The Mille Miglia is, of course, a historic Italian over-the-road event that originally covered the 1,000 miles referenced in its name, but which came to an end after its 1957 running as open-road races were generally replaced by closed-circuit events worldwide.<\/p>\n
Today, the Mille Miglia \u2014 which has been reborn as an event for historic cars \u2014 is a profitable business, but is wasn\u2019t always like that. In fact, Andrea Dalledonne, who heads the company that runs the great race, calls it the best public company in the world \u2014 even if the MM\u2019s turnover is more modest than most. All of which happened after the 2013 establishment of the 1000 Miglia srl \u2014 a limited liability company \u2014 by the Automobile Club of Brescia.<\/p>\n
Today the \u201croad-going museum,\u201d as the modern Mille Miglia is called, has a turnover of more than \u20ac8 million and a net profit of \u20ac4.5 million. After paying taxes and shareholder dividends, that produces a clear profit of \u20ac1.3 million. The 1000 Miglia has no debts and its suppliers are paid within 30 days.<\/p>\n
Of that \u20ac8 million or more, about 30 percent comes from the participants, who pay \u20ac8,540 per car to take part, then there is profit from merchandising and sponsorship money. The company has 11 permanent employees, but when the race is on that number grows to 3,000, including administrators, security staff, mechanics, hospitality and catering services.<\/p>\n
Between one Mille Miglia and another, much of the permanent employees\u2019 time is spent negotiating permission for the \u201croad-going museum\u201d to parade across the public roads administered by 262 municipal authorities in maximum safety. That includes the 450 cars entered for the Mille Miglia itself, the 110 cars that take part in the Ferrari Tribute and 1500 administrative assistance vehicles.<\/p>\n