If collector cars, stunning scenery and passionate crowds are your kind of thing, then northern and central Italy was definitely the place to be mid-June this year. That’s because the annual 1000 Miglia (Mille Miglia) open-road car race took place over five full days, from Brescia down to Rome and back again.
More than 440 of the world’s finest vintage cars dating from 1927 to 1957 – the period in which the original Mille Miglia ran – took part in the classic car rally that organisers are able to put on thanks to sponsors like Chopard, who serves as official timekeeper to the event.
The luxury maison began sponsoring the 1000 Miglia in 1988, a year before its classic car-loving co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele drove in the race for the first time alongside his friend, six-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx. Scheufele has participated in every 1000 Miglia race since and this year he was flanked again by Ickx in the Scheufele family’s “metallic strawberry” Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing.
Race-Themed Chronographs
As is tradition, Chopard marked the 2024 edition of the rally by releasing some exciting new race-themed timepieces in its Mille Miglia collection. Presented to each driver/co-driver pairing was the Mille Miglia GTS Chrono featuring frosted grey dial and bead-blasted titanium case with DLC-treated pushers. This contemporary-looking beauty is also available as a 100-piece limited edition reserved solely for the Italian market.
Available to all-comers, however, is the rather fetching retro-tinged Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph. WorldTempus wasn’t just fortunate to go hands on with it; we were able to wear it while racing in the 2024 1000 Miglia after Chopard invited a few lucky members of the media to be part of its driving team over two legs of the race, from Turin to Rome.
Along the route, we got behind the wheel of a 1950 Fiat 1100 ES Berlinetta Pinin Farina and an even rarer 1954 Zagato Fiat 1100 Berlinetta. It's impossible to sum up the experience of rattling along in a vintage motor for a combined 20-plus hours in the 1000 Miglia in just a few lines, so we’ll leave the full account of that gruelling, euphoric and unforgettable two days for a future article. For now, though, we’ll take you on a more leisurely ride through the displays, engine and bodywork of the Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph.
Timing is Everything
When you’re driving and navigating in the 1000 Miglia, a couple of items are indispensable. First, there’s the roadbook with its tulip diagrams that break down each sector of the route into bitesize chunks. Then, there’s a trip odometer to record total distance and partial distances travelled. Finally, it helps to have a reliable timekeeper.
That’s because the 1000 Miglia is not a Cannonball Run-style first-to-the-line road race, even if some participants might drive as such; rather, it’s a regularity race where the aim is to cover each sector of the route in a specific time and at a prescribed average speed.
From start to finish, drivers and co-drivers encounter constant time checks: Time Controls, where you’re allocated a precise minute-long time window to set off from the starting line. Likewise, you’re prescribed specific in-times to subsequent Time Controls. Along the way, there are Passage Controls to ensure you’re following the right route. Again, you should arrive at these within a certain time period.
Additionally, there are parts of the route dedicated to Time Trials – where you pass over a series of pneumatic tube sensors – and Average Speed Controls. Arriving too soon or too late, or going too fast or too slow, results in penalty points. While I and my fellow journalists Joern and Emilio made a decent fist of the to-the-minute Time Controls, the Time Trials – measured to the hundredth of a second – proved a far trickier conundrum to crack for us race rookies.
Trip Back in Time
Filing through quaint Italian towns with collector car after collector car, accompanied by the incessant roar of engines and aroma of fuel certainly takes you back to a bygone era.
Reinforcing that trip-back-in-time feeling was the Chopard Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph on our wrists: Its two-tone “La Gara” dial – Italian for “competition” – is replete with retro details and automotive cues.
Its snailed black chronograph counters punctuating the silvered dial base and the period typeface of the lume-filled numerals are meant to recall the design of classic car dashboards. Another throwback feature is the ‘glass box’ sapphire crystal that tops the dial. Meanwhile, the counters’ white frames and the white date display give rise to a black and white colourway reminiscent of motor sport’s famed chequered flag.
Whether at the wheel or navigating in the passenger’s seat, you barely feel any heft from the Classic Chronograph, partly because of its compact 40.5mm by 12.88mm dimensions, perhaps also because of the material the case is made in – Lucent Steel. Chopard’s exclusive, responsibly-made alloy, this steel is ultra-resistant and anti-allergenic and has a luminous sheen to it that was brought out nicely on our journey by the Tuscan sunlight.
Also made in this material are the slender bezel, notched crown and knurled pushers. While the crown is engraved with Chopard’s “classic racing” steering wheel motif, the criss-cross texture of the pushers recalls a sports car’s brake pedals. And between the case’s welded lugs there is a casual, perforated strap in black calfskin that evokes the design of traditional driving gloves.
A transparent display back offers views onto the automatic chronometer-certified movement that is based on the Swiss-made ETA A32 family of calibres. Boasting a 54-hour power reserve and stop-seconds function, it is a dependable workhorse that has noticeably been finished to Chopard’s standards with Geneva stripes, perlage, soleillage and circular graining.
This movement was certainly more reliable than the engine of our Fiat 1100 ES Berlinetta Pinin Farina whose head gasket blew as we got stuck in stop-go traffic entering Genoa. For more on that incident – all part and parcel of the 1000 Miglia experience, of course – stay tuned!
The Chopard Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph is priced at €10,100 while the Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Chrono Limited Italian Edition lists for €10,300.
To find out more, please visit the Chopard website.
