Porsche and the

n December 1926, five friends gathered Mille Migliain Giovanni Canestrini’s apartment to By Phil Carney Idiscuss the state of in . Heavy on their minds was the success of French automobile manufacturers and Peugeot and the notoriety achieved by the three- year-old Le Mans endurance race. They specu- lated on the idea of starting an endurance race in Italy but were discouraged by the lack of a suitable track in the country. The discussion eventually turned to the idea of a touring race over public roads. The circuit they decided on was departing (the home of their auto- mobile club), heading south along the east coast to Rome (to flatter the Fascist regime currently in power) and then returning to Brescia via a different route along the western side of the country. The route covered approximately 1,600 kilometers. Franco Mazzotti, who had recently returned from a trip to the Unites States, noted that this distance was roughly 1,000 miles and the name “” was born. The idea was initially received very coolly by both the press and the public. But Count Aymo Maggi, one of the event’s founders, had connections and asked his friends in power for help selling the idea. After the political support of Augusto Turati (secretary of the National Fas- cist Party) and was thrown be- hind the Mille Miglia, it seems everyone thought In the 1.5 liter Grand Turisimo Internazionale class there were four 356s compet- it a wonderful idea. The five founders then set ing in 1952. One was an aluminum 356 SL driven by and Kon- off to gather the help of local town officials and stantin Berkheim which finished first in class. were rewarded with a staff of twenty-five thou- sand policemen to control traffic and crowds along the route. In addition the Automobile Club of Brescia agreed to cover the expenses for or- ganizing, publicizing and running the race. The first race was held on March 26th and 27th of the following year. The map showed a figure eight layout with the center point being the town of Bologna. Brescia was the northern starting point and Rome was the southern city before the cars headed back to Brescia. Over the next 23 years of racing, the towns through which the cars chased each other would vary signifi- cantly, making re-learning the difficult course an annual challenge. Perhaps this is why local Ital- ians had an advantage and it showed in the re- sults: Italian cars and drivers won 21 out of the 24 events. won eleven times, won eight times and Lancia and O.M once each. Depending on whom you believe, there were two factory entries in the 1952 Mille. The only non-Italian makes that finished as over- In command of the #048 car was Paul Fürst von Metternich who finished first in all winners were Mercedes-Benz who won twice the 1.1 liter class and 80th overall. Opposite: #050 was piloted by Richard von and BMW who won once (in a 328 driven by Frankenberg (who claimed all 356s were private entries) and was a DNF.

20 Volume 35, Number 6 • Porsche 356 Registry Huschke von Hanstein in 1940). Despite Italian the starting ramp. The German Federal Republic dominance, the Mille was a very popular race had been readmitted to the FIA the previous year and even today many consider it the world’s so two new factory teams were present, the Mer- most famous open-road endurance race. In its cedes-Benz and Porsche Werk teams. Alfred first year there were 77 starters and by 1955 the Neubauer, a fine strategist and the man that number of entrants totaled 521. There was lot guided Caracciola’s Mille victory in 1931, led the of attrition though and in some years less than Mercedes effort. The Porsche team was led by 40% made it back to the finish line. Huschke von Hanstein. Von Hanstein, like Neubauer, was a Mille veteran having won for Porsche Capability BMW in 1940. (The Mille Miglia was suspended During the first four years of building a in 1939 and many do not consider the shorter sports car bearing its own name, Porsche met 1940 event, called the Mille Miglia Grand Prix, with unexpected success. The income from sell- part of the regular series. For the purpose of this ing their Type 356 sports coupe plus royalties article, it is considered part of the series.) Great being received from the even more successful Britain was represented by works teams from Volkswagen allowed Porsche engineers to con- Jaguar, Aston Martin and Healey. French builders tinue to refine the air-cooled flat-four engine included Renault and Panhard and the Italian they had developed almost two decades earlier. manufacturers Lancia, Alfa Romeo, and Fer- In 1950 Porsche targeted two new displacement rari were present, of course. sizes, 1,300 cc and 1,500 cc. Although there was Six 356s were entered into the 1952 Mille a 1.3-liter race class in Europe, the primary ra- but there are conflicting stories as to how many tionale for selecting that size was likely to in- were factory entries and how many were private crease sales potential. The 1,300 cc Type 506 entries. In the 1.1 liter Gruppo Sport di Serie “Successes are no accident” was the headline on this engine became available in 1951. (Production Sports Group) the #048 car was first Porsche Mille poster from 1952. “In the world’s An engine displacement of 1.5 liters driven by Paul Fürst von Metternich and Wittigo hardest road race, five Porsches start, four victories!” equated to Europe’s favorite racing engine clas- Johann Georg Graf von Einsiedel and they fin- Interestingly, Porsche uses their entrants’ formal ti- sification since the 1920s. Because bore size was ished first in class and 80th overall. The other tles: Graf, Conti (Count) and Fürst (Prince), lending limited, Porsche chose to increase the stroke by 1.1 liter car, #50, was driven by von Franken- an air of nobility to the marque’s racing program. 10 mm and achieve a total displacement of berg and Weiselman but failed to finish. 1,488 cc. To accomplish this they used a thir- Italian journalist (and sometimes teen-piece, roller bearing crank built by Albert Porsche driver) Giovanni Lurani de- Hirth AG. Porsche’s new 1.5 liter engine was clares these to both be factory entries designated Type 502 and it produced 55 hp at while von Frankenberg claims them as 5,500 rpm. Only some sixty engines were built private entries. before it was succeeded by the more powerful The four 1.5 liter cars were in two Type 527 which produced 60 hp at 5,000 rpm. different classes, #127 a steel Werks This is the breakthrough that permitted Porsche 356 SL was in Production Sports while to feel they would be competitive in sports car #314, #322 (two steel cars) and #327 racing. (an aluminum 356 SL) were in the At Le Mans in 1951, Porsche demonstrated Gruppo Gran Turismo Internazionale that they not only had a competitive engine but (Grand Touring International Group - a car that could go the distance. It was called GTI). #314 was a private entry while the 356 SL, a minimally modified version of the #322 and #327 were entered under the auspices to dominate the race. Led by , aluminum 356 that had been built in Austria. of Scuderia Patavium. It may seem strange as to the large German team arrived in Italy two Their combined 1.5 liter engine and 356 SL car the two different classes but a reading of the reg- months before the start of the race. They drove proved themselves capable in endurance efforts ulations seems to indicate that the cars were and memorized the course, practiced refueling by setting 11 class records during 72 hours of placed in different classes due to modifications. stops, spied on their competition and planned continuous running at the Montlhéry circuit in Regardless, #127 failed to finish the event but strategy 24 hours per day. In the end, a 300SL in September 1951. With these success- the three Porsche GTI cars took the top three driven by Kling and Klenk finished some 5 min- ful demonstrations behind them, the Porsche positions in 1500 class. The class-winning car utes behind the Ferrari 250S driven by Giovanni Werk felt itself in a very good position for the was piloted by Giovanni Lurani and Konstantin Bracco and Alfonso Rolfo. But Mercedes would 1952 Mille Miglia. Berkheim who finished 46th overall. It was a be back. very surprising result considering they drove the This might be a good point to describe how Mille Miglia XIX last two hundred miles entirely in third gear due the cars were lined up for the Mille Miglia. Despite having over 300 cars running in to transmission failure. So regardless which Smaller displacement, i.e. slower, cars started each of the three prior years, the organizers felt were factory or private entries, the 356 Porsches first. This minimized the period roads had to be they needed to attract more entrants in 1952. As did well in their first appearance at the Mille closed. Beginning in 1949 the car’s number in- a result, the race was expanded to 16 different Miglia. dicated its start time. The race took over 12 classes including, strangely enough, one for mil- Noteworthy was the effort put forth by Mer- hours so it was common for most cars to depart itary vehicles. The response was massive with cedes-Benz that year. They came with all the before dawn and arrive at the finish after dusk - over 600 applications received and 501 cars on time, money, machines and people they needed if they did manage to finish.

www.Porsche356Registry.org • March / April 2012 21 Mille Miglia XX over 1,000 cars but these were distributed over In 1953 the FIA changed regulations for the different 1.1, 1.3 and 1.5 engine sizes. In- the World Sports Car Championship. There were terestingly, as Enzo so often did, he protested seven endurance events on the schedule. Five of and, as was so often the case, Ferrari was these were closed circuits that included the Se- granted an exception. The Mille-unique regula- bring 12 hours in Florida, the Le Mans 24 hours tions still allowed for a 1300 and 1500 cc Sports in France, the Spa-Francorchamps 24 hours in Production category although the FIA did not Belgium, the Nürburgring 1000 km in Germany recognize the results. It seems the additional and the Tourist Trophy at Dundrod in Northern classes were specifically retained by the Mille Ireland. There were also two races held on pub- organizers to ensure large participation, includ- lic roads, Italy’s Mille Miglia and Mexico’s Car- ing by Porsche and Simca. They accomplished rera Panamericana. With the Mille Miglia part this – 577 cars were entered and 490 started. of the World Championship, the race attracted As for Porsches, 18 private entries began the 481 highly competitive starters and no less than race in Brescia. six factory teams in 1953. The old Volkswagen gearboxes had proven For Porsche however, the Italian event had to be a great liability in prior year races. So the lost much of its luster because the category big technical improvement for the 356 in 1953 which they favored, the 1500 cc Gran Tourismo was a new fully synchronized four-speed Type Internazionale, had been eliminated. It had been 519 transaxle and it immediately provided sig- replaced with strict homologation in the 2.0 and nificant race performance improvements. Mario 1.3 liter Touring categories that required cars of Favera proved over 10 kph faster on the same less than 2 liters to have a minimum annual pro- stretch that Lurani’s 356 SL had run in 1952. Re- duction of 1,000 cars to the same specification. sults at the Brescia end point were similarly im- “New Course Records in both Classes” - 1953 poster. During the prior year, Porsche had produced pressive. At race end, 283 cars arrived back at Brescia of which ten of these were 356s. The overall winner was a Ferrari 340, covering the course in just over ten and a half hours. In the FIA classifications, the best Porsche finish was Hans Hermann and Erwin Bauer, 11th in the 2000 Sports Car class and 30th overall. In the unofficial 1300 and 1500 Sports Car categories, Porsches took the top five and three spots re- spectively. Although it was primarily a Porsche versus Porsche battle in these classes, the com- pany was proud of their accomplishments and produced a colorful XX Mille Miglia 1953 poster to commemorate the occasion. And why not? Overall only 58% of the cars starting even fin- ished the race that year. (The Porsche attrition rate was about the same.) It could not have escaped the Porsche men’s attention that three small-bore sports cars finished ahead of the first Porsche. In 12th place overall, and first, second and third in the 1100 cc class were Osca MT4s. A light and agile, alu- minum-bodied dedicated race car like the MT4 would bring glory to the Porsche marque, they knew, and just such a car was being developed in Stuttgart at that moment.

Above: The 1953 Mille was not much of an event for Porsche because the classifications did not favor their engine sizes. Hans Hermann and Erwin Bauer (#438) took 11th in the 2000 Sports Car class and 30th overall.

There were unofficial 1.3 and 1.5 liter classes in 1953 and these were primarily a Porsche versus Porsche battle. The lead car in this photo was raced by Aldo Conconi. The following car, #442, was manned by Hans Leo von Hoesch and Werner Engel who finished first in the unofficial Seriensportwagen 1300 class.

22 Volume 35, Number 6 • Porsche 356 Registry Mille Miglia XXI The 1954 adventures of Hans In 1954, the route of the Mille Miglia was Herrmann & Herbert Linge in changed to go through the town of Mantova, the their 550 Spyder have been home town of . This was done to handed down in Mille folklore commemorate one of Italy’s most famous drivers for sixty years. According to the legend, while traveling at who had died the previous August 11th. Another very high speed, the Porsche change was a new set of regulations in the Tour- team was surprised by a de- ing and Grand Touring category that favored scending railroad crossing smaller manufacturers such as Porsche. The gate. The men crouched low first homologation session for the 1954 season and ducked under the gate was held in December 1953 to accept over-1500 seconds before a speeding and under-1500 cc cars in Grand Touring. The train went through the cross- 1500 Super cars were homologated under the ing. Accurate or exaggerated, Sports Classification (formerly the Sport Produc- the noted German artist Carlo tion Class) and 1300 cars were in a Production Demand made a drawing of the event which has become Touring class. There was an international agree- Much of the 1954 event was over slick, rain-soaked roads and there were two part of the colorful Mille ment in place that prohibited a car model from fatalities among the drivers and navigators (a position that was now optional, Miglia story. racing until 30 days after it was homologated. and several drivers went the distance alone). Far from being obsolete, however, The rule affected how Porsche models were navigator Herbert Linge and his race notes proved to be a decisive advantage classified, resulting in Porsche team manager and allowed the team to take a sixth overall. Huschke von Hanstein complaining during the first European races of the season. He wrote to the Automobile Club of Germany claiming the Automo- bile Club of Turin was unfairly exclud- ing certain Porsche cars so that other manufacturers would dominate. You don’t need the benefit of hindsight to see that Von Hanstein’s criticism was most inappropriate since models made by Alfa and Fiat were being excluded in races for the same reason. In the prior year, the Porsche fac- tory made several advancements which would influence its competitive edge during the 1954 race season. The 1300 Super engine now used a roller-bearing crank like the 1500 and 36% more horsepower for this displacement was on tap. Two special products that Porsche produced were the Type 550 and its accompanying four-cam engine. The 550 that Porsche would send to the 1954 Mille was a prototype with many improvements over its predecessors in- cluding a second generation Type 547/1 engine, extra driving lights, a fully- hinged rear deck and a short full-width windshield. The Porsche Spyder was numbered 351 Another Porsche-related car and was piloted by Hans Hermann and Herbert that participated in the MiIlle Linge in the Sport 1500 class. The car left Bres- was the Volkswagen. In 1954 cia at 3:51 a.m. (per its race number) with Her- the 1300-cc Porsche powered Volkswagen of Paul Ernst mann driving and Linge shouting him Strähle and Victor Spingler instructions from the route notes they had built. placed 43rd overall and 3rd At , one of the first major towns through in the S1.5 class. A ramifica- which the raced passed, an OSCA was out in tion of this entry is that such front and setting a record pace. Along the west cars are eligible in today’s coast, just after the route turned east, Hermann’s Mille Miglia. Spyder made a maneuver that has gone down in Mille folklore. Approaching Chieti and traveling

www.Porsche356Registry.org • March / April 2012 23 at very high speed, the Porsche team was sur- mechanic. So he went to work drying the elec- prised by a descending railroad crossing gate. trical system and within 15 minutes, the car was After an instantaneous mental debate as to if again on its way to Brescia. The last half blast there was time to stop, Hermann pushed down over the 990 miles of raceway brought them to on Linge’s helmet signaling his intent to blast a first in class, sixth overall finish. A very satisfy- under the gate. The men crouched low and their ing conclusion for Porsche over its nemesis floor-it-and-duck maneuver was successful - OSCA which finished four places back. Richard with support from a slower train and a crossing von Frankenburg and Henrich Sauter also won guard who held up the gate at the last moment. the under 1500 GT class in a 1500 Super Coupe At 10 a.m., the red-finned, Hermann-Linge so when the factory cars returned to Stuttgart, a Spyder passed through Rome and headed back big celebration was held in the courtyard for to the finish line. A rainstorm soon afterwards driver, workers and staff. Again Porsche pro- enveloped the racers and their four-cam died in duced another vibrant commemorative poster, the deluge. Linge, in addition to being a great this time in the Italian flag colors of green, white driver and navigator, was as well an experienced and red. The third of the “Triple Class Victory” went to Walter Hampel and Wolfgang von Trips who Following the 1954 race, the Porsche factory sent off drove a 1300 cc a congratulory telegram to Hermann and Linge. Upon Coupe to 33rd their triumphant return to Zuffenhausen, a celebra- place overall, tion was held in the factory courtyard. Also taking four positions part in the festivity was the 356 piloted by Richard behind von von Frankenburg and Henrich Sauter (#229) which Frankenberg. won the 1500 GT class.

24 Volume 35, Number 6 • Porsche 356 Registry Mille Miglia XXII Although Porsche’s 550 was the factory’s proud new race track warrior, it was the 356 that was irritating the Italians on their home turf. Journalist Giovanni Lurani documented the dis- mal situation in Auto Italiana as follows. “The 1300cc Grand Touring class saw the first full- scale duel between our almost debutante Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint and the proven Porsche Supers. The famous German cars scored a de- cisive victory. Our Alfa Romeos, too new and en- trusted to private crews that were not up to the task, and in any case no better than the Ger- mans, had to submit to the German cars driven by experienced, well-prepared men. The new Italian machines are authentic sports cars, as are the Porsches for that matter. It is not correct to claim that the Giuliettas are destined for ex- clusively touristic purposes. They are cars that have all the features and the layout of an agile small sports car and had they been prepared and supported during the race by the vigilant eyes of the manufacturer, things would have gone very differently. We should remember that the Porsche Supers derive directly from the Volkswagen and therefore cannot be considered The 550 Spyder of Seidel and Glöckler took the honors in the Sport 1500 and 8th overall. For the 22nd running as cars with a racing heritage. However, the Alfa there were nine 1300 Super Porsches, seven 1500 Super 356s, and four Type 550s. Beginning the race there was Romeo Giuliettas demonstrated that they have a concern that OSCAs would be dominant but reliability proved to be a key and the Porsches persevered.

In the 1955 XXII MIlle the top two spots were taken by Mercedes-Benz 300 SLRs driven by Moss and Fangio. The SLR in this photo was driven by Karl Kling and failed to fin- ish due to an accident. The Spyder sitting beside the Mercedes was driven by Araldo Sassone to 4th in the Sport 1.5 class and 44th overall.

www.Porsche356Registry.org • March / April 2012 25 the potential to be prepared to meet the chal- the event for Jaguar and for 1955, the driver and lenge of the most well-proven foreign adver- navigator showed up a full month before the saries and we are in no doubt that the Portello race for preparation. Daily they drove the course firm will make good use of the experience and detailed every feature on a 17 foot long gained. It was, when all is said and done, their scroll. Ferrari challenged them during the first first major appearance and a terribly demanding half of the race but in the end the Mercedes per- race; one can hardly expect a new car to be in severed and set the all-time Mille fastest time of perfect and definitive form immediately... The 10 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds. Behind results achieved by the Italian industry were them by 32 minutes was another 300 SLR driven hardly brilliant. In all the classes and categories by and 13 minutes later the in which we encountered official or semi-official first Ferrari driven by Umberto Maglioli. foreign works teams, we were beaten! We may For the 22nd running there were nine present excuses, but the result remains and it is 1300 Super Porsches, seven 1500 Super 356s, not comforting.” and four Type 550s in the race. In the Gran Tur- Lurani does not mention them by name, ismo 1300 class Richard von Frankenberg and but the other German marque that embarrassed Peter Oberndorf took the win with a 1500 Super the Italians was Mercedes-Benz. For the first 4½ minutes behind them, ranked with 300SLs, time in post-war history and for the third (and Aston-Martins and other big-bores in the as it turned out, the final) time in the history of “1300+ Grand Touring” class. The 550 driven the Mille Miglia, an Italian car did not win the by Wolfgang Seidel and Helmut Glöckler finished Mille. In 1955 a Mercedes 300 SLR driven by first in the Sport 1500 class some two hours took overall honors. While the 3 after Moss. There was concern on the outgoing liter Mercedes was a truly remarkable car, much leg that an OSCA 1500 would dominate but their Class speed records highlighted the 1955 poster, and of the credit for the win was due to the studious competitor retired before reaching Rome. Two Porsche began referring to their “long” history of efforts of Moss and his navigator British journal- other Spyders finished third and fourth in the wins at the event. ist Denis Jenkinson. Moss had three times run same class, 23rd and 44th overall. Sandwiched in second was an OSCA MT4. Mille Miglia XXIII For the 1956 model year, Porsche made multiple changes. Production of the 1100 and 1500 Super had been halted leaving Porsche with a 1300, 1300 Super, 1500 four-cam and new 1600 and 1600 Super engines. In addition the (Pre-A) 356 models were discontinued and replaced by a new model, the 356A. For this 23rd Mille, weather conditions were terrible and, in retrospect, the dismal weather reflected Porsche’s result. In the 1300 GT class, the best Porsche finish was 4th, over an hour behind the leading Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce. In a new class for open sports cars cost- ing less than £1,200, a Speedster took second In the 1955 Gran Turismo 1300 class, Richard von Frankenberg took 1st and 21st overall. in class. Of four Spyders in the Sports 1500 In 1956, Porsche did class, three retired. The surviving 550 driven by not have a lot to re- Rolf Knoch was a fourth in class, bettered by a joice about. A 356 dang OSCA MT4 and two 150Ss. The Carrera driven by only bright spot was the 1600 Special Touring Persson and and Grand Touring Group class in which 356 Blomquist was the Carreras took first through third in class, the highest finisher – winner being 18th overall back in Brescia. 18th overall and 1st in the GT1.6 class. A bit more special The Last Great Italian Road Race was the accom- For 1957 there were a total of 25 FIA ap- plishment of von proved racing classifications, Porsche had the Saucken and Bialas same car models and engines and competed in driving a 1500 three classes: Sport 1.5 and Grand Touring 1.3 Speedster and and 1.5. In the 1.3 GT category they were very claiming first in the much outclassed by Alfa Romeo and Fiat but did special open sports much better in the other two brackets. In the 1.6 car 1.5 category. GT classification, 356 Carreras finished in the

26 Volume 35, Number 6 • Porsche 356 Registry top seven spots. In the 1500cc Sports Car class, Porsches filled the top three slots. The best run was in a 550A Spyder driven by Umberto Magli- oli that took first in class and fifth overall. Some- what surprisingly, it was a 1500 Speedster that was third in the 1500cc Sports Car class. Unfortunately, it was not racing achieve- ments for which this Mille was remembered but rather for racing failures. Many accolades have been written about Alphonso Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton who is better known as the Marquis de Portago but some journalists write very bitterly about his actions in the final Mille Miglia. In their May 1957 issue, Sports Illustrated objec- tively described the events that took place about 25 miles from the finish line in these words: “The spectators who lined the road saw him A 356A Carrera driven by Paul Strähle and Herbert coming—first a dot in the distance, looming Linge took the honors in the Grand Touring 1.6 class. larger every second. He must have been going 150 mph. Children tried to force themselves past Below: Although the 24th Mille Miglia was marred by the legs of their elders, up to the front of the tragedy, Porsche accomplishments were noteworthy. crowd. There was a sudden report, followed by In the #349 550 Umberto Maglioli came in 5th overall a hiss—a tire blowing out — and the dot that and first in the Sport 1500 class. Behind him in class was De Portago, a red Ferrari by now, swerved was Heinz Schiller in car #354 who was 11th overall. violently. Its tail hit the bank at the left of the road. Then the car catapulted above the first line of onlookers, cut the telegraph wires above, and landed among the more timorous spectators who had stayed back for greater safety. Amid the shrieks of the injured and dying, De Portago died immediately, and with him his old friend, the 40-year-old American Edmund Nelson, who had come along for the ride. Nine spectators were killed with Nelson and De Portago, 20 oth- ers injured. The deaths of a Dutch amateur driver, Josef Gottgens, who crashed a Triumph TR 3 into a wall at Florence, and a motorcycle policeman, brought the toll to 13.” Others were not nearly as unbiased as SI. They note that de Portago was warned that he had a bad tire and foolishly pushed on at ex- treme speed feeling himself invincible. Journalist Don Vorderman, a man who has documented Right: “Horror In Italy,” is how SI headlined Alfonso de Portago’s accident in May 1957. 55 years later historians the Mille Miglia, wrote, “This shocking thing was are divided as to whether he was a talented driver or just plain reckless. The event cast such a dark shadow over caused by a witless mountebank (charlatan) Italy’s Greatest Road Race that it would never again be the same. (Bahamas News Agency, courtesy Terry O’Neil) with an obsessive compulsion to prove himself.” Add this transgression to the events of the previous year in which six died (and the 1955 tragedy at Le Mans) and it was clear that racing could not continue in this fashion. World cham- pion racer Juan Manuel Fangio declared, “I shall never run in the Mille Miglia in the future be- cause it is a race that is really too dangerous. I have tried it five times, and I have always seen that the risk is too great.” On May 15, 1957 the Italian government suspended racing on public roads indefinitely. The Mille Miglia did continue in 1958, 1959 and 1961 but the only feature those timed rallys had to do with the previous year’s races was the name and distance traveled. Italy’s greatest road race was finito.

www.Porsche356Registry.org • January / February 2012 27 might not have crossed your mind, ten different Re-Living the Italian Road Race Experience U.S. car builders are eligible. Porsches have typ- ically represented just less than 10% of the field. In 2011 there were twenty-seven 356s entered and eight 550s. Volkswagens from 1952 and 1953 are also eligible and accepted. During the opening day, cars are brought to the Fiera di Brescia for scrutineering and dis- play. That evening a welcome dinner is held fol- lowed by the cars departing the Viale Venezia. The first cars arrive after the initial leg of their the route, so politics influenced the rally route journey to Ferrara just after midnight. It is best each year. And despite the event no longer being to sleep instead of partying (although that a speed event, there were still some safety prob- Phil Carney doesn’t often work out) because the rally begins lems. The general public and polizia have always again at 8 the next morning and it is a +12 hour he spirit of the Italy’s greatest road been highly aware of Mille days and make al- drive all the way to Rome. Again you can choose race was re-ignited in 1977 on the lowances for speeding cars. But there were to party or sleep but the first cars will be leaving Tfiftieth anniversary of the original those few drivers who thought they had the skills for the trip back to Brescia at 6:30 a.m. At 10:15 Mille Miglia. Since it was no longer possible to of Fangio and ignored safety. In 1990 accidents p.m. the cars begin arriving back at the start/fin- run without speed limits on public roads, the became an issue. However, the Mille Miglia of ish line and are then moved to a public display event was more a parade of cars than anything the late twentieth century was hugely popular area. There is plenty of sightseeing for drivers, else. In 1982, Franco Mazzotti (a founder of the with everyone and therefore timing regulations navigators and the public – but the days are original event) and Countess Maggi (the wife of were refined to prevent abuse. Today, cars carry long. another founder), helped resurrect a new Mille a GPS tracker and speed transponder to further Miglia as a competition trip across Italy. The enforce safety. Brescia Automobile Club—owners of the Mille The number of cars admitted now is almost Domestic alternatives If traveling with your car and navigator to Miglia—became heavily involved. To plan, fund four times the number that participated in the Italy is beyond your means (and/or political and control the event over the long route from first revival in 1977 but fewer than half of the connections), there are Mille tributes in the Brescia to Rome and back, a permanent organ- applications received each year are accepted. United States and other countries. The California ization was put in place. Instead of non-stop, Only the cars most significant in the context of Mille was organized by Martin Swig, who has top-speed driving, the format was a rally with Mille Miglia race history are selected. All cars driven the Mille in Italy twenty times, beginning precision trip times determining the winner. Re- must have been manufactured between 1927 in 1982. It was first run in October 1991 with sponse was overwhelming and by 1987 the re- and 1957 and the model must have taken part the endorsement of both the Brescia Automobile vived Mille became an annual event. Even with in at least one of the original Mille Miglia races. Club and Alfa Romeo. The event begins at the this frequency, the number of drivers who Replicas, even partial ones, are not permitted. Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill in San Francisco and wanted to have their car entered was still incred- Furthermore, cars are required to have either then wanders through California’s north coast ible. This meant that unless you had some polit- an FIA Heritage Certificate, CSAI (Italian National wine country. The planners seek out a combina- ical or factory connection, your chances of being Sporting Authority) papers and/or a Fédération tion of great driving roads, light traffic, charming accepted were very slim. Internationale des Véhicules Anciens I.D. card. eateries and fine hotels. “It’s all about enjoying The new Mille Miglia has been hugely suc- Currently 375 cars are entered each year. the cars,” says Swig, emphasizing that the event cessful with manufacturers, classic car owners The organizers attempt to select vehicles pro- is not profit-centered. “We spend the money on and the car-loving Italian population. But there portioned to the number of car models that ran the participants.” have been issues. Towns experienced a signifi- during the different years. Some 91 different There is a pre-1958 rule in place but ex- cant economic boost by being included along manufacturers are recognized and although it ceptions are made if they fit in with the spirit of the event. The bigger issue is fitting into the 60+ car limit that is routinely imposed. Usually about ten percent are 356s. This past October saw a new Mille Miglia commemorative added in the United States, the Mille Miglia North America Tribute (MNAT). Stratus Media Group secured the rights to stage the event, traveling coastal routes and historic back roads through California’s Central Coast, Monterey Peninsula, and San Francisco Bay Area. The late event seeks 1927 to 1957 cars, although other collector cars participate. Similar Mille re-creations are held in Japan (La Festa Mille Miglia), Argentina (1000 Millas Top: Just as in the originals from the 1950s, Porsche road and race cars can be seen at the Italian revival every Sport) and Australia (Melbourne Mille), and at- year. Route signs are still wrapped on trees, fences and walls to guide participants. Maltby photos. tract mostly participants from their respective Above: At the California Mille, Jack and Kingsley Croul in a 1957 Coupe. Photo by Zach Hammer countries.

28 Volume 35, Number 6 • Porsche 356 Registry