To Argentina, the Mille Miglia

The 2013 Mille Miglia to Argentina. Where Juan Manuel Fangio was unable to succeed back in the ’50s, his countrymen Juan Tonconogy and Guillermo Berisso did so almost 60 years later. They won the much more sedate regularity commemorative event last May in their Bugatti T40, which was built the year the race began, 86 years ago.

For years, observers have got it wrong. They said Fangio didn’t like road racing, which is why he never won either the Mille Miglia or the Targa Florio, in both of which he came 2nd. But the five-time Formula One World Champion often said he loved that branch of the sport—he began his distinguished career as a highly successful long distance road racer in South America—and attributed his lack of success at such European events to bad luck and breakdowns.