The Mille Miglia, once the most spectacular road race in the world, has long since become a classic-car event that draws crowds far beyond Italy. Of the many international partner events, the Mille Miglia held in the United Arab Emirates is perhaps the most impressive of all.
There are few places on earth where car culture is quite as feverish as in the UAE. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman boast a concentration of luxury cars unmatched anywhere else. More important than the historic Mille Miglia machinery from the 1927–1957 era are modern sports cars and hypercars, and the more exclusive and expensive they are, the better. No surprise, then, that the organisers of the Italian event successfully transported the spectacle to the Gulf for a fifth time with the Mille Miglia Experience UAE. “Every year we welcome an exceptional group of collectors and passionate drivers who share a love for historic automobiles and the allure of the open road,” explains organiser Martin Halder. “This event is about more than the rally. It is about camaraderie, discovery and celebrating timeless automotive heritage.”
The tour itself has little in common with the original race or with the regularity-based Italian Mille Miglia of today from Brescia to Rome and back. One hundred and twenty teams set off from the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai in three categories: Mille Miglia (1927–57), Classic Icons (up to 1980) and Contemporary Icons (from 1980 onwards). The 1,600-kilometre route across the Arabian Peninsula focuses less on endless timed stages and more on spectacular scenery, dramatic roads and the vibrant cities of the region. Over four days the stops are Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Oman and Abu Dhabi.
Alongside modern sports cars, European classics generated real excitement among participants and spectators. Where else would you see rare multi-million-euro machines like the Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing, OM 665 Superba Sport Zagato, Bentley R-Type SS, Ferrari 275 GTB Shortnose or Jaguar XKs out in the wild? “For Mercedes-Benz Classic it was a highlight of the year to present such an important car as the 300 SLR in action at the 1000 Miglia Experience UAE,” says Marcus Breitschwert, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Classic. The Stuttgart marque showed the Mercedes 300 SLR racing sports car, type W 196 S, in the Emirates for the first time.
Superb cars: Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed (combined energy consumption: 13.7 l/100 km | combined CO₂ emissions: 312 g/km | CO₂ class: G) and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss (back) near the Hotel Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi.