Mille Miglia 2018: where are all the startling entries?

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The Mille Miglia is still often described as a motoring museum on the move, although we are questioning that particular title more every year. We remember the great road race of some fifteen years ago as one big plethora of unknown rarities. The number of Etceterinis unknown to us was totally overwhelming. There were Volpinis, Stanguellinis and Erminis that we’d never seen before (or after). We have great memories of (we think) the 2004 edition when an American came up with the idea to enter his Scarab Mk1. This car was so noisy that we trust it must have cost the driver and his navigator their eardrums. Another American came over with the Zagato bodied AC Ace, which would make our day alone.

We shouldn’t moan, there are still extraordinary cars for this year’s Italian thousand miles road race, which takes place this weekend. But the focus seems to move more and more towards the overly known cars that did the original race in its heyday. Have a look at the full 2018 entry list here and note the years highlighted in red behind a great number of entries – these are supposed to be the particular cars that drove the Mille Miglia in that particular year. We don’t think there were ever that many of these in previous editions. But - for heaven's sake - 23 Mercedeses 300SL, 21 Porsches 356, 22 Jaguar XK120s plus 9 XK140s and 11 Austin-Healey 100s? Come on organizers, there are plenty cooler cars! 

(Words Jeroen Booij, picture Mille Miglia/Alessandro Gerelli)

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