An Inside Look at the California Mille

Alongside friend and Alfa specialist Dave Vegher, I drove my 1958 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce, in the 2019 California Mille. It was the first time I have done the California Mille and the second rally I’ve done in my Spider Veloce. Over the past eight months, I’ve totaled over 2,000 miles behind the wheel of my little Alfa, including last year’s Colorado Grand.

Before the inaugural Colorado Grand concluded in 1990, Martin Swig and a group of his friends, including Ivan Zaremba, Gil Nickel and Lou Sellvei, began brainstorming the California Mille over dinner one night. This after Swig and co-driver John Lamm of Road & Trackwere the lone Americans participating in the 1982 Mille Miglia behind the wheel of Swig’s 1955 Alfa Romeo 1900 Zagato. Moved to bring such a rally opportunity to his home state, the California Mille was founded in 1991, as an annual event in the theme of the Mille Miglia, which had sparked Swig’s inspiration.