The Word’s Out

The word had gone out, I was told for the thousandth time, but I felt no better. What if the Mafia suddenly took back its word and the 1926 Bugatti Grand Prix car vanished? It was too late for second thoughts, though. The car was hidden in a lock-up security garage, protected round the clock by a team of armed guards, and it needed to be: its hiding place was at an undisclosed address in the middle of Palermo, Sicily—Mafia capital of the world.

The car, and hero in question, was the immaculately preserved Bugatti Tipo 35 C in which Meo Costantini won the 1926 Targa Florio. He and his bright blue mobile sculpture completed the five laps of the medium size Madonie mountain circuit—a total of 335 miles—in 7 hours 20 minutes 45 seconds at an average speed of 45.57 mph.