Brescia, May 6-9, 1999
Mille Miglia – a legend
33 Ferrari entered
Ferrari victorious
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.
|
