Brescia Revival: The Spectacular Return of the 1000 Miglia Race

What Count Aymo Maggi meant when in the 1920s he called his friends to “create something absolutely new and spectacular” has been evident for many springs between 1927 and 1957: a race born from nothing turned into a myth, the contest of a small country that forever captured the global collective imagination.

Now it is just as clear what Beppe Lucchini, Vittorio Palazzani, and Costantino Franchi intended when, in the mid-1970s, in a Italy shaken by oil price hikes and swept by waves of automobile phobia, they dreamed of re-editioning the 1000 Miglia, proposing “something absolutely new and spectacular.” The event held last night in the city must have convinced even the most skeptical of the possibility to move sluggish and slippers-clad spectators, to call thousands of people of all ages and social classes into the streets — exactly as in the heroic years.

The event and attendance

For several years now, the event organized by the Musical Watch Veteran Car Club has been regaining Brescia, bringing racing cars into silent streets and historic squares right from the start. But yesterday, thanks to the beautiful evening and a summer now approaching, every record was broken, every resistance overcome, every uncertainty swept away by an engaging roar.

And yet, even this time, doubts and hesitations about the event lingered. It was said that Brescia was recovering from a recent, exhaustive crowd surge during the Alpini gathering, and even sports enthusiasts already had the Giro d’Italia passing through on their calendars, scheduled for Monday.

Furthermore, it was rumored that not all the 1000 Miglia personalities— such as Moana Pozzi, Ornella Muti, and Alberto Tomba — would be present to attract the curious. These doubts and uncertainties, however, dissolved already with the sun still on the horizon.

The start and crowding

The crowd, which had filled piazza Vittoria throughout the day for the stamping of badges, and had chased the racing cars in piazza Paolo VI, Piazza Loggia, and via X Giornate, had already taken over every corner of the streets touched by the serpent of vintage cars long before the start.

The silence that in other editions had preceded the waving of the flag by the starter in the heart of the city was replaced yesterday by the buzz of thousands of people seeking the best spots to take photographs or simply to avoid missing the appointment with the cars.

Entire city corners — such as piazza Arnaldo, piazza del Foro, via Cattaneo — disappeared behind a wall of faces, arms, and legs. A spectacle within a spectacle, with people clinging to monuments, railings, and street signs; women and teenagers raised on a makeshift platform, a chair, often supported by the shoulders of a hefty and generous friend.

Just near the via Musei palace, where Aymo Maggi was born in 1903, a group of young Germans had formed an incredible human pyramid with the support of a grate last night. This structure remained intact for dozens of passes until the greeting by Paola Perego, who was cheered everywhere, caused the foundation to give way.

A laugh, a few dents, and the “builders” were already back at work. Gianfranco Bertoli