La Pelligrino in Sicilia, Part 2

By Patricia Lee Yongue, Associate Professor of English, University of Houston

Photos by Dr. Giuseppe Valenza

1939 Bugatti Type 57C Tank, owned by Thierry Giovannoni.

Last week we presented Part I of Patricia Lee Yongue's report on the Targa Florio Retro, click here which took place in June.

Officially, the race commenced at 9:30 the next evening, June 9, when all participants gathered at the Piazza Verdi in Palermo for a rousing public concours, before setting off on the first and shortest stage of the five-day Circuito di Palermo, the 30 km journey from Palermo to coastal Torre Normanna and a stay at the Torre Normanna Hotel, a lovely hillside resort with an elevator descending to the seashore. What a treat to wander out early the next morning and see the great old cars parked curbside, just as we did at the San Paolo Palace, a concours in its own right. A 1939 Bugatti Tank lined up behind a 1955 competition Ferrari 250GT lined up behind a 1931 Alfa 1750 Zagato . . ..

Was this the life?!

Kuno Schar's Lancia Stratos gets instructions.

After car and document checks and a sumptuous breakfast al fresco, Stage Two began: an arduous 301 km trek from the northern to the mid-southern coast of Sicily, taking an inland diversion, then ending at Kastalia (Scoglotti). For the first time, the cars had to navigate a variety of terrain and driving conditions. They were also sharing the roads with normal traffic. Real sweating now had to mingle with luxury.

Jutta Roschmann's 1955 250GT Ferrari waits for the commencement of the Retro.

My driving partner and I, Jorge Ferreyra-Basso, veteran of many historic races including the Mille Miglia, and designer of five official Targa posters, completed the race in our Press ("Stampa") car, a nifty little 2004 Fiat Panda Diesel. Although I envied the drivers of the classic cars, I sympathized when we found ourselves stuck in rush hour traffic, where the one-car wide streets are endless series of 45 degree angles, and Vespas and their ilk zip from every direction like mosquitoes. Or we would crawl behind a ver-r-r-y slow cart or truck on a steep, deeply curved mountain road. Over-heating was always a possibility.

Clay Regazzoni and Kadri Sakurada catch a cool drink. Rega entered a 1969 Ferrari Daytona.

Passing was not. Clutches and gears could falter. Fuel could run low. Fortunately, the several assistance crews were vigilant. In regular traffic, we survived the bikes and the tiny Italian passenger cars traveling at 130 km/h on any stretch in town resembling a straightaway, passing in the middle as well as on the left and right and sidewalk, creating lanes where none exist, and presuming, as Danny said, that "red lights and stop signs are mere suggestions." I just kept thinking, I’m not going to last two minutes in town traffic, and I marveled that our band of vintage and newer cars endured so well.

Bugattis are a great part of the history of the Targa Florio. Here, the Type 37 of Giovanni and Luciana Stabiumi parks near the old pits, which can be seen in the background.

Vic Elford, who has lived in Florida for many years, tried to explain that the Sicilian system of getting as many cars to their destinations as quickly as possible with as few rules as possible makes perfect sense. This efficiency is matched by the other extreme: Autobahn driving in Germany which is both fast and governed scrupulously. Drivers in neither country sit in the left lane--or any lane--and hold up traffic merely to assert an inalienable right to hold up traffic. I had to admit he made a point.

Still, rear suspension and brakes could be a problem for the classic cars in this madcap traffic.

From England, Richard and Trisha Pilkington brought this 1932 Alfa Monza.

Eating and drinking, however, were not ever a problem. My partner Jorge judged that, whatever the Targa lacks in the costly high end visibility of the Mille Miglia, it has no equal in hospitality. "Other places you get some bread crumbs compared to these feasts." Any gripes drivers had about traffic were squelched during lunch and dinner by tables and tables of pastas, fish, vegetables, fruits, salads, meats, breads, sweets, gelatos. Oh, the gelatos! Made with real fruit, no syrups. The wines were magnificent and plentiful. One evening, after so extraordinary a meal, the lights were turned off, and we were treated to a candlelight performance by a troupe of gorgeous belly-dancers.

Danny almost forgot about Vic Elford.

Jean Claude Andruet, with admirers. Andruet was among the honored guests.

Stage Three. We drove 203 km from the Kastalia Residence to Acireale, along the hot, dry southeastern coast, where I fell in love with the local 10 am breakfast tradition of brioche and coffee gelato. We made a delightful post-lunch stop at the Autodromo at Siracusa, a real race track, so that the cars could flex some real muscle for as many laps as they could get in. How the Stratos must have enjoyed that digression! How I enjoyed the sound of high performance speed--of the Stratos, the 1932 Alfa 8C Monza, the 1926 Bugatti T37, the 1967 Sunbeam Tiger, the 1952 Ferrari 250 GT, the 1965 Mustang (289), the Sting Ray, the Porsches, the Jags, all of them. It was hard to let the Autodromo go--that and the cups of delicious, cool almond milk comp-liments of Bar Pasticceria Artale.

From the charming Perla Jonica Hotel in Acireale, we embarked on Stage Four, June 12, back toward -Palermo. This 283 km stage brought us to Mt. Etna, and to a hillclimb as spectacu-lar for the landscape as for the free air it gave the cars. A black lava-formed ground was alive with foliage and delicate white, pink, and yellow flowers--striking contrast to the masses of brilliantly red and pink bougainvillea and purple-blue morning glories dappling much of Sicily. The combination of magnificent automobiles and magnif-icent nature, and of two kinds of explosive history, was positively spiritual.

After lunch in Capo d’Orlando, a sprint of 110 kms, and a tour of the ENEL Energy facility at Termini Imerese, the participants chugged the remaining few kms to the formal end of Stage Four and one of the many skills tests conducted by race officials. Luckily, some of the road was Autostrada. Still, it was a tired group that arrived back at the Torre Normanna Hotel, a jaunt of an additional 17 kms. But we could get back on the Autostrada without losing face! Of course, it was on the ‘strada that Clay Regazzoni’s Daytona decided to act up.

Ceremonies for Vic Elford (far left), Jean Claude Andruet, Jean Guichet, Nino Vaccarella (next to mike).

The fifth and final stage, Sunday, June 13, was commemorative from beginning to end. The cars drove 142 kms to the Cerda, Collesano, Campofelice di Roccella part of the circuit to complete two laps on a section of the original Madonie Circuit, whose most famous iteration was the Medio Circuito Madonie (1919-1930). Some of the original pits and part of a grandstand remain. I had to shed a few tears here, as at last I touched a road that made Elisabeth Junek an international motorsport celebrity. While in Collesano, we were privileged to visit the new Museo Targa Florio, with its magnificent photo collection, which would officially open on June 27.

The end of a week of glory was approaching too quickly.

Sunday evening, the awards ceremony and banquet were happily delayed so that we diehards could watch the Canadian Grand Prix on a large wide-screen set up in the auditorium. Schumi won. Ho-hum. The ceremony, however, re-energized us. Its guest emcee, sexy media personality Savina Confaloni, herself a race participant (1955 Austin Healey 100/4 roadster), performed ebulliently in both Italian and English. Among the special guests and award present-ers was Sicilian favorite son, Nino Vaccarella, who won the Targa three times, twice during its official competition years: 1965 (Porsche) and 1971 (Alfa Romeo).

Then there was wine and dinner and singing and dancing . . . and an invitation to the 2005 Giro di Sicilia Automobilisco-Targa Floria, penultimate to a grand centenary celebration race in 2006. Molte grazie, Veteran Car Club Panoramus!