A World Apart

If you had to choose a place to test every aspect of a car’s prowess, from high mountain climbs to fast coastal roads, you would look no further than the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Just over one million people live within this glorious province of 3,059 square miles, an area that boasts snow-capped Alps – whose sides are littered with vineyards at almost every turn – and a coastline that transforms from long sandy beaches to impossibly high cliff faces at the drop of a gear. The perfect destination then, for this year’s Cavalcade Classiche – a unique touring event specially catered towards Ferrari’s ‘Classiche’ models, those cars which were built twenty years ago or more.

Day one’s departure was a sight – and sound – to behold; the beautiful, curved bay of the seaside village resonating with the roar of finely-tuned masterpieces, as the Prancing Horses departed at a rate of two cars per minute.

Led by Ferrari Vice Chairman Piero Ferrari, son of founder Enzo Ferrari, who had returned once again with his grandson, Enzo Mattioli Ferrari (the pair were driving an Enzo and a F40 respectively), the procession headed out to the hills and vineyards of the Collio wine region before dipping down to begin a tour of some of the most picturesque villages Italy has to offer.

The Renaissance city of Udine’s extraordinary Piazza della Libertà played host to a car exhibition while the drivers paused for lunch, giving delighted locals the opportunity to walk amongst the living embodiments of Ferrari’s illustrious history, from the early years of road and racing innovation (including several 166 MM Ferraris and a rare inline-6 121 LM) through to the supercars that have set technological standards over the decades, including the GTO, F40, F50, and the Ferrari Enzo.

From there the procession filed out and roared down towards the sea through the towns of Palmanova and Aquileia, with a symphony of iconic V12 and V8 icons announcing their arrival long before they appeared on the horizon.

If day one’s adventures had given the cavalcade a taste of Italy’s historic architecture, day two and three provided an opportunity for the natural landscape to shine through. Beginning with a drive across the border into Slovenia and along the Isonzo river to the UNESCO heritage city of Idrija, the cavalcade continued on for the final day through the Karst region to Trieste, whose Opicina hill has played host to the Albo d'Oro automobilistico hill climb race since the beginning of the last century.