Historical reenactment of the “1901 Piombino-Livorno” car race with arrival at the Terrazza Mascagni.

The historical re-enactment of the “1901 Piombino-Livorno” automobile race will take place on Saturday, April 27, the first car race held in Tuscany and one of the first in the world (click on the link at the bottom of the article to see the itinerary and the complete program).
The race, which will follow an 88 km route along the via Aurelia, will see the participation of rare and precious automobiles built before 1918, with crews coming from all over Europe in vintage clothing.
For these cars, this is an extraordinary event, as they can no longer freely circulate due to the lack of mandatory safety standards for the road code, such as brake lights, turn signals, and other essential precautions. The event was authorized and made possible thanks to the commitment of the Livorno Prefecture, the contribution of the Tuscany Region, and the participation of the Traffic Police and all the Municipal Police forces of the municipalities along the route (Piombino, San Vincenzo, Castagneto Carducci, Bibbona, Cecina, Rosignano Marittimo, and Livorno). The organization of the event is curated by the Association “Il Garage del Tempo – Costa degli Etruschi”.

The gathering of cars is scheduled in Piazza Bovio in Piombino, with departure at 10:00 am. Stops are planned every 15-20 km, particularly in Bolgheri at the Di Vaira estate for lunch, then in San Guido (Viale dei Cipressi), Cecina, the Marradi pine forest in Castiglioncello (at 3:30 pm), and finally, at 5 pm, the arrival at the Terrazza Mascagni in Livorno, after passing by the Naval Academy, and in conjunction with the regattas and events of the International Sailing Week. Participants will receive a Commemorative Plate and the cars will be presented. At 7:30 pm at the Palazzo Hotel, a conference “The 12hp opens the way to success for Fiat” will be held with interventions by Eng. Lorenzo Morello of the Cultural Commission of ASI (Italian Historic Car Club) and Eng. Davide Lorenzone curator of the Turin Automobile Museum.

The following day, on Sunday, April 28, from 9 am to 1 pm there will be a gathering of vintage cars and guided tours at the Naval Academy.

Among other things, the “1901 Piombino-Livorno” also marked the first victory of FIAT (founded just two years earlier) in a car race, and for the occasion, the MAUTO, Turin Automobile Museum, has made available, to the delight of enthusiasts, a fantastic recently restored FIAT 12/16 HP.

In the newspaper reports of the time, it is noted that the race was supposed to start from Grosseto with a planned route of 150 km, reserved for cars, motor tricycles, and motorcycles. Due to heavy rainfalls, the road in Grosseto was impassable, so the race started from Piombino and the route was reduced. For the vehicles of that time, the distance was still significant, so much so that many crews retired along the route, and no motorcycle reached the finish line.

The winner was Count Camillo della Gherardesca, the owner of the first car to arrive, a Fiat 12 HP Corsa driven by Felice Nazzaro (that’s how it was done). It was also a great success for FIAT, which won its first race by surpassing the powerful Panhard Levassor 32HP.