On The Road Again

Channelling the rush of the vintage car rally, Chopard's Mille Miglia watches take you on a trip like no other.

- Alvin Wong

THEY ALL MADE it: the drivers and their spectacularly storied cars, racing 1,000 miles through bucolic Italian country roads and ancient squares at a legendary rally. But they always do at Mille Miglia (Italian for, well, ‘1,000 miles’), the legendary open-road endurance race that has been repurposed as a glamorous vintage car rally since 1977. While there remains a keen sense of competition with these men and their machines (the drivers are ranked, and the competing cars have to be the same year, make and model as those that ran in the original 24 races between 1927 and 1957), soaking in the local colour and enjoying the camaraderie are also top priorities. At the end of the race, the cliche holds assuredly true: it is the journey, not the destination, that matters.

Just ask Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. A huge car enthusiast, the president of Chopard has been racing at Mille Miglia since 1989 and is showing no desire to slow down. At the 2023 rally, Scheufele partnered Formula One legend, Jack Ickx, as he always does, co-piloting his Mercedes 300SL Gullwing. Meanwhile, Scheufele also supports the rally in a professional capacity. Chopard has been Mille Miglia’s official timekeeping sponsor since 1988, making it the world’s most enduring partnership between a watch manufacturer and a motorsport event.

A Sentimental Partnership 

When Scheufele first participated in Mille Miglia, the race didn’t have an official watch sponsor. His horological instincts kicking in, Scheufele suggested that Chopard partner the rally and, to mark the collaboration, create a watch for its participating drivers.