California Mille 2014

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California Mille 2014 Photos and Stories.

1000 mile Vintage Car and Classic Car Tour and motoring event through Northen California, 2014-04-27 - 2014-05-01, The Fairmont at the Top on Nob Hill, San Francisco, California, USA

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California Mille 2014

The California Mille is conceptualized after the Italy's famed Mille Miglia (thousand mile) high-speed open road race, which ran from 1927 to 1957. The original Mille Miglia was ended after a terrible accident that involved the driver and several roadside spectators in 1957.

The Mille Miglia is now run in Italy as a multi-day road tour, as is the California Mille.

The route is changed every year to include the best driver roads that Northern California has to offer and is laid out to provide 1000 miles of touring. Each year sees cars arriving from all over the world and provides a selection of vehicles of all performance levels. However the cars participating have to have been made before 1957. The drivers incur all kinds of weather and terrain.

The cars leave the Fairmont Hotel on Monday and first cross the Golden Gate Bridge and into Sausalito on the bay. Then through the Central Valley on to Lodi working their way through the Sierra and up to Lake Tahoe, elevation,6,224 feet, the passes are higher. For the second day they run the northern end of the Gold Country and down into Grass Valley and then on to the Sacramento area. The Third day is thorough the Sacramento River Delta Area into the old 1912 town of Locke. It then moves into the Napa Valley Wine Country to St. Helena with the night back in Sausalito. Day four is a loop of the cost roads ending back at Sausalito.

1000 Miles more or less in old and in many cases open cars.

Sunday is about arriving at the top of Nob Hill

Bentley 6.5 LeMans 1927
Driving this 1000 Miles in 4 days!!!

Bentley 6.5 LeMans 1927

Allard K2 1951
this would be more relaxing

Clear across California and back

AC Ace Bristol Zagato 1957
This coupe would be more comfortable

AC Aceca Coupe 1957
They have been here before

Proper music for the day
Clara Cunningham Photo

Everyone is looking good

The 300SL showing off

The day was perfect

We stopped shooting and had lunch around the corner at a neighborhood cafe

Back at the Fairmont the party was just getting started

It looks like a wedding has broken out.

OH NO! Has she made a wrong decision?

It looks like everyone has a camera
Clara Cunningham Photo

and a dog
Clara Cunningham Photo

Big ones...
Clara Cunningham Photo

and small ones
Clara Cunningham Photo

David Swig discussing the cars with the drivers
Clara Cunningham Photo

Jaguar C Type 1953

Corvette 1957
Clara Cunningham Photo

Ferrari 250 GT 1959

Bentley 4.5 Supercharged sn-AB3369 1927

Maserati 200si 1957
The original Mille Miglia was a flat-out race against the clock so factories would bring out their best and fastest race cars and drivers. This Maserati is very much like what would have been driven by the Maserati works drivers back in 1958

Ferrari 250TR 1958
This Ferrari is not too different from the Ferrari Works car that crashed in 1957 and ended the Mille Miglia forever

Porsche 550 1500RS sn-550-0026 1955

Healey Silverstone 1949
This is a Prototype car and was shiped over from Japan by the drivers

Kurtis Kraft 500KK sn-MKK58 1957 with a Chevrolet V8 engine
Brought down from Canada for this run.

Jaguar XK120fhc 1952

Tojeiro Barchetta 1952

And Then it was time for a glass of wine in the Fairmont Hotel