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120 years of Targa Florio - A short tour in the footsteps of the legendary road race

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Created on May 8, 2026

Text:

Gerhard Schütz, translated by DeepL

Photos:

Gerhard Schütz

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Archiv Gerhard Schütz

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Gerhard Schütz / ZG

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Gerhard Schütz

25

Archiv Gerhard Schütz

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Gerhard Schütz / ZG

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120 years of the Targa Florio - Where once the engines roared, today you can only hear the cicadas chirping

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Poster from the founding year

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Vincenzo Florio (1883-1959) with the French newspaper l'Auto

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The "Targa", the plaque for the 1926 winner, Meo Costantini, Bugatti 35

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Will this EU tourism project ever become reality?

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The straight line from Bonfornello today

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The Straight of Bonfornello 1972, Sandro Munari, Ferrari 312 PB

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The straight line from Bonfornello, Maurice Fournier, Clément Bayard 35 HP

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At the start and finish in 1926 (Floriopoli), photographed from the pedestrian bridge. Count Giulio Masetti, Delage

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Opposite shot, at the start and finish today. The bridge in the background

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At the start and finish in 1923, winner Ugo Sivocci, Alfa Romeo RLS (subsequently called Alfa Romeo RL Targa Florio)

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Second consecutive victory for Meo Costantini, Bugatti 35, at the start and finish in 1926

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Lost Place Floriopoli: start and finish in 2025

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Advertising back then, still barely legible: Marsala Florio (dessert wine from the Florios)

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Overtaking maneuver in front of an empty grandstand...

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Things looked livelier in 1969: Gerhard Mitter, Porsche 908/02

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Full house 1970, Porsche Carrera 6

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Today yawning emptiness and silence in between, only the crickets are making noise

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Same bend, same wall in 1953: Juan Manuel Fangio, third in a Maserati A6 GCS

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Same curve from the driver's perspective today

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Counter shot: The steep incline is followed by the pit lane (today the regular lane downhill)

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Start and finish area ca. mid-twenties

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1930: Busy times in the pits: Achille Varzi, Alfa Romeo P2

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1958: Luigi Musso/Olivier Gendebien, Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (see also picture 23)

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1965: Bob Bondurant/John Withmore, Ford GT40 Roadster

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1967: Two-time Nürburgring surprise winner Chaparral did not shy away from the Targa. Ludovico Scarfiotti (right) looks skeptical

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Counter shot pit lane today: Mercedes with Volkswagen Golf in slipstream overtakes tractor

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1958: Luigi Musso/Olivier Gendebien, Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (see also picture 19). Audience directly behind the crash barrier

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The former pit lane, now a downhill lane, is raised above the track

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1955: Peter Collins/Stirling Moss, Mercedes 300 SLR

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1965: Local hero and principal Nino Vaccarella, Ferrari 275 P2, approaching the pits

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1965: Nino Vaccarella/ Lorenzo Bandini, Ferrari 275 P2, departure from the pits, heading for victory

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Back to the present, thoughtful onward journey towards Cerda...

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...like 1955 Mercedes, with Ferrari breathing down its neck

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But wait: something urges us to turn back. Wasn't there something else at the pit building?

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Of course, an Alfa Romeo lettering on a tattered tarpaulin

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Weathering art?

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And what do we have here?

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A Cavallino rampante

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But now we are definitely leaving the historical Lost Place and continuing on the SS120 (Strada statale) towards Cerda

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Driving in its most beautiful form

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The vast hilly landscape of the Madonie (now a nature park)

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Narrow through roads

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Road conditions like in the 1920s

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At kilometer 17...

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...a long abandoned cottage of the national road maintenance service

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The encouraging forza could not prevent the nostalgia trip from having to be cut short due to a road closure. Early return to Cefalù on the highway back to the present

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Summary

In 1906, the first race took place in Sicily in the mountainous region of Madonie to the east of Palermo. The "Targa Florio" became a great classic of international sports car racing. This article juxtaposes historical images with current ones taken in 2025 on a tour of the legendary route that was shortened considerably due to road closures.

This article contains the following chapters

Ready, steady, go!
All quiet and deserted

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

In 1906, the first race took place in Sicily in the Madonie mountains east of Palermo, founded by 23-year-old Vincenzo Florio, the great shipping and wine-growing entrepreneur from Palermo, who also raced himself. The "Targa Florio" became a great classic of international sports car racing. In May 2025, the author was able to explore parts of the legendary route on a tour that was greatly shortened due to road closures, taking some current pictures that are juxtaposed with historical images in the picture gallery. Vincenzo Florio (1883-1959) was closely involved in the early European racing scene. The French automobile and racing promoter and journalist Charles Faroux from the newspaper "L' Auto" had suggested a race in Sicily, which was to be increasingly discovered by tourists - a country that still had hardly any roads.

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