It is a little after 10 in the morning on a Saturday. I’m standing on the side of a two-lane road with thick green trees overhead. It already feels like it is about 80 degrees, and I know it is going to get a lot hotter. In the distance, I hear a V-6 accelerate, and moments later, a Lancia Stratos hauls past me in third gear before slowing for a corner up the road. About 30 seconds later, another Stratos in full rally spec wails past me. Where am I, and what is going on?
The Vernasca Silver Flag is a hill climb held annually on the slopes of Italy’s Motor Valley, which is centered around Modena and Bologna. The event is similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in that it used to be a competitive event (1953-1971) but is now for classic cars.
Held over a three-day weekend, most cars arrive on Friday afternoon, with everyone getting two runs over the six-mile course on Saturday and one more run on Sunday morning. It is a dynamic concours: about 180 cars participate in the untimed event, which welcomes old race cars that aren’t a good fit for a concours or suitable for a rough-and-tumble Goodwood Revival race.
The course utilizes a closed public highway that starts from the quaint town of Castell’Arquato (complete with an old castle above it) and has a mix of straights and hairpins before finishing at Vernasca. Entrants and spectators alike love the event; entrants receive lunch and a big dinner on Saturday night, while spectators can get close to the cars before the runs and while they’re on course. Besides, for most car enthusiasts, what is better than driving fast on a closed road or watching usually static cars whiz past?
While the classic car version of the event has been running for several years and is usually held in late June, it competes with other events, and so the date floats around on the calendar a bit. The 2025 edition celebrated the 50th anniversary of three World Championships, with Ferrari’s F1 title won by the 312T, Lancia’s victory in the World Rally Championship with the Stratos HF, and Alfa Romeo’s triumph in the World Sports Car Championship with the 33TT12, all of which occurred in 1975. While no Ferrari 312Ts nor any Alfa Romeo 33TT12s ran up the hill, several Lancia Stratos HFs, ranging from road cars to a turbocharged Group 5 car, made runs up the hill.
Aside from the many Stratoses that participated, other popular groups included various Abarth berlinas and prototypes, Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Supers and GTAs of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as other Lancia rally cars, such as Flavias, Fulvias, 037s, and S4s. Forgotten concepts, such as Zagato’s take on a 1980s Ferrari Testarossa, are here, too. The National Auto Museum (Mauto) in Turin even brought a 16.3-liter four-cylinder 1907 Fiat rated at 130 HP and did a couple of runs. It isn’t all Italian cars either, with a couple of Ford GT40s, Jaguar XK120s, and Alpine A110s participating, as well.
The event is off the beaten track for most Americans, but it does show there’s a home for old race cars. Perhaps something similar could be held in conjunction with Hagerty’s Greenwich or Amelia concours. Would something like this work in the U.S.? Let us know in the comments below.
More of my photos from the event can be seen here on Flickr.
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Great variety of cars there. Thank you for the pictures!
Great photos