The most famous historic Italian car race
The legendary Mille Miglia, one of the most famous car races in the world
Some images of this fascinating vintage car race, as they travel the roads of the Parmesan Apennine, between Varano Melegari (the Parmesan Motor Valley) and Salsomaggiore Terme, on a beautiful day in early summer.
Parma, Ducale Park: stop point of arrival and departure
I'm certainly not a lover of engines and even less of competitions, but this mythical motorist race that every year runs along some of the most beautiful roads of Italy, has a very special charm.
The competition, the engines, and everything that revolves around this real catwalk, are the mechanical representation of the vain and narcissistic spirit that, to some extent, resides in every human being. But this is not just a parade of historic cars, here hovers a particular spirit, that of re-enactment, that of reviving a dream, the dream of an era, of a historical moment that was full of energy and enthusiasm, the distant moments of the Belle Epoque, the Roaring Years and, subsequently, the years of the italian Dolce Vita.
Those were years in which it seemed that a dream was coming true, the horizons of the world were literally widening for each person, it was the dream of a freedom of movement, freedom to explore, also achieved thanks to these cars, which allowed to travel and knowing the world with an ease hitherto unthinkable. These cars, which we now call vintage, were part of the spirit of that era, perhaps they were not just mechanical engines, cold impersonal machines, but they were like a sort of emotional fuel that fueled that enthusiasm and that social ferment.
To be objective, analyzing history, indeed it must be said that the desire and need to explore the world has always been a fundamental ingredient in the life of men, even in the most remote times, and man has always traveled far. and wide on this planet, and for the most varied reasons, even the most frivolous: crossing every border, even without modern motorized means of transport, sometimes seems incredible.
Some of these cars appear essential and spartan, but indissolubly proud and tenacious, while others flaunt an elegance that borders on sensuality, some have futuristic lines, flaunt a daring and a desire to experiment that challenge the imagination of us modern men, while some they appear clumsy or funny, but still nice and witnesses of an expressive freedom that today would be regarded with suspicion.
Observing the style, refinement and design of these vintage models, I think that the creativity of our modern stylists is a bit "engulfed", I see a certain stagnation, I see modern cars that look too much alike. to the others, a great standardization of taste, a great flattening, and I see a technology substantially unchanged for over a century: the heart of the system still remains a four-stroke combustion chamber, and the real electric revolution is still far from coming . After all, beyond the interior design, paints or color combinations or electronics, what else can be invented in a car, if not by making it a revolution ?
Drawing some personal considerations from it, I would like to say that from dream to nightmare is a moment, and as always happens in the motions of the human soul and in the social changes that arise from enthusiasm and passion, then the poison of institutionalization creeps in. , and what begins as pleasure is often addictive, and addiction can be exploited to our detriment. Today if I think of the car, dreams of freedom certainly do not come to mind, on the contrary my thoughts go to the price of fuel, the road tax, the insurance, the overhaul, the traffic, the pollution, the parking that is not find, the speed camera, the queues and so on.
What was a symbol of freedom, today has turned into the umpteenth link in the chain that keeps us bound in slavery and dependence, I think that today the car is a nice accessory of one's life only if it is not indispensable ! That old dream has changed, now the real dream is to free ourselves from this nightmare ! Which is not the nightmare of the car, but the nightmare of addiction, one of the many that weigh down our serenity.
These vintage cars today have great charm and great symbolic value, as well as many other old "objects", such as the first steam trains, the first wooden biplanes, the first cameras with glass plates and silver vapors: testify to the pleasure of experimenting and inventing, the human soul always in ferment, always in search, and often the beauty of experimenting is not so much the result, but the experience itself !
Perhaps today we have lost this spirit a little, and these old and elegant "ladies" can stimulate us to reflect and push us to seek ancient splendor.
Thanks for reading me.
Click to view the album
>>> The Aimless Traveler <<<
not I am but we are - free wild spirit - you will never have us
all rights reserved