Drivers before their departure on the ramp

Enzo Ferrari, Italy’s motor racing driver and entrepreneur, referred to the Mille Miglia race as the only “unique traveling museum” of 450 vin-tage and historical vehicles made by 72 different car companies. The Mille Miglia is more a lifestyle event, a civilized ramble across 1,000 ki-lometres of Italy with stylish vintage sports cars and their drivers. For the last 30 years, this gold standard of classic sports car rallies re-en-acts the open road endurance race which took place in Italy 24 times from 1927-1957. This year, the 36th edition of the Mille Miglia takes place May 16 - May 19.

Mille Miglia cars on display in Brescia

the day before the race.

The day before the rally starts, car collectors, car racing profes-sionals, and celebrities gather together in Brescia on the shores of Lake Guarda to view the cars. Like a moving motor car muse-um, participants are required to drive four routes from Brescia to Roma and back, with stops along the way that pass Milan, Siena, Parma, and dozens of other cities of art, culture, and painterly landscapes using mostly secondary roads closed to traffic. Each car is timed. Each of the 450 sports cars has been selected for its significant historical, technical, and sports car value.

Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and Romain Dumas in Padova for

the second day departure

Whose idea was it? In 1927, two aristocrats from Brescia, the city that lost the Grand Prix that year, dreamed it up. The idea was to have cars race on roads rather than tracks, but frequent fatal-ities caused the race to be discontinued in 1957. It was brought back in 1977 and called the Mille Miglia (also 1000 Miglia) as an ode to the classic car racing days (minus the fatalities). To this day, the event is more about the car than who is driving it, which makes the rally special and low on the celebrity radar.

There are drivers from 44 countries this year. Italy, not surpris-ingly, makes up 28 per cent of the total, followed by Holland, Germany, U.K., Belgium, U.S.A., and Japan. Alfa-Romeo is the most represented car (47 cars), then FIAT (42 cars), Jaguar (34 cars), and Mercedes-Benz (32 cars). Bugatti, Bentley, BMW, Buick, Chrysler, Citroen, Ferrari, Healey, Lancia, Maserati, MG, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, and Triumph are also cars in the mix. Cars must be manufactured during 1927-1957 to be accepted.

Chopard, the Swiss watchmaker, became a significant sponsor of the 1000 Miglia in 1988 as partner and official timekeeper. It is one of the first watch companies to associate its name with the automobile industry, a collaboration that many other Swiss luxury watches are now engaged in between car manufactur-ers. The Mille Miglia watch is awarded to the winning driver and a limited edition is also available for sale each year.

Belgian race car driver Jacky Ickx and Karl-Friedrich Scheufele often raced together as a team in Miglie

Mille races.

As the world races ahead in a tech frenzy, old-fashioned rallies like the Mille Miglia continue to attract not only old-timers, but younger participants as well.

Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and Romain Dumas departing from Viale Venezia

Chopard’s 2018 Mille Miglia edition watchesPhotos courtesy of Chopard and Mille Miglia