The Mille Miglia is considered by many to be the most beautiful car race in the world, not just because it is run through the Italian countryside, but because of the beauty of the cars that take part. The road race is open only to cars of the type that took part in the original Mille Miglia between 1927 and 1957. The race, which was born 90 years ago as an endurance run across 1000 miles (and hence the name Mille Miglia) was revived by racing and classic car enthusiasts in 1988, with help from Chopard, which came on board as the main sponsor.
The 90th anniversary race this year in May saw 440 teams compete on the historic route, which runs from Brescia via Padova to Rome and back via Tuscany. It took the teams three days to complete the distance, passing through more than 30 cities and towns including Verona, San Marino, Roma, Siena and Parma before heading back to the starting point, the historical ramp on Viale Venezia, in the heart of Brescia.
Chopard’s initial connection with Mille Miglia was born from a personal passion for classic cars nurtured by KarlFriedrich Scheufele, Chopard’s co-president and a passionate driver. “Lovers of fine cars often have a great weakness for precious timepieces, and vice versa. Extreme precision and sporting elegance are important in both these fields,” he says. Scheufele has participated in almost all the races since 1988. This year, he drove alongside the famous French driver Romain Dumas. For the very first time, Chopard had four cars at the start line, while the Chopard sponsored team featured 18 cars. It won the third prize out of 14 participating teams.
90-piece Mille Miglia Classic XL 90th Anniversary Limited Edition
The event also saw the launch of three special edition watches – the 1000-piece Mille Miglia 2017 Race Edition, CHOPARD CELEBRATES 90-YEARS OF THE MILLE MIGLIA The Swiss luxury watchmaker celebrates its near-three decade long association with the famous classic car road race, with three special edition watches which features an engineturned dial finish and has counters inspired by vintage car dashboards, and comes in a 44 mm steel case; the 90-piece Mille Miglia Classic XL 90th Anniversary Limited Edition in a rose gold case, and powered by a L.U.C chronograph movement; and finally the Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph, which comes in 42 mm and 39 mm His and Hers versions respectively. The dial of the former is black or silver with large luminescent numerals, while the latter is in silver or crafted from white mother-of-pearl studded with diamonds.
