California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos

The California Mille 2015 was staged April 26-30 on the challenging back roads of Northern California. The 25th annual rally saw 67 historic cars from all over the world come to San Francisco to salute Italy’s most famous open road race, the Mille Miglia.

The California Mille was founded by Martin Swig, who after driving the Mille Miglia from Brescia to Rome to Brescia, decided that Northern California “Looked more like Italy than Italy.” Thus the California Mille was born in 1990. The Mille is produced by Amici americani della Mille Miglia (American Friends of the Mille Miglia), with David and Howard Swig serving as co-directors and Dan Radowicz as the organizer.

As always, the 2015 running of the California Mille started with the customary free car show on Sunday, April 26th in front of San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill. Italian Consul General Mauro Battocchi welcomed fans on behalf of his nation, offering historic insight into the original Mille Miglia. During the opening day festivities, the Swig brothers walked around the show to highlight the many unusual and significant automobiles that ranged from a Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 to Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France to a great selection of Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche vehicles.

Further notable entrants at this year’s rally included a 1954 OSCA MTA 1500; 1952 Cunningham C3; 1954 Lancia D24; 1957 Maserati 200SI; 1927 Bentley 3-Liter; 1954 Maserati A6GCS; 1959 BMW 507; 1957 Porsche 356 Carrera GT; 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster; 1958 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider; 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Boano Alloy Coupe; 1956 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Lightweight and 1956 Alfa Romeo 1900 SS Zagato.

Day 1 of the California Mille 2015 saw entrants cross the Golden Gate Bridge to Mill Valley, Fairfax, Pt. Reyes Station, Occidental, Santa Rosa and Napa for the night. On Day 2 the Mille departed for Calistoga, Cloverdale, Boonville, Ukiah and Little River. On Day 3 the interesting cars motored to Fort Bragg, Garberville, and Victorian Ferndale, returning to Little River for dinner and an overnight. The last day of this year’s Cal Mille saw the vintage cars head for Jenner, Petaluma, Glen Ellen before concluding the adventure in Calistoga.

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Similar to the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 events, Senior Photographer Dennis Gray also documented the 2015 California Mille, offering the following pictures that highlight the strong field of entrants and wonderful views found in Northern California. We split up Dennis’ photos into two galleries. The first gallery starting below features our favorite images, all displayed in the full-width view of Sports Car Digest, while the second gallery can be found on the last page of the article and gives a comprehensive view of all the photographs. To see more from Dennis, visit HistoricMotorPrints.com

California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos

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California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos Page Two

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California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos Page Three

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California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos Page Four

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California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos Page Five

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California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos Page Six

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California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos Page Seven

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California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos Page Eight

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California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos Page Nine

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California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos Page Ten

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California Mille 2015 – Report and Photos Page Eleven

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California Mille 2015 – Main Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture and description)

 

[nggallery id=788 images=15]

 

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[Source: California Mille; photos: Dennis Gray]