PASSION IS PRICELESS
MILLE MIGLIA 2023
18 June 2023 • Written By Virgiliu Andone
Imagine that the first painting you ever saw was the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the first time you ever tasted sugar was in Florence’s best gelato, your first look at a sculpture was at Michelangelo’s David. First times are usually low key affairs, where the excitement makes up for the lack of substance. But, sometimes, very rarely, life throws a splash of joy at you. Sometimes, not just the impossible, but even the unthinkable happens.
Neither myself, nor Marius have any significant classic car rally experience. Nor do we spend our weekends behind the wheels of one of a kind classics, of priceless value. But what we have is equally priceless. An infinite passion for Alfa Romeo and a dedication to honouring the brand, its creations and, most importantly, the people who make this organisation such a magical one. We are all the same tribe and only a company like Alfa Romeo would place such a high value on the feelings of their fans to actually entrust them with an incredibly rare car and let them loose racing on the busy public roads of Italy, at breakneck speeds, facing anything the weather gods choose to throw at us.
It’s hard to overstate the significance of the Mille Miglia for the classic car world. A race from Brescia to Rome and back, through stunning historic cities and villages, driving on some of Italy’s most scenic roads, at speed and in the company of some of the most precious cars ever built. Most importantly, the Mille Miglia is a race that inspires Italians to show some of their best traits.
We knew all too well not to expect an easy journey, but, in hindsight, nothing really prepared us for what was about to happen. I followed the race before as a photographer and I knew that it is very taxing physically, even in a modern car, but little did we know on the 13th of June, as Marius revved the Spider off the line on Viale Venezia that we would truly be racing, not just merely driving along.
