1957 Mille Miglia

Brescia, Italy, May 12th.

As with many big motor races, the 1957 Mille Miglia resolved into a straight fight between the Scuderia Ferrari and the Scuderia Maserati. This being a sports-car race both teams brought out their big guns and there was every prospect of a real dice over the 1,597 kilometres of Italian roads that constitutes the single lap of the Mille Miglia course. After the Sebring race Ferrari looked at his 3.5-litre V12 engines, with their four o.h.c., and decided that he needed more horsepower if his drivers were going to cope with the 4.5-litre V8 Maserati, also with four o.h.c., for the Trident car was giving an honest 400 b.h.p. and proving unbelievably reliable. The two weeks before the Mille Miglia saw Modena and Maranello hard at work on their cars for this tough race, while drivers were circulating Italy in all manner of vehicles, learning the roads and the conditions. Every now and then the via Emilia, which runs through the centre of Modena from Bologna and is part of the course, would have its normal civilian pandemonium shattered as a Ferrari or Maserati, with trade plate number hastily painted on the tail, would scream away into the middle distance. Sometimes, these two-seater Grand Prix cars, looking like sports cars, would head for some long straight to try and discover top speed, or be taken up into the mountains beyond Bologna, to sort out suspensions, gear ratios, brakes and handling. All the while at both factories, almost night and day, the test-houses would be emitting the bellowing of the big V8 or the scream of a V12.

Although the outright win obviously lay between Ferrari and Maserati, there was going to be a total of over 300 competitors sub-divided into numerous categories and classes, so that similar activity was going on in Bologna at the Osca factory, in Modena at Stanguellini, in Milan at Alfa-Romeo, in Turin at Lancia and Fiat and so on, while cars from other countries were being prepared and arriving in Italy daily. Jaguar, Porsche, Renault, Ford, Sunbeam, M.G., Peugeot, even a special from America, were all coming over the border for this most fascinating of the classic races, and one of the last remaining town-to-town road races. When the final list of starters was drawn up Ferrari entered four 12-cylinder cars, all with the engines enlarged since Sebring. Collins, with Klementaski as navigator, had a 4.1-litre, Taruffi, relying on his fantastic knowledge of the roads, had a similar car, von Trips relying solely on his natural ability, having a 3.8-litre and the fourth car being driven by de Portago, with his friend Nelson as navigator. This fourth works Ferrari should have been for Musso, but he was still unwell and certainly not fit enough to race for 1,000 miles non-stop. In a Gran Turismo 3-litre V12 "Europa" were that remarkable pair, driver Gendebien and navigator Wascher, and though not in the sports class everyone was going to keep an eye on them in the General Classification. From Maserati were entered two of their fabulous 4.5-litre cars, a brand new one for Moss, who was being navigated by Jenkinson, and the Sebring-winning car for Behra. These two monsters were to carry all the Maserati hopes for putting up a fight against Ferrari, but in addition there was a new experimental car for Herrmann to drive. This was a 3-litre chassis fitted with a new V12 engine of 3.5-litres, it being an enlarged Grand Prix engine, made from the Grand Prix castings, but having a larger bore and longer stroke. To the casual eye this unit was a Grand Prix engine of the type tried-out at Syracuse early in the season, and this experimental car also had a new five-speed Grand Prix gearbox and carried brakes from a 4.5-litre Maserati. A fourth car was a normal 3-litre 300S, with the big front brakes from the "four-five" and was to be driven by Scarlatti. Maserati also had 2-litre cars in the hands of Bordoni, Bellucci and Pagliarini, in direct opposition to the new 2-litre Testa Rosa Ferraris of Munaron, Sbraci, and Koechert. Also in the big sports-car class were Flockhart with an Ecurie Ecosse D-type, Steed with his Cooper-Jaguar, the Americans Miller and Harrison with their 6½-litre Chrysler-engined "hot-rod" special, and the start was so arranged that these private-owners left before the works entries, with a gap of five minutes between the two groups, so that the works drivers would have a clear run in the opening stages.