Glad you like it guys! I don't mind a Dakar version though! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vxKJR77N6k Image Unavailable, Please Login
MvT I was in Venice January in the early 1980's and St. Mark's square was entirely deserted except for a cameraman and flocks of grounded pigeons. I took a photograph in B&W of that scene which is one of my favorite photos of all time. During that same visit I climbed the Leaning Tower by simply walking up the steps. I am not sure this can even be done now. In Summer 2005 Pizza was little more then a paradise for Gypsy thieves. They were so intrusive on the local transport I became concerned for the physical safety of elderly tourists. I was even compelled to repulse the general onslaught to protect our group from minor assault. Similar in Rome. There was not one square inch of Rome that did not have one or another internal combustion engine vehicle in combat for space. Even the sidewalk restaurants had three sided glass enclosures that provided only a little bit of insulation from the general assault. And St. Peter's? My God. Literally. And I was saddened by the general social atmospheric change from the early 1980s. At that time I came to actually believe in la dolce vita. In 2005 almost everyone I encountered was grumpy. It was heart breaking.
Yesterday we drove from the private Ferrari collection another 100km to our Hotel in Chur, Switzerland to leave in the morning for the Italy. A promised garage at the hotel was a public one and was almost full. Most of parked in another garage assumable free parking. Next morning we were faced how notorious this country is on tickets, parking tickets. In this case and no sign to be found that it was paid parking.. We left and soon it started snowing the higher we went into the mountains, but what a ride down the hill through the mountains!! It went fast! Some relaxation and enjoying the view and the italian border was a few km/miles away. Picked up the last person from Milan airport and Brescia was our next goal! Along the way we bumped into some Mille Miglia drivers already, some driving and some on trailers! Toll ports to be taken and we were in Brescia (Mille Miglia Paddock at the http://www.brixiaexpo.it) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That sounds like Italy alright! The more south you go the worse it gets. Napels is the worst city, been there last year and Fiat 500s are driving on the pavements. It has its charm
Charm is a generous description. IMHO Italy is the single most important tourist nation on earth. Only problem is all the damn Italians. And inexplicably these are apparently the descendants of Julius Caesar and all the rest. Not that Julius Caesar is a worthy role model. However, he was nowhere in evidence at the Perudi leather shop in Florence. I DID, however, get a very nice goat skin crushable jacket off the discount rack.
In about 2005 I took my wife to see Herculaneum. She could not keep up so I scampered off myself leaving her with an Italian-American visitor from our tour. Those guys just had a field day. The guide had keys to all the closed places while I was trying to catch up with my previous visit twenty years previous. The guide showed them the bath tub of a rich guy. My wife mentioned I provided her a machine to cut and polish stones. Known as cabichones. The guide just grabbed a big junk off the edge and gave it to her. So now I have a signet ring made from Herculaneum marble. Damn......
14:00pm in the afternoon. So what are we doing at the Mille Miglia Paddock. Look at cars!!!! (First time for me) This is where everyone registers their car that they will be driving in the Mille Miglia. The entry fee... € 8450 VAT included (12000 USD) So what do you get for this kind of money when you drive this rally: from the official "2014_informazioni_e_costieng.pdf" Once your login identity and a password have been obtained, you must complete your registration process by filling out the online entry form and making payment by credit card or bank transfer. Please attach the following to your application: - FIVA ID Card and/or a FIA Heritage Certificate and/or CSAI papers; - photographs of the car (according to the specifics of the entry procedures); - as much historical documentary evidence as possible on the car, including that originally belonging to previous owners. The entry fee of € 7.000,00, 22% VAT excluded (€ 8.450, VAT included) can be paid via bank transfer using the bank details provided on the registration form, or by credit card on our secure website: 1000Miglia. Entry fees include: - A complete hospitality package for a crew of two, including: o Welcome coffee at the Mille Miglia Paddock o Hotel Accommodation for 4 nights, including breakfast (May 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th) o 2 buffet lunches (the 16th and 17th May) o Invitation to the Awards Ceremony on May 18th o Aperitif and farewell lunch on May 18th in Brescia - The kit for competitors, including: o Road book o The numbered car sticker and event numbers o The official event pass o The catalogue - Assistance and Services including: o Parking in the reserved area inside the Mille Miglia Paddock (Brescia Trade Fair); o Overnights security surveillance for the racing cars every night of the event, and - where possible along the route o indoor parking; o A shuttle service wherever indicated, provided by the Organization; o Coordination by our members of staff throughout the entire event. A glance outside and insite at the paddock They are in showroom state and they will be pushed to the limit on the public road! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Some more Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Guess what! Jay Leno is here and his Jaguar team. starting number 211 driving a Jaguar XK 120 Sports "Ecurie Ecosse" Starting list is to be found here if anyone is interested. Starting List Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Good Photography I spent $3,000 for a day at Road Atlanta using, in addition to their various Porches, Lotus variants among many others, but also my own Malibu Maxx Hatchback. Somehow I doubt running my Mondial at this event would be other then photographic parade. A nice parade to be sure. At Road Atlanta my instructor had me stop on the autocross track to let the Lotus get ahead of my Maxx. Let us not be seduced by a parade. It is a parade. And a fine one at that! Do not in anyway genuflect. Thats just me....
And what we discovered in an abandoned trailer outside. Not 1 but 2! What a day! You can bet your horses that we went satisfied to our base camp 30km ahead! (an agriturismo). Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
There is nothing better then direct evidence. I DO wish I had been with you guys. This sort of thing is momentous in its own way. Not worthy of worship. But plenty of fun. Keep it up! Does your very own parade include Venice? My second most favorite place on the planet. The first being the Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid. But that is mere commentary....
I think they just hit us! I certainly would want to drive this race for real one time. Either the Tribute version (that one is for youngtimers or new exotic cars) or just the real old car version, but then one needs to have wheels of before 1957 I believe. Nice vid: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ICH7jxORk]Jay Leno drives in the Mille Miglia 2014 - Unravel Travel TV - YouTube[/ame]
So the Tribute is driving with modern cars and they start an hour earlier then the original Mille Miglia where participation is limited to cars, produced no later than 1957, which had attended (or were registered) to the original race. What was hidden in the trailer has been released to to public Ferrari Tribute to Mille Miglia 2014 - 3x LaFerrari,3x 599 GTO,Enzo,458 Speciale,... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB_irbeC9qg]Ferrari Tribute to Mille Miglia 2014 - 3x LaFerrari,3x 599 GTO,Enzo,458 Speciale,... - YouTube[/ame]
Today was again an early day! 08:30 breakfast! Wash our cars for the parking lot where we would meet up with the lot. The group I am with attends this event almost every year and every year they meet up at a Pizzaria and how ironic it can be... next to it.. a fuel station! We could park our cars for free after committing to have lunch at the restaurant. Walked into Brescia center where the heart of the Mille Miglia is. Very exciting as the cars are lined up, driving, to be checked or admired by the audience in every street. It is a multicultural gathering of car brands, some of them extinct and others still in business. Roaring sounds and happy people everywhere the more you get into the center the livelier it gets! At the same moment I am making pictures and footage, but the unfortunate thing happens. while taking pictures someone bumps against my arm and my phone drops... The digitizer shathers all over the place. holy crap! ... I am still waiting for my new digitizer that I bought from Ebay and I was kinda hoping it would have arrived today. No luck.. Without it I cannot unlock my phone and I have no access to these pics and films I made. But I have another phone which I still took some pics. So during the day the crowed can look at all these beauties and hear them rumble. I think it was the most air polluted city in entire country this day haha! The competition has started. At 18:00pm the first car will decending down the platform and the race starts. The honer is for an OM 665 SMM Superba from 1930 to start the race (First picture). Officine Meccaniche or OM is an Italian brand that has lost its apperance in 1975 it still exists as forklift builder. And I have seen the car I love the most. The ALFA 8C 2900A BOTTICELLA from 1936. The beast that carried the Ferrari signs! The time that Enzo Ferrari still worked for Alfa Romeo. It is a beauty and what a sound! It's right there with number 109 with Dutch plates, really old style plates! A total of six of these road racers were constructed. Three of these were entered in the 1936 running of the Mille Miglia. The new cars were immediately successful! Amazing that this race car is still driving after 77 years. Sorry guys I need to stop here as I just need my pics and footage to continue. I'll report back when I got my phone working! However, I still have my GoPro footage to share Some moments please! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Awesome thread, thanks Tijn. BTW, is it me or is the Mondial coming into its own? Your car looks so elegant, captivating and very exotic in these photos.
The entire Ecurie Ecosse collection recently sold for £8.8M. Bonhams : ECURIE ECOSSE GLORIES AGAIN AS BONHAMS SELLS SCOTTISH TEAM COLLECTION FOR £8.8M Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thx Wade! It feels home in its natural habitat spinning around on the road, preferable in Italy and does not mind to show her Italian dietro (derrière) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great thread and presentation ! Love your car, thanks for representing the Mondial group with honors! C H E E R S, Mike
Phone is fixed and story continues! What a cars! They are in better state then in any musuem. And this Bentley 4.5 Litre S.C. (in post 51 last 2 pictures) ...the dinosaur of the road! And look at all this nifty stuff on the dashboard for a 1930 car. Bell this comes from your Island neat stuff you guys make! Mercedes very good represented with 30 Mercedeses 300 SLs (Gullwings) Somewhere in the side streets there was a blue Gullwing hidden from the public. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
