A salute to the past
The 2023 edition of the California Mille included 67 classic sports cars traversing scenic California countryside to celebrate driving and car culture. The five-day affair was a 1,000-mile driving tour through the hills of Central and Northern California and celebrated its 32nd running. Sponsored by Chopard, the event featured cars designed before the final running of Italy’s original Mille Miglia road race in 1957.
“Like fine watches, fine cars are meant to be used, and when it comes to driving, there’s no better place to do that than the breathtaking byways we select each year for the California Mille,” said Hagerty CEO McKeel Hagerty. “What really sets this annual tradition apart, though, is sharing it with other enthusiasts. We are always so grateful for the time we get to spend with people who get just as fired up about great cars and lovely roads as we do.”
For Chopard President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, the link between luxury watches and cars is entirely natural: “Lovers of fine cars often have a great weakness for precious timepieces and vice versa. Extreme precision and sporting elegance are important in both these fields.”
Time pieces by Chopard
Chopard, in addition to creating the commemorative Mille Miglia GTS Automatic Chrono California Mille 32nd Edition, provided watches for the winners of the Spirit of the Mille Miglia award, the Best Pre-War Car award and the Best Post-War Car award. Limited to 30 examples, the watch exemplifies masculine elegance, mechanical precision, watchmaking performance and racing ergonomics – all dedicated to the beauty of driving.
With a nod towards the environment
The California Mille was a carbon-neutral event for the second year running, offsetting 74,000 miles driven between participating and support vehicles. Hagerty and the California Mille have also donated $10,000 to the California Fire Foundation for the preservation and maintenance of the beautiful environments we live and drive in.
