It was 6 p.m., and we were driving towards Perugia, the capital city of Umbria, in central Italy. It was 100 degrees, and we were in the thick of rush-hour traffic. Our day had started in Rome, and we had completed four laps at the Vallelunga track as well as three timed hillclimbs on closed roads. The interior of our 1974 Porsche Carrera was stifling, and we were tired and sweaty.
Our group of four cars, including Team SCM in the 911, a 1975 Lancia Stratos, a 1973 Ferrari 246 GT and a 1961 Ferrari SWB, was barely moving.
Suddenly, one of our blue-clad motorcycle police escorts swooped in front of us. He flicked on the tall blue light on the tail of his bike, and began gesturing to the cars ahead to get out of the way.
The official speed limit on the highway leading to the city center was 90 km/h (56 mph), but soon enough we were slicing our way through the stalled traffic at over 140 km/h (86 mph). Led by the motorcycle polizia.
At that moment, I knew I wasn’t in Portland anymore.
Fifteen years of fun
This was the 15th anniversary of the Modena Cento Ore, with 84 cars entered for four days of competition.
It was also my fifth time participating in the MCO, and it continues to be one of my favorite events.
You choose between two formats, competition and regularity. This year, there were 45 competition teams and 39 regularity teams.
I’ve participated in both. Competition includes 13 hillclimbs on closed roads, where fastest time in class wins. Then you add in four eight-lap races from a standing start at famous tracks including Imola, and you’ve got a vintage racer’s paradise.
Regularity is less stressful but no less challenging. Even when my opponent was the clock instead of a competitor, having a chance to drive at the Imola, Vallelunga, Magione and Mugello tracks got my blood rushing. I was in Italy, I was behind the wheel of a 1974 210-hp, 2.7-liter MFI European Carrera, and I was running hard.
The cars in competition run on the street with little muffling of their raucous exhausts. There’s nothing quite like hearing a Group 4 Lancia Stratos in red, white and green Alitalia livery firing up at 7 in the morning, the open exhaust ricocheting off nearby 15th-century buildings. The array of competition cars was formidable and included four SWBs, six E-types, two Elans, a DB4 GT, and numerous Porsche 911 Carrera RSs, RSRs and a 930 Turbo. On the track, the drivers in this group took no prisoners.
GTAs and SWBs
The MCO also was an opportunity to visit with good friends. Jurgen and Yvonne End from Saarbrucken were racing their very fast 1965 Alfa GTA. There were four GTAs in their competition group, and they were beautiful to watch as they were driven in anger. Real anger — European vintage-racing style.
We renewed our friendship with Martin Sucari and his son Francisco. Martin was driving his 1961 250 SWB, which still wore its Montana plates. I last saw Martin in Argentina, where he was our host for the Argentine Millas.
Among the other SCMers we spent time with were Anthony Pozner and Callum Johnston from the U.K., who drove their 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 in regularity and Benno and Ursula Alleman from Switzerland, who participated in the competition section with their 1961 Ferrari SWB.
We followed U.S. SCMers Martin and Kelly Lauber in their 1962 Giulia Spider for much of the way.
Fifteen years and counting
Since 2012, the organization of the Modena Cento Ore Classic has been handled by Scuderia Tricolore and Canossa Events, with Luigi Orlandini as chairman. His goal was to make the Modena Cento Ore “a great combination of wonderful cars, gentlemen drivers, competition, tourism, gastronomy and relaxation.” He and his team succeeded on all fronts.
Normally a three-day race, this year, in celebration of the 15th anniversary, it was expanded to four days.
Good friend Alberto Barbieri provided us with his 1974 911 Carrera, a car I had driven before. A European model, it is fitted with a 2.7-liter engine and Bosch mechanical fuel injection. It has the same specs as the fabled Carrera RS Touring. In 1974, Motor magazine reported the 2.7 Carrera had a 0–60 mph time of just 5.5 seconds.
Driving the Carrera on European back roads was a delight. It stayed absolutely flat through the turns. The engine had a hair-trigger response, accelerating quickly when we needed to pass on two-lane roads. On the race tracks, it took a set well and held a line with a minimum of fuss.
On the road
There was a parade of the participants through central Rome Tuesday evening, and Wednesday morning we were off.
After four days and 750 back-road kilometers, the overall winners of the regularity section were Barry Smith and Paul Crew from Great Britain, driving a 1959 MGA Twin Cam.
My copilot Lilly Pray and I managed to achieve a respectable 13th overall and 5th in class, especially given that our car’s odometer and trip meter didn’t work.
We couldn’t have achieved this without the coaching of Antonio Bigatti, who, despite driving without a navigator, achieved a remarkable 7th overall in regularity in his 1974 2.7 Carrera Targa.
The competition class was hard fought. Twelve of the 45 teams retired with mechanical issues.
First overall in the 1966 and earlier class were Philip Walker and Howard Redhouse from Great Britain, driving a 1962 Jaguar E-type, and the winners of the post-1966 class were Didier Denat and Charlie Remnant from Ireland in a 1973 Porsche 2.8 RSR.
Can you imagine an unmuffled 289 Cobra, Porsche 930 and Group IV Michelotto Ferrari thundering down the main streets of an American city, escorted by a police officer who was determined to keep them moving at speed?
That will only happen in your sports car dreams. Or on the Modena Cento Ore Classic. (See more photos on p. 56.) ♦