Mille Miglia (or Thousand Miles) was an open-road endurance race, which took place in Italy between 1927 and 1957. During this period, a total of 56 people were killed, and after two fatal crashes that took place in 1957, the race was banned. Now, Mille Miglia is a road rally that takes play each May in Italy on the historic roads from Brescia to Rome and back to Brescia.
Each year, only 375 vehicles are allowed to enter the race and they usually come from Italian makers, like Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. This year however, Mercedes->ke187 is also planning to enter the race with quite an impressive lineup: a 1928 SSK->ke1142, a pair of 300 SL->ke1995s, the 1955 300 SLR and a 1954 220. Behind the wheel will be former F1 driver and brand ambassador, David Coulthard, F1 safety car driver, Bernd Maylander, and old-time racers, Jochen Mass and Karl Wendlinger.
Mercedes made its first appearance in the Mille Miglia in 1931, when it won the race with an SSK, and then obtained another victory in 1955 with a 300 SLR driven by Stirling Moss.
Click past the jump to learn more about Mille Miglia.
About the Mercedes 300 SLR
The 300 SLR was unveiled in 1955 as a race version of the 1954 300SL (W198) Gullwing road car. It was raced in competitions, like 24 Hours of Nürburgring and 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car was powered by a 3.0-liter engine that produced 215 horsepower and 203 pound-feet of torque.
This engine mated up with a four-speed manual transmission and launched the car from 0 to 60 mph in 8.8 seconds and a top speed of 130 mph.
Mille Miglia winners
Year |
Drivers |
Car |
1957 |
Piero Taruffi |
Ferrari 315 Sport |
1956 |
Eugenio Castellotti |
Ferrari 290 MM Spider Scaglietti |
1955 |
Stirling Moss |
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR |
1954 |
Alberto Ascari |
Lancia D24 Spider |
1953 |
Giannino Marzotto, Marco Crosara |
Ferrari 340 MM Spider Vignale |
1952 |
Giovanni Bracco, Alfonso Rolfo |
Ferrari 250 S Berlinetta Vignale |
1951 |
Luigi Villoresi, Pasquale Cassani |
Ferrari 340 America Berlinetta Vignale |
1950 |
Giannino Marzotto, Marco Crosara |
Ferrari 195 S Berlinetta Touring |
1949 |
Clemente Biondetti, Ettore Salani |
Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta Touring |
1948 |
Clemente Biondetti, Giuseppe Navone |
Ferrari 166 S Coupe Allemano |
1947 |
Clemente Biondetti, Emilio Romano |
Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B Berlinetta Touring |
1940 |
Huschke von Hanstein, Walter Baumer |
BMW 328 Berlinetta Touring |
1938 |
Clemente Biondetti, Aldo Stefani |
Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Spider MM Touring |
1937 |
Carlo Maria Pintacuda, Paride Mambelli |
Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A |
1936 |
Antonio Brivio, Carlo Ongaro |
Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A |
1935 |
Carlo Maria Pintacuda, Alessandro Della Stufa |
Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Tipo B |
1934 |
Achille Varzi, Amedeo Bignami |
Alfa Romeo 8C 2600 Monza Spider Brianza |
1933 |
Tazio Nuvolari,Decimo Compagnoni |
Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spider Zagato |
1932 |
Baconin Borzacchini, Amedeo Bignami |
Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spider Touring |
1931 |
Rudolf Caracciola, Wilhelm Sebastian |
Mercedes-Benz SSK |
1930 |
Tazio Nuvolari, Battista Guidotti |
Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Spider Zagato |
1929 |
Giuseppe Campari, Giulio Ramponi |
Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS Spider Zagato |
1928 |
Giuseppe Campari, Giulio Ramponi |
Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Sport Spider Zagato |
1927 |
Ferdinando Minoia, Giuseppe Morandi |
OM 665 S |