I am posting here because I assume if you own a Ducati you like unique cars too. Plus, this is an Italian event of sorts, hence the post in Ducati Chat.
The California Mille is an annual tribute to the original Italian Mille Miglia. The California Mille tour is patterned after the world-famous Italian Mille Miglia, a 1000 mile open road race which ran from 1927 through 1957.
In Italy, cars raced from Brescia in the North of Italy to Rome and back. The tour was revived in 1982 as an annual event. The California Mille is the only American event recognized by the Mille Miglia Storica (Historical Society) of Brescia, Italy. 2006 marks the 16th annual California Mille.
The Mille is a "touring" event, meaning the cars simply tour a planned course throughout California. The cars do NOT race, nor is there any type of competition [such as "best in show"]. Cars participating are restricted to sports racing and production cars dating from 1927 through 1957.
The classic car event begins in San Francisco on a Sunday in late April. Participating cars gather in front of the Fairmont Hotel. In the touring event which begins on the following Monday [this year on May 1, 2006], the participants travel through scenic northern California, stay in fine inns, and enjoy good food, wine, and talk with fellow participants/enthusiasts.
The total dollar value of the cars parked in front of the Fairmont totals over $20 million [e.g., some cars are valued at $500,000]. With that kind of "candy" ripe for the taking, event organizers arrange for 24 hour presence of six uniformed San Francisco police officers. At 8:30 p.m. Sunday I asked two of the officers eyeballing the cars "which ones you taking for a joy ride tonight?" They laughed and said "We're not telling."
I took a lot of video and pics. Will post them in coming days.
Here's a teaser [I say "teaser" because this video was Sunday night when all the cars were tucked in. The next morning I took video of the cars running and departing]. Note: looped some background music because the audio was just annoying wind noise:
http://www.heartinsanfrancisco.com/MilleTeaser.wmv
http://www.heartinsanfrancisco.com/millefairmont1.jpg
