by R. Madorran – photos: Classic Racing & Peter Auto | A day for nostalgia, the sounds and the classic designs evoking times past which will be no more, but that entice some precious memories. A few weeks ago took place at the Monza circuit the traditional ‘Passione e Velocitá’ or Monza Historic race, organised by Peter Auto, and which summons up the most legendary cars in history. Some of the most fabulous legends of motor racing met on the track to compete within seven different categories. There were over 200 classic cars in a stadium pack to the brim commemorating goneby competitions:

Classic Endurance Racing

The CER, as it used to be known, was at its peak of popularity during the years from 1966 to 1981, when endurance racing was the crown jewel in motorsports. It was the glorious period of Ford GT40,  Porsche 910 or Ferrari 512 and their drivers Jacky Ickx, Henri Pescarolo and Gérard Larrousse. They not only reigned over the 25 hours of Le Mans but across all the great European circuits within the World Sports Car Championship. Approximately 50 cars made the delights of the public at the Classic Endurance Racing, the Porsche 917, Lola T70 and Ferrari 512 among them.

Group C Racing

The legendary group C bestowed some of the most beautiful memories in the history of Le Mans between 1982 and 1993. The competition was initially dominated by the Porsche 956 only against the extraordinary resistance of the Lancia LC2. Later on, new rivals arrived such as Jaguar, Mercedes, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda.

Sixties’ Endurance

This race provides a rare chance to admire all icons of the World Championship of the time (pre-63 Sports and pre-GT 66). These two hour races that took place between 1950 and 1965 brought together a wide range of vehicles  (E-Type Jaguars, Ferrari 250 GTs and  Porsches 911).

Trofeo Nastro Rosso

This competition, first celebrated in 2010, is restricted to Italian racing cars and GTs  from the late fifties up until 1965. Here you can enjoy watching the golden age icons of the transalpine cars:  Maserati 300s, Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta, Alfa Romeo TZ, and other jewels that were invited to compete this year such as the Aston Martin DB GT, the DB4 GT Zagato or the Porsche Carrera Abarth.

Heritage Touring Cup

Born in 2013 with the promise of style and unparalleled action, this discipline echoes the memorable times of the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) between 1966 and 1984. Great giants such as the BMW 3.0 CSL and its  635CSi, the Ford Escort and Capri, as well as the Jaguar XJ12C Broadspeed followed by the TWR XJ-S, just to name a few, will be fighting for victory.

Fia Lurani Trophy

Created in 1958 by Italian Count Giovanni Lurani, Formula Junior is in many ways the ancestor of current Formula 4. It was conceived as an economical competition and so it used, amongst other things, mass produced vehicles with 1000 or 1100 cc engines.

Euro F2 Classic

It is celebrated for the second time at the Spa-Classic. F2 vehicles, which are iconic of the time between the years 1967 and 1978 compete at this race. Back then, they were considered as the key to competing in Formula 1.

Those times were the glorious days of Jacky Ickx, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Johnny Servoz-Gavin, Clay Regazzoni and Ronnie Peterson, among others. Also popular at the time were a number of chassis manufacturers such as Alpine, Brabham, Chevron, Ferrari, Lola, Lotus, March, Martini, Matra, McLaren, Osella, Ralt, Surtees and Tecno.