“If you’re wearing a Rolex, you’re wearing something special,” Sir Jackie Stewart said as we sat and talked on a sunny day in Carmel Valley, California during Pebble Beach car week.
However, the fascinating congregation of food, wine, people, and some of the world’s most expensive and interesting cars faded well into the background as the Flying Scot began to tell stories.
If you are a watch enthusiast or know people who are, I am sure that it has not escaped your notice that watch nuts are often car nuts and vice versa. Generalities aside, I can tell you that in my specific case I have been car crazy for as long as I have been a watch fanatic.
Wilhelm (Bill) Kuettel is a typical participant in the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, however, his 1923 car differed from most of the other hundreds of cars taking part in the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance in a big way: Kuettel ‘s car was a legendary Hispano-Suiza (Spanish-Swiss), a near mythic brand that is half Swiss.
The Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach in California sees the world’s finest classic (and modern) cars assemble each August for a week of sheer automotive heaven. One of the most anticipated releases of 2014 was re-edition of the Jaguar Lightweight E-Type, the very first re-creation project that Jaguar has ever engaged in.
It was the Friday morning training session before the 2014 Hockenheim Formula 1 Grand Prix race and we were on our way to watch from a most privileged position: the box. Or, as it’s called by the Anglo-Italo Marussia F1 team, “the garage.” Armin Strom has been sponsoring the Marussia team for three years and had invited me for a look behind the scenes.
The 2014 edition of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on Lake Como, Italy was exceptional, with both stunning automobiles and fantastic weather. Pour yourself a chilled glass of Chianti and enjoy the photos.
Last week Quill & Pad co-founders Ian Skellern and Elizabeth Doerr went to the Mille Miglia: Elizabeth as the guest of principal sponsor Chopard, Ian (in a support car) covering Roland Iten, a main sponsor with five cars in the event, and Mr. Roland Iten himself, who competed in the race in a 1953 Porsche 356 Pre A Coupé 1500 , driving more than one thousand grueling miles through the Italian countryside.
Ian, Elizabeth and Roland now discuss this unique adventure and invite you to listen in.
The Mille Miglia is a ray of sunshine in your heart,” famous Belgian race car driver Jacky Ickx writes in Chopard’s commemorative book celebrating 25 years of being the race’s global sponsor. “The Mille Miglia is one of the last great adventures possible today,” concurs Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. Chopard’s co-president is racing his 25th Mille Miglia this year. Here are a few impressions from the last couple of days and nights on the strada italiana. . . .
The 2014 Mille Miglia runs for four days from 15 through 18 May 2014. Thursday, the 15th of May, 2014 is day one of the 2014 Mille Miglia. While there are regular checkpoints, marshals and police, it seems like anything goes; anyone can join in the race – while it’s called a time trial, the Mille Miglia is to all intents and purposes a Gumball Rally-type road race.
Only a few sporting events are fortunate enough to transcend the confines of their sports. But for these special few, their name and reputation evoke powerful associations, even among those who care little for the sport itself.
And when it comes to endurance racing in historic cars, one name stands above all others: the Mille Miglia in Italy.