The victory of Sir Stirling Moss at the 1955 Mille Miglia will remain written in the motorsport history books with big, fat golden letters.
The then 25-year-old Stirling had beaten the all-time record of the most prestigious road rally in the world, covering 992 miles of Italian public roads in just 10 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds, meaning his average speed was 98.53mph.
Petrolicious reminds us of that iconic victory and superb road rally, which many consider it as “The Greatest Race”. With driving gods like Juan Manuel Fangio participating and considering how dangerous was racing back then, they have a point
“Once the flag fell, I went flat out,” said Moss. “Obviously, when I’d see a car I caught up with, I really felt great about it, but I had no idea of the enormity of what it meant to myself because it’s really, it’s quite the thing to have on your CV”.
The Mercedes 300 SLR 722 is considered the most advanced race cars of its time, having a direct fuel-injected straight-8 engine with about 310hp and a top speed of around 180mph. The image of Moss flying through the Italian countryside at its wheel is a tale worth remembering.
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