A DRIVE OF A LIFETIME - ACROSS THE FINISH LINE
18 May 2015
After 39 hours and 1,100 miles of driving, Kim McCullough, Vice President, Marketing, Jaguar Land Rover North America, together with her husband Mitch, made it across the finish line in this year’s epic Mille Miglia classic car rally in Italy, driving their 1954 Jaguar XK120.
Here Kim looks back at some of the highlights of four magical days of driving.
You finally finished, so tell us how do you feel?
Elated. The sense of accomplishment, the feeling of achievement, is just overwhelming. We worked out that in the four days of the event, we clocked up over 39 hours of driving - six hours on day one, 12 for day two, 15 for day three and six for the last day - and we covered over 1,100 miles. During that time, we maybe got a total of 11 hours of sleep. Adrenaline is an amazing thing. We’d get into the hotel room at one or two in the morning and know we had to be up by 6:00 AM, yet we just couldn’t wait.
What are the memories you’ll take home with you?
There are so, so many I don’t know where to begin. Lapping the famous Monza Autodromo racetrack with its 30-degree wall-of-death banking; turning a corner and seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa and stopping right alongside it; blasting out of Rome early on Saturday morning, doing over 100mph, and going into a tunnel and hearing the ear-splitting, symphony of 50 or 60 vintage cars at full throttle. If there’s one word that sums-up the whole event, it must be ‘Bella’. Everything was so beautiful; the scenery, the roads, the people.
Does one memory in particular stand out?
I think it would have to be the time we were waiting on some tiny walking street before entering the famous Piazza del Campo in Siena. People were sitting in outdoor cafes right alongside the cars. We pulled up next to one and this lovely, elderly gentlemen held up his carafe of wine and offered us a glass. When we reluctantly declined, he simply stood up and walked over to us with his plate of polenta squares with Pomodoro sauce and insisted we take one. It was such a lovely moment.
What was the reaction of the crowds like?
No matter where we were, no matter the time of day, people were out on the streets cheering as the cars went by. Sometimes it was a big crowd, particularly as we went through some of the small towns, sometimes it was a lone person sitting at the side of the road in a folding chair with a glass of wine. It was all such a family affair. So often we’d see entire families out to watch the race - with babies, teens, mom, pop and grandma - all eating lunch and waving. It really did feel like the whole of Italy was with us for the event.
After your vapor-lock problem, were there any other mishaps or misfires with the XK120?
After that initial hiccup, the car ran pretty much flawlessly the entire event. We stopped a few times to top-up with water because the engine was running hot, but apart from that, nothing. We had the most fantastic support from J.D. Classics, the British Jaguar specialists who did the preparation of our car and were there on the Mille Miglia with us. Their two technicians and our support crew for the event, Gary and Nigel, were the best. We could not have done the event without them.
You bought the XK120 especially to do the Mille. Did it prove to be a good choice?
It was absolutely the best decision we made! We were so pleased that we went with an open top car. To have had a coupe or sedan with a fixed roof, we would have missed so much, not just in terms of seeing the spectacular scenery, but also interacting with the crowds. Of course we had really wonderful, sunny weather. Had it poured down with rain all the time, it may have been a different story. The XK also proved to be a really comfortable car. Before the event, we wondered how we would ever be able to drive a 61-year-old car for 12 to 15 hours, but it was never an issue.
How did all the complex route following and stopwatch-clicking go?
It was a little rocky at the beginning, but with each day, as we built-up our confidence and technique, we improved our position in the rally. In the end, we finished 272 out of 462 entrants, and we were very pleased with the result. That said, all that really mattered to us was finishing. That was our great achievement.
Taking part in the Mille Miglia was a major financial investment for you and Mitch. In the end, was it worth it?
Without a doubt. This was a once-in-lifetime treat. We can totally understand why people go back and take part year after year. There is no other motorsport event in the world like it. What summed it up for us was the time when we were sitting in the car, waiting in another amazing ancient town square. A British gentlemen strolled over to us, having seen the American flags on the sides of the car and simply said: “You are two very lucky people”. We just smiled and nodded in total agreement. Lucky indeed.
Photography courtesy of Bryn Musselwhite
