【Event Reports】La Festa Mille Miglia 2019 / Day 2: Welcoming smiles and admiring gazes

This is the sixth installment in cigarRO's event collaboration series, supporting active adults who fully enjoy both work and play. This time, we had the opportunity to accompany the 23rd classic car rally, "La Festa Mille Miglia."

The entrants, who successfully completed the first day despite heavy rain, were meticulously preparing for the start early in the morning, inspecting their beloved cars with practiced ease. The weather was cloudy, with an atmosphere that suggested rain could start at any moment, so each car set off with thorough preparation for both cold and rain.

The second day's course circled through three prefectures: Fukushima, Miyagi, and Yamagata. The stamp points along the way were varied, including hot spring towns, town halls, and even a circuit, keeping the accompanying cigarRO staff excited as they chased after the group.

At the first PC competition point of the morning, "Link Circuit," local vintage car enthusiasts came to watch with their immaculately polished cars, some even bringing their families to cheer them on. It was very impressive to see an older brother intensely taking many, many photos of the beautiful classic cars waiting for their turn to start in the paddock, while his younger brother frolicked beside him.

The charm of classic cars isn't just their appearance; their "sound" is also a big part of it. The exhaust note, the mechanical noise of the engine itself, and even the sound when shifting gears, all pleasantly convey that the driver is communicating with the machine as they operate it. As modern motoring increasingly moves towards electrification and electronic control (which is the right path for environmental impact), I felt that this was a luxurious and stylish adult pastime, and at the same time, I also felt the importance of connecting this history and culture to the future.

At the stamp points along the route, entrants not only received stamps but also local specialties and other gifts. Sometimes a mascot character, sometimes a samurai in armor, would greet them, adding endless enjoyment to the "journey." Even outside of these spots, local residents who had been eagerly awaiting this event cheered from the roadside with flags in hand. "I don't know any of the car names, but aren't they simply wonderful! Right?" the wives enthusiastically told us with big smiles.