Strolling through the courtyard of San Francisco’s historic Fairmont Hotel was like walking through a time tunnel. Lined up on either side was a cornucopia of exquisite vintage cars—mostly European sports cars from the ’50s—immaculately restored, detailed, and, yes, ready to drive. There was an assortment of Porsches, Jaguars, Ferraris, MGs, Alfas, and a ’56 Corvette Sebring, as well as a sampling of more-exotic fare, such as a ’48 HWM Stovebolt, ’36 Bugatti 57 SC, ’31 Chrysler CD8 Roadster, ’27 Mercedes SSK, ’16 Lancia, and… a ’96 Dodge Viper RT? 10?
This was the starting point for the ’95 California Mille Miglia, an annual vintage-car rally based on a legendary Italian auto race, the Mille Miglia (1000 miles), that wound through the hilly countryside between Brescia and Rome, and has…