Mille Miglia annual vintage car rally arrives in Rome on 19 May.

A fleet of 450 vintage cars from 39 countries arrives in Rome on the night of Friday 19 May, in the 35th edition of the Mille Miglia rally between the northern Italian city of Brescia and the capital.

One of the world’s oldest car rallies, the Mille Miglia began in 1927, taking place 24 times until 1957 and bringing international fame to luxury sports cars such as Alfa Romeo, BMW, Ferrari, Maserati and Porsche.

Since 1977, the Mille Miglia has been a regularity race, meaning that it is more of a rally than a contest, with precise average speeds maintained throughout. It is designed exclusively for classic and vintage cars, hundreds of which are expected to arrive in Rome on Friday night before departing again the next morning.

Teams come from all over the world, and the race is only open to cars produced before 1957 and selected from the models which took part in the original race. The round-trip route between Brescia and Rome is similar to that of the original race, with the cars leaving Brescia on 18 May before arriving in Padova for the first overnight stay.

The next day they leave for Rome, with the first cars expected along Via Veneto at about 21.30 on 19 May. The following morning the cars depart for Bologna en route to the final destination of Brescia where they arrive on Sunday.

For full details see the Mille Miglia website.