Mille Miglia 2012: Volkswagen, Porsche, Bentley and Bugatti line up at start with wide array of vehicles

A myth, a legend – the name alone is enough to electrify the fans: the Mille Miglia is one of the finest and most famous historic car races in the world, and is used as an ideal platform for internationally renowned automotive as well as non-automotive brands, such as Chopard and many others.

This was reason enough for us at Auto Arabia to travel to Italy and attend this spectacular rally and watch some of the most well-known classic cars such as the iconic VW Beetle, the Bugatti Type 35 and Type 51, the legendary Bentley Blower models, the DKW Monza and DKW F91 entered by Audi, and last but not least the Porsche 550 Spyder and Porsche 356 Speedster.

At this year’s outing from 17 till 20 May, the Volkswagen Group marques are once again sending a wide range of classic vehicles to Italy. Among them will be three true-to-original Beetles whose ancestors caused a furore at the Mille Miglia in the 1950s.

Held for the first time in 1927, the Mille Miglia was considered one of the longest and toughest races in the world right up to its provisional end in 1957. In 1977 it was brought back to life – and has lost none of its magical appeal since then.

Volkswagen has also played its part in the history of the Mille Miglia. In the 1950s, high-performance Beetles impressively showed mostly larger competitors with more powerful engines that they should never be underestimated. Once again in 2012, Volkswagen Classic is lining up with concentrated Beetle dynamism: three modified Beetles based on the classic model will bring the tradition back to life.

The teams from the Volkswagen Group and from Porsche are lining up a total of 17 vehicles for the route from Brescia to Rome and back again. Bugatti is coming with a historic racing model from the mould of a Type 35 and a Type 51, and Bentley has entered two legendary �Blower’ models. Among other cars entered by Audi Tradition are the DKW 3=6 Monza and the DKW F91. Naturally there are also automobile gems from Porsche on the list of entrants. These include two Porsche 550 Spyder cars and two Porsche 356 Speedster models, which are sure to draw attention to the successful racing history.

Furthermore, the Group marques in Italy are once again presenting some of their current models – among them perhaps a few legends of tomorrow, like the all-new 2012 Volkswagen GTI Convertible.

And this is the complete list of the participating cars from Volkswagen, Porsche, Bentley, Bugatti and Audi (which are represented through the DKW cars):

1. 30 - BUGATTI Type 35 T (1926) - Sport
Kruta (DE) - Z?¶lter (DE)
Team: Bugatti

2. 39 - BENTLEY 4 1/2 Litre Supercharged (1929) - Sport
Charlesworth (UK) - Adcock (DE)
Team: Team Bentley

3. 40 - BENTLEY 4 1/2 Litre Supercharged (1930) - Sport
Day (GB) - Frech (GB)
Team: BENTLEY

4. 296 - PORSCHE 356 1500 COUPE' (1954) - Gran Turismo
Bode (DE) - Tichy (DE)
Team: PORSCHE AG

5. 297 - PORSCHE 356 1500 Speedster (1955) - Gran Turismo
Mueller (IT) - Poetsch (IT)
Team: PORSCHE AG

6. 298 - PORSCHE 356 Speedster 1600 S (1958) - Gran Turismo
Gr?¼hsem (DE) - Heinze (DE)
Team: PORSCHE AG

7. 299 - PORSCHE 550 1500 RS (1954) - Sport
Hatz (DE) - Sabbatini (IT)
Team: PORSCHE AG

8. 300 - PORSCHE 550-1500 RS (1955) - Sport
Mueller (DE) - Baur (DE)
Team: PORSCHE AG

9. 332 - DKW F91 3=6 (1954) - Turismo
Waddington (DE) - Dixon (DE)
Team: AUDI AG - Audi Tradition

10. 333 - DKW F93 3=6 Monza (1957) - Turismo
Goetzl (DE) - Frank (DE)
Team: AUDI AG - Audi Tradition

11. 334 - DKW F93 3=6 Monza (1957) - Turismo
Egger (DE) - Giugiaro (IT)
Team: AUDI AG - Audi Tradition

12. 340 - VOLKSWAGEN 1/11 (1956) - Turismo
Sielaff (DE) - Hirschberger (DE)
Team: VOLKSWAGEN

13. 341 - VOLKSWAGEN 1/11 (1956) - Turismo
Hackenberg (DE) - Koerdt (DE)
Team: VOLKSWAGEN

14. 342 - VOLKSWAGEN 1/11 (1956) - Turismo
Macht (DE) - Priemer (DE)
Team: VOLKSWAGEN



Stay tuned with us for a complete coverage of the 2012 Mille Miglia, in a few days here on autoarabia.org

Mohamed Sheta
Siena – Dubai - Cairo
19.05.2012