Race. The revival Mille Miglia would honor the original, running from Brescia to Rome and back over public roads. But the nature of the competition would be different. The new race would be a “regularity test.” Contested over three stages (Brescia to Ferrara, Ferrara to Rome, Rome to Brescia), the modern event is a timespeed-distance rally. Competitors must complete each stage as a whole as well as regularity tests (covering a short specified distance in a specified time, for example) embedded in the stages in targeted times, governed by the class in which their car races. The closer a competitor comes to matching the targeted times, the more points are accumulated. The overall winner is the team with the fewest deviations in time and therefore the highest number of points. Navigation is the second part of the challenge. Competitors receive “roadbooks” prior to each stage. The volumes contain diagrams, illustrated by rudimentary direction markings, symbols, place names, the occasional photograph, and distance indicators marking the distance between diagrams and the total distance covered at any point on a stage. Racers who’ve done the Mille Miglia before may be familiar with some of the routes, but changes are made from year to year, so good navigation is crucial for achieving target times. For those new to the event it’s all very confusing, but through trial and error and with help from fellow participants, even first-timers can find the finish line. More than 150 classics lined up for the start of the first revival in 1982. The new version was open to automobiles crafted between 1927 and 1957, the period of the original Mille Miglia and one of the greatest eras of
automotive history. Many were presented by manufacturers who had participated in the original race. Famous drivers, celebrities, and journalists from all over Europe converged on Brescia. The event was a great success, capturing the spirit of the original and the imagination of a new generation of enthusiasts. In 1987 it became a yearly ritual once again. Twenty years later, it is more stunning than ever, the finest vintage car rally in the world. Today, the Mille Miglia is supremely select. Participation is limited to 375 entrants, but hundreds more apply annually to be “invited” to race. Only the finest, most relevant machines are accepted. Entry fees are high, and the cost and effort required to participate are considerable, but the experience more than rewards competitors. Once the Freccia Rossa virus is caught, many participants cannot resist racing year after year. International participants are among them. The majority of the racers are Italian, but entrants from across Europe, North and South America, and Asia are present in abundance. In 2006, 28 American teams entered. We came across South Carolinian Dick Schultze at the wheel of his rakish 1935 Aston Martin Ulster (one of only 20 existing) out on the road to Rome. Joined by first-timer Gordon Gale, the pair were soaking up the experience at speed. It was Schultze’s fifth appearance in the Red Arrow Race, and he explained what draws him back. “We love it! The energy of the crowds and the enthusiasm is infectious. For enthusiasts, no other place in the world has this kind of collection out on the roads. We have no chance of winning, but we’re not in it for that.
Left: The Mille Miglia was contested by rakish sports cars and more humble coupes and sedans alike. Here, a 1948 Fiat 1100 S MM crouches on the cobblestones of Brescia. Right: Members of the Automobile Club of Brescia, among the most traditional participants in the race, make sure their papers and car, a 1935 Singer Le Mans, are in order.
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