In the world of motorsports, we often talk about Formula 1, Le Mans, and Monaco. But the oldest car race in the world is Sicilian.
It's called the Targa Florio, born on May 6, 1906, on the roads of the Madonie, and today it turns 120. It's not a museum, it's not a historical reenactment: it's a race that's still alive, this year reaching its 110th edition.
A 23-year-old boy and a crazy dream
Vincenzo Florio was only 23 when he organized the first edition. He wanted to create something unforgettable, and we must say he succeeded completely.
The idea was as simple as it was visionary: bring cars—a technology most people had never seen in person—to the winding, wild roads of the Madonie Mountains. Have Europe's best drivers race through the mountain villages of Sicily. Transform his island into the hub of world motorsport.
On May 6, 1906, at six o'clock sharp, ten cars set off from the Buonfornello straight toward a 146-kilometer stretch of curves, mountain villages, and dirt roads. The first to cross the finish line was Alessandro Cagno in an Itala, in 9 hours and 32 minutes. The finish was announced by a cannon shot and a trumpet blast.
Not a trail. The real Sicily.
What made the Targa Florio unique—and legendary—was the circuit. Not perfect asphalt and carefully planned run-off areas, but the real roads of Sicily: dry stone walls just inches from the wheels, dirt roads in some sections, spectators packed along the curves without any protection, animals suddenly crossing the road.
It was a race against their opponents, but above all against the terrain. The drivers had to memorize dozens of kilometers of blind curves, speed bumps, and crossroads. A mistake could be fatal. Yet they returned, year after year, because there was nothing like it in the world.
In the decades that followed, all the greatest drivers passed through those hairpin bends: Nuvolari, Ferrari, Varzi, Fangio. And then the car manufacturers: Alfa Romeo, Porsche, Ferrari, Bugatti. Only wars dared to stop it.
120 years later, she's still alive
The Targa Florio is the oldest surviving automobile race in the world, born on May 6, 1906 on the Sicilian roads of the Madonie, having survived two world wars, tragedies, and decades of radical changes in motorsport, and still alive and kicking on the streets of the island today.
Since 1978, it has been run as a rally event, maintaining the same numerical continuity as the old competition. Today, it is the flagship of the Italian Rally Championship, and the 110th edition is scheduled for May 14-16, 2026—on the same roads as always, through the same villages, in front of a crowd that still lines the bends like a hundred years ago.
As Vincenzo Florio said: “Continue my work, I created it to challenge time.”
One hundred and twenty years later, that challenge is still ongoing.
