In 1977, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the 1000 Miglia Cup, the Brescia Automobile Club decided to organise the 1000 Miglia Rally on local roads, as a regularity event with competitive speed trials - a format already adopted for the last three Mille Miglia races organised from 1958 - 1960, which were classified by the FIA as qualifying events for the European Rally Championship.
On the fiftieth anniversary, building on the growing interest in vintage car collecting in Italy and elsewhere, they also organised a revival of the race from Brescia to Rome and back. It was reserved for historic cars and final standings were based on the results obtained in the precision driving tests organised along the route.
Reviving the event over the longer, historic route required a permanent organisational structure backed by institutional support and adequate financing. Consequently some of the promoters of the revival became organisers, working with the Brescia Automobile Club, the owners of the name and the trademark.
During the second historical revival in 1982, the start was brought back to its traditional ramp in Viale Venezia. This was done again in 1984 and in 1986. The Mille Miglia revival’s great success led the organizers, in 1987, to change the format from a bi-annual to an annual event to meet requests. As a result, the appassionati, thrilled with this decision, entered 580 requests for admission that year.
By 1987, the growing number of entries, which had increased from 220 in 1982 to 350 in 1984, persuaded the organisers to abandon the biennial format in favour of an annual event, a decision that was welcomed by enthusiasts, who responded by submitting no fewer than 580 entries that year.
Although the number of cars admitted now is almost four times the number that participated in the first revival in 1977, fewer than half of the applications received each year can be accepted. This has been a problem since 1955, when 521 teams were at the start in Viale Venezia, forcing the organisers to make a drastic and unpopular reduction in their number - mainly for reasons of safety, related to the drivers' experience and the ability of the registered cars to withstand the rigours of the race.
Today, limiting the number of participants allows the organisers not only to select cars that are the most significant in the context of race history, but also to offer spectators a cavalcade that is almost unique, portraying thirty years of the evolution of motor racing, from 1927 to 1957.
The historic revival not only inherited the symbols and part of the route from the historic Mille Miglia, but also its spirit - although the modern race offers competition in different forms, no longer limited to pure performance, as D'Annunzio would have liked, but sensibly combined with entertainment and tourism.