Every year our Italian correspondent, Alessandro Gerelli, takes us to the staging area of the Mille Miglia Retro in Brescia. This year he has photographed a prodigious list of cars, concentrating on those raced from 1947 to 1957.
Given this wealth of material, we decided to present the images in order of year. A couple of caveats: 1) some of the cars entered in the retro event did not actually participate in the original Mille Miglia, but similar models did. 2) The year of the car as listed may not strictly correspond to our article--again, similar models would have participated in the year as described. Last week, we covered 1947 to 1952; this week, 1953-1957.
Lastly, we could not have provided the information below without the help of
"La Sport e i suoi artigiani 1937-1965" .
1953
Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari, three famous makes with destinies and histories so intertwined, were all favored to win the 20th Mille Miglia. The 1953 event was perhaps the greatest Mille Miglia ever, as all three cars battled bitterly for the win.
Bandini was one of the more successful small bore sports racers, and built this as a "siluro" with removeable fenders. It was also very popular in the U.S., using Crosley-based engines.
Fangio, in the 6C3000CM Alfa would drive his greatest sports car race, finishing second after his front tie rod end broke, Giannini Marzotto in the brutal 4.1 Vignale barchetta would win his last, and Felice Bonetto would take the new 3 liter sports racing Lancia to third place.
Moretti, too was very popular, both in Italy and the U.S. Moretti built everything by hand and did not use Fiat components until the 1960s. This model, built in 1953, is listed as being a "750 Moretti Sport Michelotti", and driven by Binkert/Becchetti of Switzerland.
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The French continued to dominate the smaller classes, much to the dismay of the Italians, and new classes were created for the Porsche 1300 and 1500, which they promptly won. Entries were now very international: drivers hailed from ten different countries, and there were 25 different makes among the 481 starters. Where there was one Ferrari entered in 1947, there were now 26 Ferraris in the race.
The classic OSCA barchetta body style was reported to have been designed in-house. Most of the first OSCAS were all built at the factory, but as orders increased the bodywork was farmed out to firms like Morelli and Frua. The team of Cibaldi/Formentini of Italy entered this 1953 MT4 OSCA.
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1954
Alberto Ascari won the race he always hated, diligently but brilliantly driving a Lancia D24 to victory as the competition dropped by the wayside. In honor of Tazio Nuvolari, who had died in the summer of 1953, the race was routed through Nuvolari’s hometown of Mantua. The roads were now much smoother and better, the cars were faster and the crowds thicker.
The traditional small displacement Italian specials were now completely overwhelmed by the entry of 27 Renaults, 25 Panhards, Citroens and Dbs, 10 Peugeots and 18 Porsches. The Porsche Spyder entered the event for the first time and placed 6th overall.
According to owner Bruce Male, "Although designated a "53", this car
was actually produced in 1954. After its debut in the 1954 Tour de France (6th
overall, Jean Estange) and the 1954 MM (3rd overall, Musso)it was
returned to the factory and fitted with its head faring and slipper nose
as you see it today."
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Vittorio Marzotto, the third of the four Marzotto brothers, drove a 500 Mondial Ferrari to third place, in a race long duel with Liugi Musso, who was driving the latest Maserati 2 liter. Musso finished fourth, and Clemente Biondetti, already terminally ill, drove his last Mille Miglia and placed an amazing fourth in an outclassed Ferrari.
As OSCA leaned on Morelli to build their bodies, Morelli responded with a new body style for the cars in 1954, beginning with the TN 1500 series. The classic barrel shaped OSCA, itself derived from the first OSCA "siluros", passed into history.
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The OSCAs continued to do well in the 1100 cc class, and the new TN 1500 was introduced to combat the threat from Porsche. But clearly, the Mille Miglia no longer belonged solely to the Italians. And for those who could see clearly, the end of the glory days of the Mille Miglia was in sight.
Here, the unraced Alfa Romeo 750 Competition prototype is seen at the 2006 Retro event. Despite the nomenclature, the 750 was a 1500cc four based on the old 1900 engine.
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1955
Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson had begun practicing for the May event in February of 1955. Mercedes Benz was determined to win the event at all costs, and, of course, did so. Even had Moss retired, Fangio would have won in another 300SL as he placed second. The Ferraris of Castellotti and Taruffi retired early, leaving the race to the flying German cars.
The "etceterini" classes in Italy would continue through the 1960s, but this was perhaps their last chance to attract international attention. This Ermini Sport Scaglietti, as seen here, provided the buck for the fiberglas Devin sports car in America. It is one of the most beautiful small cars ever built. A 1100cc version placed second in class in the 1956 Mille Miglia.
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By mid decade, the Grand Touring concept, started by the Lancia B20, was being redefined by the Ferrari 250GT and the Mercedes Benz 300 SL. John Fitch in a 300SL Gullwing placed 5th overall and gave notice to Ferrari that the 250MM was in need of improvement. Fiats and Alfas were still winning in sub-classes, as was the OSCA, but the emphasis on the small sports cars was shifting to the larger, more exciting and saleable Grand Touring cars.
Maserati built some beautiful four cylinder cars for the 1500cc sports classes, which looked much like the 200 and 300 series cars of the same era.
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The 500 Mondial Ferrari, a four cylinder based on the successful F1 engine, was designed by Scaglietti with possible help from Dino Ferrari. Vittorio Marzotto finished second in the 1954 event with a 500 Mondial, but with a Pininfarina body.
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1956
With no competition from Lancia or Mercedes Benz, a young and brave Eugenio Castellotti won the rain soaked 1956 event in a 290 MM Ferrari. In fact, Ferraris took the first five places, and a 250GT defeated a serious effort by a factory-backed Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, which finished 6th overall.
GT cars began to be taken very seriously by 1956, particularly after the success of the Mercedes 300SL Gullwing. Maserati and Zagato teamed to create a series of stunning GT coupes, such as this 1956 A6G 54, entered by Fries and Kreuzer from Germany.
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The French failed to show in the sports classes, so it was almost business as usual, with the Sports 750 class being won by the new OSCA 750, while Stanguellinis finished second and third in that class. An Ermini finished second to an OSCA in the 1100cc sport class, and the Maserati 3000S did well in class, although the famous marque was never to win an overall victory in the great race itself.
1957
Both Ferrari and Maserati were now running monster cars capable of 200 miles an hour, with 400 hp DOHC V12s. The stakes were particularly high as both Ferrari and Maserati were competing for the World Championship of Makes. It was a close but fitting win for Piero Taruffi, who had driven in the event 14 times. The Maseratis went out early leaving the race in the hands of the big 315 and 335 S Ferraris.
This is a later, probably 1958 or 1959, Abarth 750 GT Zagato. However, the first series of the car, sans headlight covers, did see action in the 1957 Mille Miglia, and won its class.
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The effects of the disastrous 1955 racing season were still being felt in Italy, and while small displacement cars were discouraged, sub classes continued to draw entries, including the 350cc Isetta bubble car. The total number of entries was limited to 350 for safety reasons.
From the 150S Maserati concocted the 200S and 200SI, all three having four cylinders. The 300S series had engines derived from the 250F and were straight sixes. These were all built in a period of unrivaled creativity from 1951 to 1957. This 1957 Maserati 200SI (I for International) was entered by Ferretti and Frabetti of Italy.
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It was all to naught. Twenty-five miles from the finish the Ferrari 335S of de Portago and Edmund Nelson went off the road and killed 10 spectators, as well as driver and co-driver. Taruffi was still celebrating his win at the finish line when the news came down of the tragic accident. And at that moment, everyone knew that not only had 12 people died, but the Mille Miglia, too, had died.
No matter when or where a car was built, few if any can approach the beauty, balance, harmony and sheer joy of the 500TRC. Like Mozart's music, it will remain a classic
for eternity. For this, we can thank Ferrari, Pininfarina, Sergio Scaglietti, and the Mille Miglia.
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