Mille Miglia a legend


Ferrari 500 TRC Spider Scaglietti s/n 0658MDTR

Ferrari 500 TRC Spider Scaglietti s/n 0658MDTR

 

Brescia, 6-9 May, 1999

Mille Miglia – a legend

The possibly most famous event for historical cars in the world – the Mille Miglia Storica – did again attract a high number of Ferrari this year, 33 to be more precise. The weather during this year’s "Mille" was great most of the time, although it did rain heavily when the cars arrived back in Brescia on Saturday evening. But the Italian rain in May is just typical and has become an essential part of the Mille Miglia already for the regular participants.

33 Ferrari entered
Going through the list of the participating Ferrari, one can easily notice that there were not too many "novelties" for the Ferrarista who regularly attends European Ferrari and/or historic racing events. A team from Denmark entered a so-called "Jaguar Ferrari Biondetti Sport"; this weird Jaguar-powered car is rumored to have a Ferrari chassis. I have not been able to confirm this nor to find out anything else on what the car actually has got to do with Ferrari – if it has at all. Maybe one of our readers may help?



Bill Noon of the Symbolic Motor Car Co. of La Jolla, CA/USA showed up in the early 166 Inter Coupé Touring s/n 0079S. Unfortunately, the car suffered from technical problems and was eventually among the many "DNFs".

A Mr. Meyer from the Netherlands took part in his 250 MM Berlinetta Pinin Farina s/n 0258MM. The car had undergone a ground-up restoration over a period of several years and was seen in public for the very first time since then.

From Germany a dark blue 250 Europa GT Coupé Pinin Farina had come to Italy, owned by Michael Stollfuss of Bonn. I was personally surprised to see this car s/n 0389GT since I had never heard about it being in Germany. Unfortunately, the right front fender got a dent in a minor accident prior to the start, but I think it is a miracle anyway that there are only a very few cars which become damaged in the Mille Miglia each year.

Mr. Sanchez-Zinny from Argentina drove his newly acquired 225 Sport Spider Vignale s/n 0218ET and took it to an incredible 5th OA position.

A well-known Mille Miglia-participant is the red 250 MM Spider Vignale s/n 0276M; the spyder with a very clouded history was on loan this year, being driven by Swiss collector Oscar Meier, who had just sold his 750 Monza s/n 0500M which used to accompany him through various earlier editions of the Italian road race.

Swiss collector Peter von Muralt showed up in his French blue 250 MM Berlinetta Pinin Farina s/n 0310M; yes, he bought the car at the noted Brooks auction at Gstaad last December. This Ferrari had not been seen racing for years or probably even decades.

The gorgeous 166 MM/53 Spider Vignale s/n 0314M of Walter Fink from Stuttgart/Germany had apparently been handed over to friends of his to drive in the Mille Miglia. It was the first outing of the car in an event since the sale by noted German collector Peter Gläsel.



Another car from Germany sported the same color-combination of burgundy and silver: the 225 Inter Coupé Vignale s/n 0223EL of Axel Urban from Hamburg and Cornelius Tamboer of Puerto Rico. The 250 GT LWB Berlinetta TdF s/n 1037GT, which had been offered for sale by Urban for about one year was now seen in the hands of its new owner, collector Andrew Pisker from the UK.

Two 500 TRs took part in the event: the yellow example s/n 0622MDTR of John Devine and restorer Steve Tillack, and s/n 0634MDTR of Japanese Ferrarista Mr. Nakamizo. The latter attracted many curious fans since it had not been seen in Europe for quite a long time.


Ferrari victorious
The last Ferrari which I would like to mention separately is the 340 MM Barchetta Touring s/n 0284AM of the Italian team of Cané/Auteri. This is not just because it is a rare car, but because of the fact that 0284AM was the winning car of the 1999 Mille Miglia Storica!


Ferrari has been synonymous with the Mille Miglia forever – this is unlikely to change in the next century.

Andreas Birner

See you next year !