All roads lead to Rome

Octane joins Mercedes-Benz and the son of Stirling Moss for a special 70th anniversary celebration of Moss and Jenks’ historic Mille Miglia victory

- Elliott Hughes

'I think I learned the words “Mille Miglia” at the same time I learned to speak.

My father had long retired, but our whole world still revolved around being Stirling Moss's family and this incredible road race is at the heart of it.’ These are the words of Elliot Moss, fêted chef and son of the great Sir Stirling Moss. Dressed in a crisp white shirt and chinos, Elliot looks relaxed as we chat on the eve of our departure from Brescia to Rome.

Seventy years ago, Sir Stirling Moss and his lovably idiosyncratic navigator, Denis ‘Jenks’ Jenkinson, made history by becoming only the second non-Italian team to win the Mille Miglia after the German pairing of Rudolf Caracciola and Wilhelm Sebastian in 1931. Not only that, they did so in record-breaking fashion, defeating the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio to complete the perilous 992-mile race in just 10hr 7min 48sec. Their average speed was an incredible 98.53mph. And within mere hours, I will begin to understand just what that really means. Over the next three days, Elliot and I will be honouring one of the most storied days in motor racing history by recreating the journey of his legendary father each in our own cars ~ from Brescia to Rome.

Obviously such a pilgrimage demands special machinery. My journey will be split between two cars that pay tribute to Sir Stirling in very different ways. The first stint, from Brescia to the rolling hills of Siena, will be in a 2009 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss ~ a 6SObhp speedster inspired by the 300 SLR that carried Moss to glory. From Siena to Rome, I will swap into a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, a factory replica of No.417, which won its class on the Mille Miglia that same year, driven by John Fitch and Kurt Gessl.