Mythical Cars Rally: la migliore lezione di storia dello sport

News release
03.03.23

All-new northern Italian event will wind the clocks back in May
Group A, kit cars and World Rally Cars to compete on well-remembered roads
Seven stages, 80kms and one incredible atmosphere from May 24-27

The hills – and, more importantly, the roads around the hills – are alive again. Mythical Cars Rally (May 24-27) brings the music of motorsport back to the Province of Pavia and the lanes of Lombardy once more.

And this is a region known for its love of rallying. Fifty-two years ago Simo Lampinen won the inaugural Quattro Regioni Rally in a Lancia Fulvia.

While Mythical Cars Rally doesn’t cross the regional borders of Lombardy, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont in the way the original event did, there’s no doubting the potential for participation from across quattro regioni.

“The logistics to recreate that event of four regions was so complicated,” explained Mythical Cars Rally advisor Andrea Adamo. “We have taken the town of Varzi and the Province of Pavia and based our event here – this place was at the very heart of Quattro Regioni Rally. It’s part of the history of the sport here.”

Northern Italy has a long-held passion for rallying at every level

And that history is both rich and varied. For three decades through the Sixties to the Eighties, such stars as Lampinen, Sandro Munari, Bernard Darniche and Miki Biasion topped the podium on an event which rivalled any rally for prominence in the European Rally Championship.

“Quattro Regioni became a really big event,” said Adamo. “I don’t just say this because I came here and I have so many memories of this rally as a child, I remember a time when this rally was considered like a candidate for the World Championship.

“I remember Malcolm Wilson coming here in a Ford Escort [RS1800] and [Juha] Kankkunen. I remember [Jean-Claude] Andruet winning in 1981 driving a Ferrari 308 GTB.

“The regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont all have such history and so many stories in rallying. To bring the sport back to this area, to have the opportunity to rekindle the passion for rallying and to be able to spend a week in May telling and listening to those stories is something very special for everybody involved.

“And for the 40-or-so crews competing at Mythical Cars Rally, this will be such a special occasion to recreate a magical – mythical – period of time in our sport.”