Sir Stirling Moss met celebrity chef James Martin, who will be among 24 British teams taking part in the Mille Miglia cavalcade of valuable and prestigious cars.

The 1,000-mile route, from Brescia to Rome is one Sir Stirling knows well, having established the record on it, travelling at 97.96 mph in 1955.

Now the race is more of a procession of prestige cars, such as Bentleys favoured by luxury car hire customers.

Martin will be driving his £1 million 1948 Maserati, and to make sure there are no unexpected hitches or damage to the car, he has hired three mechanics to follow him and the A6GCS, which originally competed in the Mille Miglia.

His co-driver will be Sarah Bennet-Baggs, who competes in the Porscche Club Championships in a Porsche 911 painted pink.

Mika Hakkinen is expected to be taking part behind the wheel of a Mercedes 300SL Gran Turismo.

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