SATURDAY, 2 MAY, 2015
May month madness in Italy Motor racing legend Moss relives the red mist and magic of Mille Miglia ALAN BALDWIN LONDON — May is the month for red mist and motoring magic in Italy, when crowds of excited spectators line the roads as old and new cars flash past at breakneck speeds in the annual 1 000 mile race through Italian villages. Even now, 60 years on from what many see as the race of his life, Stirling Moss still marvels at the madness and the magic of the Mille Miglia. “It was the one race of the year, the only one race in fact, that frightened the hell out of me,” the 85yearold Briton told Reuters in an interview ahead of the anniversary on Friday of his epic 1955 vic tory for Mercedes. “The Mille Miglia was certainly the greatest road race in the world.” The race, from Brescia in the north down to Rome and back again, also had a reputation as one of the deadliest. Discontinued in 1957 after 60 deaths in three decades, it saw cars race over public roads at up to 190 mph (305,8 kph) with only hay bales to shield the public — and sometimes not even that. Moss, whose 1955 win was achieved in a record time of 10 hours, seven min utes and 48 seconds at an average speed of 98.53 mph (159 kph), recalled specta tors spilling out onto the road as he roar ed past. For his navigator, Moss had the be
Veralda Schmidt, relations manager at Nissan SA with Andrew Kinghorn. PHOTO: QUICKPIC
A 1935 Fiat 508 CS MM Berlinetta leans through a corner in last year’s Mille Miglia. Not all the drivers had cars this slow, and the MercedesBenz 300 SL Gullwing did not make it. PHOTO: SUPPLIED spectacled and bearded Motor Sport magazine journalist Denis Jenkinson — an eccentric whose subsequent chroni cle has gone down in motoring lore.
His “scientific” approach of mapping every detail on what he called his “toilet roll” — a six metre rolling screed — ena bled Moss to drive flat out as Jenkinson
called out the information. “At speeds up to 120130mph we went through the streets of Florence, over the great river bridge, broadside across a
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Celebrating sun power ROSSLYN — “Electric cars are awesome!” says energy expert Andrew Kinghorn of his experience behind the wheel of the pureelectric Nissan LEAF. Kinghorn’s name was drawn from nearly 100 inquisitive Johannesburg resi dents who took the Nissan LEAF for a test drive through Parkhurst and surrounds in April. The event was organised by Nissan South Africa in celebration of the Park hurst Residents’ and Business Owners’ Association’s (PRABOA) decision to erect solarpowered electric vehicle chargers in Parkhurst Village. Kinghorn received a gift voucher to the value of R40 000 for solar equipment for his home. An avid cyclist, Kinghorn re ceived his prize in Parkhurst before em barking on the gruelling joBerg2C Moun tain Bike race from Gauteng to KwaZulu Natal. He is a mining specialist who serves on the South African Fossil Fuel Founda tion. The LEAF is the first massproduced electric car in the world. — Supplied.
square across more tramlines and into the control point,” Jenkinson, who died in 1996, wrote of one stage. “The last six miles into the Rome control were an absolute nightmare … we would normal ly have done 150 to 160 mph, but the crowds of spectators were so thick that we could not see the road and the surface being bumpy Moss dared not drive much over 130 mph,” he said of another. As they approached two daunting mountain passes on the return sweep to Brescia, after blasting along cambered country roads, Moss saw his friend rub bing his hands in glee at the thrills to come. “Jenks did not understand what danger was,” recalled Moss. “I think to be a codriver in the Mille Miglia you need to be really weird.” Afterwards, with white circles around the eyes where his goggles had shielded him from oil and dirt, Moss had a bath and a meal — and jumped back behind the wheel of a Mercedes saloon to drive 400 km to Stuttgart. He arrived before dawn, met Mercedes directors and then drove himself home to Britain. “We can never go back to races like the Mille Miglia,” said Moss with a touch of regret. “I’m sure there are a lot of Ital ians who’d love to, but it just wouldn’t be feasible.” — Reuters, • The 30th annual reenactment 2015 Mil le Miglia takes place next weekend from May 14 to 17.
2011 Polo Vivo Sedan 1,4 Trendline 2011 Polo Vivo 1,4 2012 Polo Vivo Sedan 1.6 2013 Polo Vivo Sedan 1,4 Trendline Tiptronic 2013 Polo Vivo GP 1,6 Comfortline 5-Door Polo
31 000 km 79 500 km 37 000 km 44 000 km 1 000 km
White White Silver Silver White
R121 900 R114 900 R131 900 R132 900 R159 900
2011 Polo 1,6 Comfortline 2013 Polo 1,4 Trendline 5-Door 2013 Polo 1,4 GTi DSG 2013 Polo 1,4 Comfortline 2014 Polo Gti DSG 2014 Polo 1,4 Trendline 2014 Polo Sedan 1,6 Comfortline 2015 Polo 1,2 TSi Highline 2015 Polo 1,2 TSi Trendline
62 000 km 25 000 km 33 000 km 58 000 km 9 500 km 16 000 km 21 000 km 3 000 km 3 000 km
Red White White Red Silver Silver White Red White
R149 900 R152 900 R235 000 R169 000 R279 900 R152 900 R184 000 R239 000 R185 900
2011 Golf 6 GTi DSG TSi 2011 Golf GTi DSG 2,0 TSi 2015 Golf 7 2,0 TDi Highline DSG 2015 Golf 7 1,4 TSi Comfortline DSG Other VW
90 000 km 66 000 km 23 000 km 3 500 km
Grey White White Silver
R259 900 R259 000 R319 900 R319 900
2012 Amarok Single Cab 2,0 BiTDi 2015 Amarok Double Cab Automatic132kW
120 000 km 1 500 km
Silver Grey
R199 000 R459 000
Amarok 2009 VW Citi Sport 1,4i 2012 Jetta 2,0 TDi 2014 Passat 2,0 TDi DSG 2014 VW Transporter Single Cab TDi 2014 Kombi 2,0 TDi 2014 21st Century Beetle 1,2 TSi 2015 Crafter 23-seater bus 2015 Touareg 3,0 TDi BlueMotion Tiptronic
106 000 km 81 000 km 15 000 km 7 000 km 22 000 km 22 000 km 0 km 2 000 km
White White White White Silver White White White
R69 000 R199 900 R329 900 R234 900 R359 000 R239 900 R549 000 R839 000
Other 2008 Opel Corsa Lite Sport 2012 BMW 328i Sportline
94 000 km 31 000 km
Grey White
R59 900 R299 000
Golf
One of the weirder wheels on offer on eBay this week is the Plaxton Panorama cab — a mobile movie bus with theaterstyle seating for 20 (inset). Seven of them were built for the UK’s Ministry of Technology in 1967. The owners in Salisbury, UK, state the bus is in ‘fine roadworthy condition and has been used for the past five years as a touring cinema following its full restoration from 2005 2010’. It comes complete with the exact trailer it was built to tow, and the bus is billed as ‘a unique and fun lifestyle business’. The asking price is £120 000 (R2,18 million), including ‘a collection of spares too long to list’ and most importantly, a spare panel for the feature perspex dome of the cinema’s cab. More on vintagemobilecinema.co.uk/history. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Mastercars warranty not included in advertised price.
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