BMW Group Classic is about to enter the 2013 Mille Miglia suffused with memories of a glorious premiere. It was 75 years ago that the BMW 328 sports car first lined up among the starters for this legendary long-distance event. Now BMW Group Classic is dispatching nine such models to compete in the latest edition of this historic round trip. The squad of BMW 328 models will delight classic car enthusiasts, while once again paying tribute to the tradition-steeped association between BMW and the Mille Miglia. Back in 1938, the teams competing in the BMW 328 secured a majestic sweep of the top places in the 2.0-litre category. Two years on, overall victory would follow courtesy of the BMW 328 Mille Miglia Touring Coupé.
The winning car of 1940 will also be fielded in this year's edition of the Mille Miglia, which since 1977 has been held as a regularity and reliability trial. Behind the wheel will be Hanns Werner Wirth, a seasoned vintage rally driver from Fürth in southern Germany, who will make up a commanding team with Germany's best-known and most successful co-driver, Christian Geistdörfer. The BMW Group Classic fleet will also feature further historic race cars, including the 1937 BMW 328 Berlin-Rome Touring Roadster and a BMW 328 Mille Miglia Roadster dating back to 1939. Also lining up will be the BMW 328 Kamm Coupé. The epitome of historic engineering prowess in terms of aerodynamics and lightweight design, this model has been making regular appearances in the road trial around the nothern half of Italy since 2010.
The Mille Miglia was first staged in 1927 as an endurance race and today is the world's most famous reliability run for classic sports cars.
From its traditional start point in the north Italian city of Brescia, this year's route again covers some 1,000 miles that take in Ferrara and San Marino before heading to Rome, then returning to Brescia via Siena, Florence and Bologna. The first cars will set off in the early evening of 16 May and are expected to arrive at the finish during the night of Saturday, 18 May 2013.
BMW Group Classic is fielding the following teams in the 2013 Mille Miglia:
102 Tim Abbott / Colin Montgomerie, BMW 328 Berlin-Rome Touring Roadster
105 Hans-Joachim Bender / Peter Mülder, BMW 328
116 Reiner Feurer / Ralph Körfgen, BMW 328 MM Roadster
118 Hanns Werner Wirth / Christian Geistdörfer, BMW 328 Mille Miglia Touring Coupé
121 Franz Jung / Achille D'Avanzo, BMW 328
126 Nicolas Peter / Pascal Grizot, BMW 328
128 Frank B. Meyer / Moritz Müller, BMW 328
129 Babette Albrecht / Florian Zimmermann, BMW 328 Kamm Coupé
137 Erich Ebner von Eschenbach / Oliver Bate, BMW 328