Middleburg is a very special place, and I am fortunate to be affiliated with the Hunt Country Sotheby’s International Realty Middleburg office, right on West Washington Street in what used to be a local haunt for residents, the Cock and Bull Pub. The building dates to the late 1800's, as far as we have been able to establish, and today is the ideal space for a modern real estate office. We get visitors from all over the world, looking to buy property in the nation's horse and hunting capital, home to some of the finest equestrian estates.

But it's not only horses we see in and around town but horsepower, in the shape of modern and historic automobiles coming to our area to soak up the stunning scenery we try not to take for granted.

The Italian Mille Miglia car race dates back to 1927 when it began as a 1,000 mile road race starting and ending in Brescia, Italy, with a turnaround in Rome. 

From 1977, the road race became a 'regularity race' for classic automobiles, and in 2019, the Town of Middleburg hosted the first Mille Miglia Warmup USA, a practice run around the beautiful Virginia countryside with participants from around the United States, and, in a few cases, the world!

Sadly COVID interrupted what would have been an annual event, however it picked back up in 2022 and the latest iteration this month was another huge success. I was fortunate enough to once again drive this gorgeous 1966 Ford Mustang Convertible from close to our Middleburg office, to Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia, where we competed to drive between various start and finish points as close to specific times as possible, incurring penalties for being under or over those times, with the winner being the car closest to zero penalties as possible.

Needless to say, I was well outside the winning time, however in my defense, my navigator, fellow town council member Bud 'Speedy' Jacobs and I had not had the luxury of practising. 

Another council member, Pam Curran, took part for the second year running in the full four day event in her pristine Triumph TR6, bringing back memories of England.

There were too many important and very special cars present over the almost week long event, but to name a few, we once again enjoyed a 1931 Alfa romeo 6C with a Zagato body, which ultimately won the overall event, a stunning 1950 Ferrari 166 Touring (pictured above), a unique and never restored 1955 Porsche 356 Speedster, a 1955 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing and so many more. One of my favorites, having worked for the Aston Martin factory in the early 1990's, was a rare 1959 DB 2/4 Mk III. Wow. 

​The volunteers were, once again, amazing, without whom this event could not take place. Thanks to everyone who helped make this event so successful.

All of us at our Hunt Country Sotheby’s International Realty Middleburg office, and in and around the town look forward to next year's Mille Miglia Warmup USA, and the opportunity to see some special machines, and the faces on the fans as they enjoy this fabulous event.

My friends know I’m a bit of a car nut! At 19, I became a ‘sales executive’ at the renowned London Ferrari distributor, H.R. Owen and enjoyed eight amazing years, driving, selling and occasionally crashing wonderful then latest models, including the 308 GTS QV, 400i and my all time favorite, the BB512i Berlinetta Boxer.

I remember being told that the 340 BHP 512i would be the last of the great super cars. Wow were they wrong.

Fast forward to 1990 and Lamborghini came calling and I was so fortunate to be appointed Sales Director at the UK Lamborghini importer, where I had the pleasure of supplying last of the line Countach 25th Anniversaries and then new model Diablos to some great customers, including Rod Stewart (who unfortunately would call me on a Saturday morning, screaming at me because his new red devil had broken down!).

After a short stint at Aston Martin following the sad demise of the UK Lambo importer, I got the call to move to Italy, to the sacred town of Sant Agata Bolognese, to be European Sales Director for the factory, Automobili Lamborghini SpA. Wow what a wild time, setting up dealers in Europe and even in the new, recently westernized Russia (viva perestroika!), where I took the first Lamborghini to display at the Moscow Motor Show.

But the main reason for writing this piece of nostalgia is to opine that, while we all may think that rules and regulations are gradually stifling ingenuity and progress, think again. Another lap record has been broken, this time at the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife, or ‘The Ring’! Just check out the video of the record setting Mercedes Benz AMG One, an outstanding piece of engineering, utilizing F1 technology with an ICE (internal combustion engine) and four electric motors! Enjoy…