Chopard and the Mille Miglia
On the road for “the world’s most beautiful race”
In 1988, Chopard supported the famous Mille Miglia race for the first time and launched the Chopard Mille Miglia collection the same year.
Since then the Scheufele family has participated every year in the 1000-mile race from Brescia to Rome and return.
This year, 450 competing cars took off from the famous ramp on Viale Venezia in Brescia.
All cars constructed between 1927 and 1957 belonging to 71 different brands,
are of inestimable value and challenge each other along an ancient and picturesque route,
which is precisely a “Thousand Mile” long.
Chopard is proud - as World Sponsor and Official Timekeeper - to be a long standing and loyal partner of this legendary race,
“la corsa pìu bella del mondo” - the world’s most beautiful race.
The Mille Miglia 2016
The 34th edition of "the most beautiful race in the world” started under a sunny sky.
The 450 crews took off from Viale Venezia in Brescia on Thursday, May 19th at 2.30 pm. The next three days, they passed through more than 30 cities and towns among Verona, Rimini, San Marino, Roma, Siena, Firenze and Parma before heading back to the starting point, the historical ramp on Viale Venezia, in the heart of Brescia.
Enthusiastic locals and guests bid the drivers farewell during the first kilometres of the race, thousands of spectators lined the streets of the route and shouted out encouragement to the drivers. Mille Miglia is always a rendez-vous for car enthusiasts from all over the world welcoming each year new nationalities. This year, drivers from 40 different nationalities campaigned for victory.
This year again, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele chose to honour Chopard’s partnership with Porsche Motorsport by co-driving with his long-time friend Jacky Ickx the Porsche 550A Spyder RS, a loan from the Porsche Museum. The car specially created in 1956 and destined to make its mark on the history of motorsports.
Albert Carreras, son of the famous tenor José Carreras and friend of Chopard drove the race with his co-pilot Jordi Pascual in a Mercedes Benz 300 SL, owned by the Scheufele family.
Chopard and
the Mille Miglia:
historical collaboration
fuelled by passion
In 1988, Chopard took on the twin roles of partner and official timekeeper to the famous Mille Miglia race.
These now inseparable ties were born from Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s own passion for classic cars. Under his impetus, Chopard became the main sponsor of the legendary Mille Miglia and one of the first watch brands to associate its name with the automobile world.
For Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, this came about very naturally: “Lovers of fine cars often have a weakness for fine timepieces and vice versa. In both cases, extreme precision and sporting elegance are especially important”.
This authentic union between two fields brimming with thrills, a love of fine mechanics and a quest for performance has given rise to a much sought-after collection of sports watches: the famous Mille Miglia, of which a limited numbered series is introduced with each new edition of the race.
Since his first participation in the Mille Miglia, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele makes a point of personally competing in the race.
On May 19th, Chopard hosted a welcome dinner for 120 guests and friends in the in the heart of Brescia at the famous ristorante la Sosta.
The next day, guests and drivers met at the „Chopard Racing Club“ located in famous hotel Vittoria to enjoy the vintage car atmosphere surrounded by the roaring engines.
At 2.30pm sharp, the first car, a Bentley from 1923 specially selected and invited by the organization committee departed from the famous ramp on Viale Venezia. In total 450 cars left Brescia for an incredible race of 1 000 miles through the greatest landscapes of Italy.
On Sunday, May 22nd, the first cars returned safely in the finish line on Viale Venezia.
This year, the winning team is composed of Andrea Vesco and Andrea Guerini from Italy who drove an Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Zagato of 1931. They reached the first place after scoring a second place at Mille Miglia 2015. The second place of Mille Miglia 2016 went to Elena Scaramuzzi and Luca Patron from Italy as well on a O.M. 665 Superba Sport 2000 CC of 1926. And the third team to reach the podium was Stefania Biacca and Giordano Mozzi on a Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Gran Sport of 1933.
Mille Miglia 2016 XL Race Edition:
the vintage spirit of a great Chopard classic
This longstanding partnership has given rise to the Mille Miglia watches. Each new year sees the creation of a limited numbered series dedicated to the fabled race.
They enrich the emblematic Chopard collection. With its sporty, masculine design and its high-precision movements, this iconic collection has become a grand classic on the contemporary watchmaking scene.
Issued in two limited editions of 1,000 pieces in stainless steel and 100 pieces in 18-carat rose gold, the Mille Miglia 2016 XL Race Edition throbs to the tune of a unique ‘engine’: the new Chopard calibre 03.05-C, a chronograph movement with COSC-certified precision. Surrounded with a tachymetric scale, the dial revives the aesthetic of vintage dashboards and ensures maximum readability thanks to its large numerals and luminescent hands. Water-resistant to 50 metres, its sturdy 46 mm-diameter case makes it the largest of the Mille Miglia wrist chronographs created by Chopard.
Inspired by the leather tie-down straps on the bonnet of a racing car, the finely weathered strap in “Suportlo®” calfskin leather recalls the spirit of the mythical Italian race.
While the Mille Miglia impresses observers with the beauty of the vehicles taking part, it is nonetheless won on very strict racing criteria based on accuracy and flawless technical mastery.
Chopard would like to thank its transportation partner Volkswagen Group for its tremendous support throughout the entire event.
Mille Miglia 2016 Photo credits - All race and event pictures of the Mille Miglia 2016 need the following credits : (c) Alexandra Pauli for Chopard
Chopard Official Website www.chopard.co.uk
Mille Miglia Official Website www.1000miglia.it