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