A very Italian affair: rosso corsa at the Mille Miglia

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That’s a pretty bright red in between all those shades of brown and black and grey! The cars are Lancia D24s, no less than three of them, at the start of the 1954 Mille Miglia in Brescia on 1st May. Nearest to the camera with starting number 540 is Eugenio Castellotti, in the middle is Alberto Ascari with number 602 and at the back with 541 is Gino Valenzano. Ascari finished first that year, followed closely by a Ferrari 500 Mondial works racer - a very Italian affair indeed.

We understand there is a Hollywood blockbuster named Ferrari in the making, about the life and works of Enzo Ferrari and we’ve seen a few pictures of the making of the film, one of which you see here. These show a 1950s Mille Miglia setting, which looks rather familiar with its bright red racers and an audience in restrained colours. The filming took place last summer with several Ferrari 315s and 500s before the cameras, looking very handsome indeed.

In our search for more information about the film we learnt that an Italian producer is planning a picture about Maserati, once again made as an international, multi-million-dollar production. “Italy isn’t just pizza, mandolins, pasta and the mob,” he quipped. “It’s a country of many geniuses who left a huge legacy. When it comes to the auto-making sector these families were pioneers, way ahead of the curve.”

The world loves them, or so it seems. Last year saw another American production called Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend about, well, you can guess. It makes you wonder if a film about Lancia’s chequered past will be next in line…

Last but not least, we might add that the 2023 Mille Miglia for historic cars is drawing near (13-17th June) and will probably have a more international audience than ever before. Anything connected with the former road race is hot these days, and the historic regularity rally is the closest you can get to the real thing, which took place between 1927 and 1957.

Words: Jeroen Booij; pictures: Giornale di Brescia / Stefano Bonaccini
 

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