CULTURE
Targa Florio
Speed, heritage and Sicilian roads in one of Italy’s most iconic motoring stories.
A brief history of the Oldest speed brand in the world
Italy has always been advanced in speed that’s why although many things have changed through the years we still hear about italian car brands names amongst the best in the world like the famous Ferrari or Bugatti and so on.
But italy wasn’t advanced just in making beautifully engineered cars it was also advanced on the creation of astonishing and gathering events to see which was the best manufacturer, and also the best team.
Before any of the well known car racing events of today watched by millions on tv and online streaming services in Sicily the oldest and most fascinating race was born by the name of Targa Florio.
The race created in 1906 wasn’t just a small event the event, it was part of the World Sports car Championship which was one of the major world competitions paired with the most popular today’s Formula One World Championship.
The first decade of the race comprehended a tour of the whole Sicilian island while the other editions were done on the “Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie” (or in sicilian dialect Madunìi the principal mountain ranges of Sicily)
After a few years another idea came to the great founder Mr Vincenzo Florio to extend the competition to two wheels vehicles that became known as “Targa Florio Motociclistica” .
On the 4th of October 1920 the first edition was held on the now famous Madonie circuit on a distance of about 324km.
the price of subscription was 200₤ about 224€ of today, many famous pilots participated to the race that grown in popularity by each edition. At the time after the First World War both car and bike races were becoming very popular even more than football at a certain extent, the fascination for speed was growing extensively in the whole country.
Unfortunately the Race ended in 1940 officially a different destiny happened to the car race which started to become discontinued by 1977 and then becoming a rally event. But has asked by the famous founder Vincenzo Florio
“Pursue my legacy, I conceived it to withstand the test of time”
And so did his nephew Vincenzo Paladino Florio by reviving the car brand Targa Florio and also the race, the same happened to the bike race and brand which was revived in 2017 by a famous pilot Ciro de Petri and Automobile Club Palermo and many other bikers.
In 2018 the first race was held on the royal estate “La Favorita” circuit and from then on it attracted millions of people, it wasn’t just a race but also a showcase of vintage vehicles from the 20’ to the 50’.
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