Mille Miglia: 1928 Alfa Romeo scores its first victory

Mille Miglia

1928 Alfa Romeo scores its first victory with Campari

The Mille Miglia was here to stay. Benito Mussolini had pronounced the fateful words: «Let’s do it again». The second edition of the Red Arrow, which had only been intended as a one-off event, but which had been a massive success in 1927, saw the arrival of Ettore Bugatti’s squad. The Italian manufacturer, who had moved to Alsace, was very fond of Brescia, where he had competed in several races at the start of the century and where on 8 September 1921 his Engine 13 – subsequently called ‘Brescia’ – had taken part in the “Gran Premio vetturette” (an approximately 17 km course repeated 20 times in the Fascia d’Oro area, reaching the turnoff for Ghedi and Montichiari) and he had easily seen off his rivals. The Bugattis however proved to be unsuitable for the Mille Miglia and it was another Italian car that went on to beat the OM of Franco Mazzotti, who was a great driver as well as a smart organizer. Vittorio Jano, the manager of Alfa Romeo, gave his latest creation to Giuseppe “Negher” Campari – a revolutionary car with dual overhead camshafts and supercharging fixed head since 1929: the nimble six-cylinder 1500 Super Sport.

“Colour style” – Mille Miglia from 1927 to 1957: cars, protagonists, curiosities

What exactly did the 24 cars that triumphed in the numerous editions of the Mille Miglia between 1927 and 1957 look like? What exactly were the colours and details of Nuvolari-Guidotti’s Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS (1930) or Ascari’s Lancia D24, winner in 1954? A doubt that is repeated for all the victorious cars in the Mille Miglia, because in that period colour photographs did not exist or were very rare, and we refer in any case to the last editions of the race. The large panels (with side views) are combined with period images that allow you to relive the events of the various editions of the race in a journey of continuous rediscovery.

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Color Style Mille Miglia from 1927 to 1957: cars, protagonists, curiosities