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In this feature we have plucked 130 random photos of the classic Targa Florio race from http://www.forum-auto.com/ ‘s 1,642 page thread. The open road rally-esque race was held on the public mountain roads of Sicily beginning in 1906. By 1977′s last race, it was declared “totally insane” by driver Helmut Marko because of the high speeds the race cars would achieve while ripping within inches of spectators standing on the streets without any protection between them. Throughout it’s history, miraculously only 9 people total were killed during the race, drivers included. But rather than focus on the morbid, how about we take a moment to celebrate the courageous drivers of the past from before the time of stringent safety concerns for them or their audience. And also marvel at the gorgeous war weapons that were brought out to duke it out with in the heat of battle for the overall championship title. Those were the days of guts and glory, a romantic period of time when cars were designed by artisans with vision rather than lawyers with restrictions. The drivers were fat and their tires were thin, as the saying goes. Please continue onto the following page for the featured pictorial …
Notice the Cobra in pits in the 1964 video below, wearing the same manufacturer’s plates as was on Steve McQueen’s loaner car from Carroll Shelby seen in the previous feature a few posts back.