History recreated at Targa Florio Classica

"Street racing" hasn't always meant narrow downtown circuits. The Targa Florio was an open road endurance race held in the mountains of Sicily near Palermo that became an icon of sports car racing. Founded in 1906, it was part of the World Sportscar Championship from 1955-'73 (LEFT, Dan Gurney running the 1964 Targa Florio in a Shelby Cobra, LAT archive), at which point the dangers posed by modern racecar speeds forced the enduro to pass into history.

But the Targa Florio lived on, revived first as a national sports car event, then as a road rally. Now, the heritage of the event now lives on as a historic race, Targa Florio Classica, whose 2015 edition ended this afternoon in Castelbuono, one of the location of the legendary race on the Sicilian Madonie mountains.

The Classica recreated the original in terms of spectators, too, as plenty of people crowded the roads and the period-correct grandstands at Floriopoli, near Cerda, and in Campofelice di Roccella, Collesano, Lascari, Cefalù, Gibilmanna and Castelbuono. The race teams, who came from all over the world, started the challenge from Palermo on Thursday and reached Castelbuono three days later traveling in their historic cars through the most exclusive places in the provinces of Palermo and Trapani.

Overall winners of the competition organized by AC Palermo in collaboration with Automobile Club d'Italia and ACI Storico were Sicilian specialists Giovanni Moceri and his co-driver Daniele Bonetti, who took the lead in the early stages of the race on their Fiat 508 C from 1939 (pictured, TOP). First in the Ferrari Tribute competition was the crew formed by Gino Verghini and Lamberto Fuso. The Italian pair took the lead during yesterday's second leg on their Ferrari 512/TR.

During the event, a new Club Piloti Targa Florio (Targa Florio Drivers Club) was announced. This new association is open to drivers who took part in the Targa Florio in its world championship version or won at least three editions in its rally mode. First president will be the famous Sicilian driver Nino Vaccarella.