Canestrini and Renzo Castegneto. The first Italian Grand Prix had been held in 1921 on a course at Brescia, but the construction of the Monza Autodrome led to the race being switched to Monza.
Maggi dreamed of returning the race to Brescia, and it was with this thought in mind that he conceived the idea of a motor race for sports cars unlike any that had been held before in Italy, or for that matter, anywhere in the world.
After a long discussion of the possibilities for a race, the friends decided on a road race from Brescia to Rome and back again to a finish in Brescia – a distance of 1,600km, or 1,000 miles ( mille miglia, in Italian).
The friends decided that the event should be run by the newly formed Brescia Motor Club, but when details of their plans were announced, they met a storm of protest from the Italian Automobile Club of Milan.
A letter to Arturo Turati, secretary-general of the Fascist party, second only to Mussolini and a personal friend of Maggi, gained official approval for the proposed race and put the police, army and civic authorities at their disposal.
Castagneto became race-director – a post he fulfilled superbly for all of the 24 times the race was run. It was he also who deigned the red arrow symbol for the race with “1000 MIGLIA” written on it, which was to become known across Italy – and, indeed, internationally.
The Italian race fans – some of the most passionate in the world – adopted the symbol with gusto, and everywhere along the route it could be seen painted on the road with the name of their favourite driver below it, often accompanied by the words “Viva Viva”.
The list of drivers who were to win the great race in the years that followed is a roll-call of the greatest in the world – Campari, Nuvolari, Carracciola, Borzacchini, Varzi, Biondetti, Von Hanstein, Villoresi, Ascari, Moss, Castellotti and Taruffi.
Even the second World War did not stop the Mille Miglia – in 1940, when most of Europe was already at war, the race was won by Huschke Von Hanstein driving a BMW.
When the race resumed, after the end of hostilities in June of 1947, it took place on a war-torn landscape.
The running of the race in 1955 saw perhaps the greatest victory in its history, when Stirling Moss, accompanied by Denis Jenkinson, covered the 1,000-mile route in a Mercedes with an incredible average speed of 98.53mh.
It was a speed never to be repeated, for during the 1957 running of the race, the Portuguese driver, Fon de Partago, was killed, along with 11 others, in an accident that forced Italian authorities to bring the race to an end forever.
Over the 30 years of its existence, the Mille Miglia was truly “the greatest race in the world” and is today recalled by an annual retrospective event that attracts the finest sports racing cars from all over the world to celebrate its unique history.