1900cc, inline four-cylinder, individual throttle bodies, 290 HP. If this all sounds like music to your ears then take a seat and let us serenade you. For those of you that fondly remember ’90s touring cars, as we most certainly do, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the Peugeot Mi16 Super Turismo – one of the most revered racers to ever clip an apex. Well, we have one, and we took it to Imola at the weekend as part of one of Italy’s most acclaimed motorsport events: the Historic Minardi Day.
It’s a special car in any country but specifically in Italy where it won the Italian GT Championship in 1992 at the hands of Fabrizio Giovanardi, and it returned there to add to the echoes of the past by screaming around the track at Imola, representing not only a bygone golden era or motor racing, but also our commitment to preserving the future of historic motorsport.
A continuous parade of affectionate enthusiasts flooded to the Car & Classic stand to pay homage to this legendary beast and its pure ’90s soundtrack that sent fans of the period into rapture. The car may be based upon a “quiet family saloon” but aside from the car’s silhouette, everything else has been built to go fast and every facet of the Peugeot evokes those unforgettable battles of the ’90s, when drivers ran elbow to elbow, everyone was against everyone and rubbing was most certainly racing.
The car, which still wears its perfectly maintained period livery, was restored in 2020 in the UK by Owens Fabrication. Augmented by many carbon fibre parts the car faithfully presents as it did back in the ’90s when Giovanardi, one of the most acclaimed characters of that spectacular decade, was at the helm and it performs today just as well as it did back then.
Despite the oppressive heat of the weekend (41 degrees!) the car expertly made multiple outings of more than 20 minutes each, with our founder Tom Wood – who was racing at the Historic Minardi day for the first time – behind the wheel. The sound of those four intake butterflies, which from 6,000 rpm onwards are all on song, coupled with the sight of such an historic car going full send on circuit, was quite the experience. Not just for us but for the enthusiastic crowd too.
Beginning in 2016 and always organized by the Minardi family (yes, that Minardi, the ones that owned the famous F1 team for over 20 years until 2006), this edition of the Historic Minardi Day was a record one. An impressive 17,000 enthusiasts gathered at the revered circuit, keen to not miss the opportunity to enjoy a whole host of legendary racing cars of the past and their drivers up close and personal. The public filled the paddocks, the box and the terrace over the track to admire the machinery on display, with a total of 560 cars covering over 36 years of World F1 Championships and nearly half a century of motorsport.
In particular, a record attendance was registered for the historic Formula 1 cars that warmed the hearts of fans both in the pits and during the five rounds on track, starting with the 1975 Embassy Hill GH2 – a unique car – up to the two ex-Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello Williams FW33s from 2011, to mention just a few. There have also been numerous book presentations and conferences on the topic, as well as several exciting moments, including the delivery of the 3rd “Nando Minardi Memorial” to Frits Vaan Eerd, a friend and major collector of Minardi F1 cars.
This eighth edition was inaugurated by Gian Carlo Minardi with the 1968 G4 Ginetta driven by the former Minardi driver Roberto Farneti, who started the 15 daily lap sessions that saw on track the many extraordinary historic racing cars. Many major Italian teams also took part, including Scuderia del Portello, Scuderia Tazio Nuvolari and Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo. There were also more modern offerings such as the Pagani Huayra Roadster BC, Lamborghini-Urus and Dallara Stradale, all adding to the excellent mix of machinery. The paddock was further enriched by the presence of the Pagani Zonda S, Pagani Zonda F and Pagani Utopia. Last but not least, there was a gathering of classic road cars, too, with 123 examples taking to the track on Sunday.
You can enjoy a few videos from the event on our Instagram page (@carandclassic) as souvenirs to make the wait for next year’s edition – which takes place on September the 13th and 14th – less of a blow. Get it in your diaries folks!