Mille Miglia 2010

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www.1000miglia.eu

Who is going to try to get in this year? There is a possibility to join with a modern Ferrari as well as there will be a parallel rally for 120 Ferraris (from pre 1958 to the Enzo or 599.....) doing the same days a simular track. They start before the actual MM and will, according to the organisation, attrack huge amount of people. Of course nice that 120 more cars can have the fun.....But not my idea.....

Ciao
Oscar
(ps I was already # 7)....

 

http://www.ferrari.com/English/GT_Sport%20Cars/Events/1000migliatribute/Pages/1000migliatribute.aspx

(if it will be spammed, just google MM 2010 120 ferrari's)

ciao
Oscar

 

Modern Ferraris too this year?

hmm...

 

Maybe a silly question,I see Sunbeam Rapier ran in '56,would they allow one to run or is the car regarded as to ordinary?

 

The organizers would love someone brave and bold enough to enter one! Best of luck in the rally!

Cheers,

Bill

 

if you look at their history,they did well in comp,very pretty little car,but where to find one.

 

Oscar, I don't like this news at all. I was of course going to come again, but I really wonder whether I want to share the MM with a bunch of noisy over-revving Fiats, not to mention the recent "california" monstruosity.

Cheers!

Julio

Julio

 

She went all red when I told her what you said
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Please present her with my most sincere apologies. That was not gentlemanly on my part. Tell her I think she is beautiful, a masterpiece of technology, and surely a tremendous pleasure to drive.

Please explain to her that she shouldn't pay attention to what I say because I am just a man with strange tastes: I don't go for red modern Ferraris, in the same way that I don't go for women with large breasts. Having tried them both, however, I can well understand the attraction.

Cheers,

Julio

 

She didn't like it either! Especially because she's from the pre-FIAT era.

Seriously, I'm going to try and participate. I understand if you are lucky enough to be in the real event, that you feel maybe somewhat cheapened. But at least these cars will be preceding you so you don't have to see them. And I think there will be plenty of wonderful old Ferraris there.


Onno
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In what ways do guys think that the presence of modern Ferraris will detract from the enjoyability of the event?

You think that the presence of modern cars will somehow diminish that magic aura which is often present in vintage events?

 

Guys,
Driving the MM in an old car (no brakes, bad tires, bad roadholding, bad wipers, bad dynamo, so you end up with an empty battery...) etc is totally different from driving it with an CC, ABS, ESP etc cars.
If you are on the same road as we, the vintage clan, we have our hands full getting to the finish where the modern cars ask themselves, is this all? Part of the fun is that all the competitors have the same situation, getting there in time in an old car....

But I can understand that everybody wants to smell the fumes of burned oil, clutches and brakepads. If you do attend in the new gang, please have some consideration with the old bangers.
BTW they can be vintage Ferrari's but "blackjag" we drove more than 4 hours together with a (Julio!!) Fiat 500. Big fun.....

ciao
Oscar

 

Guys, the Mille Miglia is not just another rally. The Mille Miglia was the greatest race in the world (Enzo dixit), and I do think it might be cheapened and yes, ruined, by the inclusion of post 1957 cars. Even in front. That's just my opinion.

I have run it twice in my 212, and have very, very much enjoyed the sheer hell I went through everytime in order to even finish (and I didn't make it the second time), as well as the effort it took me to live it. To me running the Mille Miglia means dealing, as Oscar said, with stinking clutches or total electrical failures (I have been passed at night by a Bugatti which had for only illuimination the co-pilot holding a flashlight), sleeping three hours every night, helping to start a competitor's 750 Monza every morning with a good push, or bursting a tyre while climbing up the hill to Siena.

With a modern car, or even with a 330 GTC, you get NONE of that. Running the MM in my 330GTC, or even in my 250 GT PF (two extraordinary pre-Fiat cars, which I adore, particularly in blue, my favorite color) would be an ENTIRELY different experience. It would not be the MM.

And I apologize if I have offended anybody. Please try to understand. Since I was a kid I have been dreaming of the MM. My late father raced with a Ferrari as a privateer in 1957, and assured me that he would have run the MM in 1958 had it not been cancelled. It was the biggest regret of his racing career. As a child he would talk to me for hours about his racing days, and I grew up with a picture of his 500 TRC on my bedroom wall.

Ten years after my father's passing, at age 40, I was able to purchase his (and my) first Ferrari, a 212 Inter (together with my brother). During the following SEVEN YEARS the car was in restoration, and my brother and I asked each other at least once a month: "Do you think we will be able to run the MM this year?". I have read nearly everything there is about the race. My father never ran it, but I did. I feel it is an immense honor and privilege to have been able to do it once in my life, with my beloved father next to my brother and I, smiling for sure, from wherever he is now.

And now I have to share this experience, this dream, this extraordinary adventure with a TR, a 348, a 355 or even a "california"?????? All great cars (except for the "california"), but I think they don't belong. I think they don't deserve to be there that day and in that company.

Again, I apologize if anybody has taken offense. I feel nothing but respect and comradeship for all of you posters and owners of Vintage Ferraris, and this section of Fchat has contributed greatly to my Ferrari experience. I am also very grateful to all of you.

But to me some things are sacred.

Cheers,

Julio

 

Julio,

There is no reason to apologize. No offense was taken. My original comment was in jest. I can appreciate what you're saying even though I obviously haven't had the privilege to experience what you've experienced.

I have spoken with my father about the idea of us participating in the MM with the 599. For me, the sole possibility of driving along with some of the historical cars which participate would be an honor.

However, if the presence of modern Ferraris is not very welcome by most vintage owners who participate, then participating only to feel out of place might not be worth it.

Hopefully, one day, we will have the privilege to participate in a car more in line with the MM.

 

Julio, fully understood. Wonderful story with all my envies. w/ smiles Jimmy

 

The MM died a long time ago. The roads today are a lot different than they were and the traffic during the event is nothing like it was on the day. There is already tons of modern traffic during the MM.

The original roads of the Targa Florio are much closer to how they were and the traffic early on Sunday is very sparse. I've driven for 40 minutes totally alone on those roads.

I've driven the original Targa Florio roads in 002 and P 4/5. I enjoyed both very much.
As much as I enjoyed 002 there was a certain je ne sais quoi about listening to opera on
P 4/5's ipod as we stormed through the roads that Nino knows so well.

 

Jim,

Sorry but I don't agree. The MM is very much alive. In the cities you don't drive alone, but on the mountains or at night you only see some headlights if you slow down too much. And the people next to the roads scream you to the end, and actually without them it is very hard to finish....
Yes the roads have changed, as the GPS safety/following box and the GSM in case of trouble. But the soul is still there.....And it does not matter if you drive it in a Gullwing (although not my favourite and that is not for the car....) a 356, or a Fiat 500. Although the crowd screams 3 times more if a Ferrari or Maserati passes.

No it is not dead. And no I don't like modern cars trying to live the rally.....You don't go there for the food or the hotels, they are not relevant at all.
But hey, I will join the TF one day......

ciao
Oscar

ps the F1, that one is dead......

 

At least we agree that F1 is dead.

 

You dont have to follow the MM in a modern Ferrari, you can always do it in a vintage Ferrari that isnt eligible or was turned down.

 

Of course the MM died a long time ago. What we have now is an extraordinary and unique recreation of the greatest of all races (unless the moderns are allowed to participate). Yes, there is trafic at times, but there are also empty roads, especially at night or crossing the mountain passes. City centers like Sienna or Ferrara are closed to trafic.

I would really love to run the Targa Florio one day, and I also enjoy listening to Tosca on my 330 GTC, which has a very 21st century sound system. But the Mille Miglia (or rather its recreation) is special, and I respecfully disagree with your impression of it.

And then of course there are the Italian crowds, and the passing through the most beautiful architecture in the world: Brescia, Sienna, Ferrara, Rome, Florence!

Jim, I seem to recall you have never participated in the MM yet (forgive me if I am wrong). I would love to see you there with one of your wonderful cars (but not the P4/5!), and I suspect you would change your opinion. Maybe I will have the chance to meet you before then at the Targa Florio!

P.S. The Targa Florio lasted longer than the MM, but in 2009 they are both equally dead.

 

002 ran the MM in 1948 but so far I haven't. I do hope to meet you one day soon. The new event is wonderful and the passion burns bright as it does throughout Italy and Sicily.

Cheers!

 

I see your point Julio and I understand the sentiment. I even agree with it. But the opportunity to drive that route and not worry about speed cameras and having the roads blocked for you by police is too good to pass up.

I would prefer it, though, if it was a separate event on different days.


Onno

 

With foreign plates speed cameras shouldn't be an issue anyway.

I have driven on most of the MM roads before...but having parts closed from traffic would be nice indeed.

I have seen the MM go past Brescia some years ago when I still lived in Milan. What a sight!

 

The "new" MM of course has nothing to do with the actual race of the 50's. No 300 km/h (although some parts of the rally do have some major speeding, like driving 120 in the centre of Rome...), no fatal crashes and no real winners, but new cars! (he perhaps the 120 new Ferrari's comes closer to the actual MM than we think.....)

But the revival is a lot of fun, hard work and the people (drivers (well some) and public) have simular enthousiasm. The atmosphere is unreal and hard to describe, but unbelievable

I can understand that everybody wants to joint it.....But than agian why only 120 Ferrari's....I would do it as well..to be honest.

ciao
Oscar

 

Would be awesome if you were able to join next year!

Point taken. It might not be the same as the original MM, but still is, in my opinion, the greatest 'race' of the world. There's nothing like the atmosphere of the old cars running trough mountain passes and ancient city centres. For me, as a 'future owner', sheer pleasure!

Gr. Martin