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Cruisen Crui
MILLE MIGLIA O8
GR AN TURI Racecar driver Mosack in the 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider in front of the Episcopal walls of the Cathedral of Urbino. b y W ol f gang T im p e un d S ebastian W i d mann ( p h otos )
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Cruisen Crui
MILLE MIGLIA O8
GR AN TURI Racecar driver Mosack in the 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider in front of the Episcopal walls of the Cathedral of Urbino. b y W ol f gang T im p e un d S ebastian W i d mann ( p h otos )
HP ARTISTS “You have to run through red lights or else the engine will overheat.� Racecar driver Mosack in the 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider in front of the Episcopal walls of the Cathedral of Urbino.
SMO Mille Miglia go sixt 103
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peak striker “I was going too fast and wasn’t careful enough in the mountains.” Ruggero Magnoni, Vice President of the investment bank Lehmann Brothers, about his flooded engine.
Porsche 356 A Coupé 1600S in the alleyways of Urbino: “Once you’ve experienced the Mille Miglia, you are never able to stop.” 104 go sixt Mille Miglia
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THE FEEL OF THE PISTONS “No electronics! You have to listen to the engine to hear how it’s doing.” Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Häkkinen about the authentic feeling of Mille Miglia.
The start of the 81st Mille Miglia at the Piazza della Loggia in Brescia: “I am already looking forward to snow or rain in the Passo della Futa.“ Mille Miglia go sixt 105
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FOLK FESTIVAL Tiles fall from the roofs in the tight alleyways when you hit the gas. Leading the way through the crowd, the 1949 Talbot Lago T26 Grand S passes by the Banda Musicale Cittadina di Ravenna.
Midday arrival at the Piazza del Popolo in Ravenna: The marching band plays and everyone’s excited to see the vintage cars.
RRWE CEO Jürgen Grossmann (l.) in the 1927 Bentley Speed Six: “I feel athletic without actually being athletic.”
Ferrari red and historic helmets: the Mille Miglia celebrates its own history.
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Mille Miglia 2008 star Mika Häkkinen: “I love the physicality of this race.”
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ika, over here! Mika, look at me! Mika, prego, un autografo! The hysteria in front of the classical column entrance to the theater of Brescia spills over. Il popolo, the people, can no longer be held back. The last World Championship, won by Mika Häkkinen in the Mclaren Mercedes, was almost ten years ago, but the 39-year-old Finn is an idol – worldwide and among Italians as well. After Pope Benedict XVI and Enzo Ferrari, of course. The fact that the two-time Formula 1 champion is participating in Italy’s most famous road race, the 1,000-mile Brescia–Rome–Brescia round trip known as the “Mille Miglia,” has excited the passions of the people in the land of the Tifosi and Ferraristi. Cars are a cultural product, to live is to drive, and racecar drivers like Mika are deified role models – personalities with horsepower. And it also works the other way around: Horsepower confers personality. The fast and classy old-time cars of the legendary Mille Miglia round trip – all of them sports cars built between 1927 and 1957 – tell the tale each year in May of how the car was among the most beautiful in the rural streets back in the times before Cd values and electronic ABS ESP bells and whistles. Whether an historic 1930 OM 665 SS, a 1949 Ferrari 166 MM/195 S, an infinitely long 1949 Talbot Lago T26 Grand S, or the legendary Mercedez-Benz 300SL Gullwing from the 1950s: They all tell automobile fairy tales from times of passionate engineering when the mudguards were still an elongated and well-formed tin ballad and the rattling jalopies with hardly any exhaust could already be heard from a great distance, signaling with the sound of their engine: Here I am, the car, the pleasure of driving.
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NIGHT RACING The first time trial in the idyllic Rivoltella on Lake Garda.
But pure, old-fashioned nostalgia alone does not make the Mille Maglia the most beautiful road race in the world. Since the three-day Brescia–Rome–Brescia tour began on March 26, 1927 – and the fast sports car for long-distance travel, the GT or Gran Turismo was invented for it (see the box on page 108) – the tour has thrived on the picturesque locales it passes through along its route from Verona to Rome, Siena, and Florence, and on the extreme mountain routes and weather changes – and on the enthusiasm of the Italian fans for car racing. The Mille Miglia is not a race circuit like the Nürburgring or Formula 1 courses, but rather a road race. That makes it uniquely appealing to many fans throughout the world and especially to the locals. The round trip along rural roads is a folk festival for car lovers like the Tour de France is for cycling fans in France. Even today, when people no longer race a Mercedes to beat the records of Rudolf Caracciola or Stirling Moss, the street traffic of Italy is a harsh challenge. Competitors have to cruise precisely, complete certain stretches within specified time limits, and most of all: get there! And this is not guaranteed. For example, Ruggero Magnoni, whose day job is Vice President of the investment bank Lehmann Brothers, had to ask his mechanic Gianni to replace all of the spark plugs after his steep climb up to San Marino. “I was going too fast and wasn’t careful enough in the mountains.” His 1957 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint was conceived for speeding along flat roads and not for tough mountain inclines. If your foot is not sensitive enough, you will flood the engine. Prince Leopold of Bavaria BMW Brand Ambassador and racecar driver who is participating in the 81st Mille Maglia in a shiny blue 1937 BMW 328 with starting number 81 – knows the tricks of the tour, which not only goes over hedges and ditches, but also through the tight alleyways of the historic cities. “You have to run through red lights or else the engine will
Famed ride through nighttime Verona: Checking the route in front of the coliseum in the 1955 Aston Martin DB3 S.
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One of a kind: A 1928 Bugatti Type 37 A in the Parc Fermé in Brescia.
GO Cruisen overheat,” says the Mille Miglia pro who is there for the tenth time. “I am already looking forward to snow or rain in the Passo della Futa. This isn’t a race for grandpas, and the vibe of the Italians is simply one-of-a-kind,” swoons BMW’s Prince Leopold. Those who doubt this from afar and feel that the historic round-trip race is a private pleasure for bored rich guys will be taught a lesson by Verona and Ravenna, at the least.
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iva Italia! Thousands line up along the Corso de la Puerta Nuova in front of the coliseum in Verona, where hostesses from the car rental company Sixt – which will be the main sponsor for the Mille Miglia for the next five years (see the box on page 24) – will serve the racecar drivers ice-cold Red Bulls to help them keep awake for their first night drive. And applause is heard again and again as the shiny old-timers race
BRESCIA
past with deafening noise, and the roaring afterburn of the excess fuel blows the typical horsepower sound into the alleyways of the old city and impregnates the air with fuel. There they also like to press hard on the gas pedal with the engine idling to send the rattling sound of the jalopies echoing through
rivoltella VERONA
montichiari
castiglione delle stiviere
OSTIGLIA mantova
PONTELAGOSCURO
reggio emilia
FERRARA
MODENA
Viva Italia!
The Gran Turismo (GT) was invented for the Mille Miglia. In the 1920s, the “Targa Florio” was the most important sports-car race in Italy. Mercedes gained a great deal of admiration for its victories in the Targa Florio against the Italians who were considered undefeatable. The first 1,000-mile race (the Mille Miglia) began on March 26, 1927, and the term “Gran Turismo,” or GT for short ‒ the fast sports car for long-distance travel was invented. The Mille Miglia is considered a classic among the longdistance races.
ARGENTA BOLOGNA
RAVENNA
MONGHIDORO PASSO DELLA RATI COSA PASSO DELLA FUTA GAMBETTOLA SAN MARINO MERCANTINO DI CONCA
FLORENce
URBINO GOLA DEL FURLO POGGIBONSI
SIENA BUONCONVENTO
OSTERIA DEL GATTO
PIENZA S. QUIRICO D’ORCIA
RADICOFANI
Assisi SPOLETO Terni LEONESSA
VITERBO PASSO DEL CIMINO
The story of the Mille Miglia begins in December of 1925. Fouryoung men from Brescia decided to maketheir hometown the hub of motorsports.It 108 go sixt Mille Miglia
RONCIGLIONE
ROMe
narni
was to be a road race over mostly unpaved rural roads that would start andend in Brescia. Thirteen years later, Rome was chosen as the turning point of theRace, and this continues to be a highlight of the Mille Miglia to this day. The length of the race amounted to approximately 1,000 U.S. miles, and the use of that unit of measurement was justified by linking it to the ancient Romans who had also measured distances in miles. The starting pistol was fired for 77cars in March of 1927. An originalmanufacturer from Brescia won the first race with a time of 21:04:48 hours and an average speed of 77 km/h. Since the first race in 1927, it has been almost exclusively Italians in locally manufactured cars such as Alfa Romeo, Lancia, and Ferrari who have won, but a Mercedes was able to win twice in 1931 with Rudolf Caracciola and in 1955 with Stirling Moss. The latter began at 7:22 a.m. in a Mercedes-Benz 300SLR with starting number722 and reached the goal after 10:07:48 hours. He reached an average speed of 157.62 km/h, which was the fastest ever driven in the race. The original series of Mille Miglia races was held for the last time in 1957 after a fatal crash by the Spanish competitor Alfonso de Portago cost several spectators their lives on May 12. Every May since 1977, they have held the “Mille Miglia Storica,” a new annual race usinghistoric vehicles similar to those that were used in the original races. Drivers no longer race at top speed, but rather focus on an even pace and steadiness.
Noch nie war Weiß so rot.
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Laying on of hands: The mechanic Gianni puts Ruggero Magnoni’s ‘57 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce back in top shape.
the streets purely for the enjoyment of the fans. When entering Ravenna midday the the following day, drivers are constantly and apprehensively looking up into the tight alleyways above, because a few loose tiles fall from the roofs when you hit the gas. Applause, applause, and more applause as the marching band Banda Musicale Cittadina di Ravenna plays relentlessly against the roar of the engines in the Piazza del Popolo. The car is king here. The Mille Miglia is a celebration of the automobile. The Italians celebrate a folk festival of mobility – and the drivers celebrate the nature of driving.
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love the physicality of this race,” says Mika Häkkinen, “and in my 300SL I really need to apply force to the brakes.” With regard to ABS and EPS, he adds, “No electronics! You have to listen to the engine to hear how it’s doing. I can still physically feel the movement in this car. That is an aesthetic pleasure.” Who wants to contradict a world champion, anyway? The Mille Miglia also does wonders for the ego. RWE CEO Jürgen Grossmann, riding in a 1927 Bentley Speed Six, views it casually: “I feel athletic without actually being athletic.” “Tradition meets passion” is Sixt’s slogan for the Mille Miglia. And there are some real converts in the running. “I am old myself – I don’t need to drive some old car,” Munich businessman Thomas Haffa was convinced. But once he saw the BMW 507 Cabrio from 1957 for the first time, all of the old prejudices were gone. “I made an exception for my diva. But I really fell in love with my ’57 for the first time when I drove it in the Mille Miglia. Once you have experienced it, you are never able to stop.” But it is not just a cozy ride. The beast must be fed in order to race. Then drivers might get caught behind a police officer on a motorcycle who motions oncoming traffic into the ditches with a blue light, and the Mille Miglia caravan really hits the gas. Sometimes drivers even race at 180 km/h through village streets and landscapes where the Italians sit in folding chairs with picnic baskets and clap as the horsepower caravan races by. All of the cars have had their mufflers removed and do not concern themselves with CO2 regulations. The kings of the rural roads simply hit the gas. Pure fun – for the public and for the drivers.
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There is also a bit of Formula 1 everywhere. Not just because all 371 participating antique cars are lined up in the Parc Fermé like fast new models, but also because only original spare parts can be used. Carsten Krukenkamp, one of 150 FIVA stewards at the Mille Miglia, scrupulously monitors adherence to the strict rules. Do people ever try to cheat? “It happens again and again. A dentist from Munich had an imitation of his Ferrari GT built because he didn’t want to damage his original. I sent him back home 500,000 euro poorer, for building the imitation without ever having enjoyed the race.” Only real antique cars count. The stewards sometimes have to hand out real disappointments as well. When a participant proudly drove out in his million-euro Ferrari 750 GT, the carburetor, gear box, and braking system seemed odd to Krukenkamp, who called over his Italian Ferrari steward. The steward’s short and sweet comments destroyed the supposed collector’s item: “We never built this car.” Sometimes values plunge overnight. This year’s Mille Miglia is marked by a single phenomenon. Wherever he appears, Mika Häkkinen drives the passionate fans crazy like a popular boy-band. Why is this smart and quiet man, known around the world as Mr. Mercedes, still so popular? “We did a good job.” Period. Well, those are the Finns for you. They simply did a good job. A casual understatement from such a successful person. So he is not disappointed that he only achieved 296th place out of 303 starting vehicles in his 300SL W194 at the 2008 race? “On the contrary, 68 cars did not complete the race at all,” counters the former world champion, emphasizing that “The Mille Miglia is the journey to the goal. It is fantastic, unique, and pure GT pleasure.” Oh right, sorry, Gran Turismo. Driving long-distance races in timelessly beautiful horsepower jalopies. It’s all about the cruising. On the way back past Lake Garda and the Brenner Pass, we are still thinking about the unique impressions gained from the Mille Miglia. Why is it different from an ordinary trip to Italy? If Tuscany is mentioned, you may think of the picturesque Italian clichés of proud cypress trees, green vineyards, majestic mountain villages, and historic cities. But one image is missing here as an elixir for relaxation and recuperation: the image of mobility – of experiencing this unique nature and the rich culture of Italy by car. In the future we will simply say “Mille Miglia” – for the joy of driving, for bella Italia, and for the passionate people who live there. Waving to the Mille Miglia fans on the path from Ferrara to Ravenna: A triumphant ride for the 1956 Porsche 356 A 1500 GS.
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Sixt at the Mille Miglia tradition meets passion :
Sixt rent a car participated in the legendary road race for the first time as its primary sponsor.
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Businessmen and car lovers – Driver Erich Sixt and his son Konstantin in the 1956 Mercedes 300SL W198-I: for the love of driving.
Driver Karl-Josef Bode with race number 147 in a 1053 Jaguar XK 120 OTS.
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ust like every year, the 2008 Mille Miglia was a lot of fun and a great challenge for Erich Sixt and his son Konstantin. They started off from Brescia in their legendary 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL W198-I Gullwing GT on Thursday evening May 15, together with 370 other oldtime racecars, and had to fulfill numerous time trials and special trials at the stations in Verona, Ferrara, Rome, Siena, and Florence before they reached the Lombardi metropolis of Brescia again on Sunday after three days and nights. For Sixt, the 2008 Mille Miglia signified a premiere. Under the motto “Tradition meets Passion,” it was a successful event for the car rental company, founded in 1912. For Regine Sixt and her team, it was a “huge logistical challenge to maintain consistent quality in our presence along the 1,600 km route.” The participants received backpacks from Sixt containing provisions for the race along with clipboards to hold the documents on which the race times were recorded. Racing logos with car numbers had to be organized, logos placed on cars, and ads (see photo above) designed. And then there was the coordination of the exclusive Sixt limousine service for all participants – taking them from the starting and finishing points to their respective hotels. Regine Sixt summed up the event: “We did it. Everyone was happy with our work. And, with this event, we boosted our Sixt branding on a global scale.” The Sixt hostesses were a special treat for the old-time drivers: the stylish girls in orange and white t-shirts and black hot-pants served them ice-cold drinks to give them extra energy. Sixt gave the Mille Miglia wings – the spirit of mobility.
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