Can a tiny 1934 Fiat survive a 1000-mile drive on the twisty, mountainous roads of Northern California?

Luigi Silvestri, owner of the Silvestri Italian statuary company in Visitation Valley, bought the Fiat over 30 years ago because it was produced in the same year he was born. He spent many years restoring it, and finally, this year, he entered it in the California Mille.

You might have expected to see a flashy Alfa Romeo or Lancia rather than the Fiat Luigi chose. (Ferrari didn’t exist yet. In 1934, Enzo Ferrari was running the Alfa Romeo racing team.) But neither the Alfa Romeo nor the Lancia was representative of the time. They were made in small quantities for an elite market. Only Fiat was a mass-production car in Italy then.

Most families didn’t even have a car. Only a prosperous family would be lucky enough to have a car such as a Fiat Balilla. Odd name: balilla described a small boy enrolled in the Mussolini fascist youth organization of that time.

Although you might immediately think of a comparison with Hitler youth groups, this was a little different. Remember that the world was in the depths of a depression. For Italy, a country only unified 60 or so years before, it was a trying time. The disastrous alliance with Hitler was in the future. Before that happened, Italy got into trouble with an invasion of Ethiopia.

So a little drumming up of patriotism must have seemed appropriate. The result was a boys’ organization that mandated a uniform consisting of a black cloth shirt with black leather pants. The boy was then known as a “balilla.” It was considered cute enough for Fiat to take the name for their new model car. The Fiat Balilla model didn’t endure, but its successor, a really cute car with the happy nickname Topolino, or “little mouse,” lasted until 1955.

For the California Mille, Luigi’s Fiat was on the starting line, just as it might have been back in 1934 in Italy, ready to race 1000 miles. The motor of the Fiat has only 24 horsepower, and a maximum speed of about 65 miles per hour — downhill. Uphill in those cars meant downshifting and struggling at 10-20, maybe 30, miles per hour.

Luigi’s Fiat made it, and drove over the finish line at the Sonoma Mission Inn to the cheers of dozens of kids, assembled there to await the cars’ arrival.

There were many newer, faster cars — Alfa Romeos, Lancias, Jaguars and others. But none of those had a story to tell like Luigi’s diminutive Fiat.

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On Nob Hill for the Mille’s departure was an impressive display of luxury cars of the past. A panel of judges selected four of those cars in which they’d have liked to arrive on Nob Hill.

One of those was the 1936 Mercedes-Benz cabriolet owned by Ted Wuerthener of Los Altos. John & Lorraine Blackburn of Los Gatos won an award for their 1958 Jaguar XK150 drophead coupe. Jack Passey brought his 1932 Packard from Watsonville, and was honored, as was Luther Gentry from Belmont for his striking Pierce Arrow roadster.

Nob Hill Gazette publisher Lois Lehrman awarded each of the owners a special bottle of George Unti’s Syrah from Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Valley. Her fellow judges included auto designer Tom Matano of the Academy of Art University, Fairmont Hotel manager Francisco Gomez, British car importer Kjell Qvale, and lifelong San Francisco car aficionado Sid Colberg.

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The Mille, San Francisco’s annual 1000 mile vintage race car drive, toured Pt. Reyes, Sears Point, Mendocino and Ferndale for four days, winding up at the Sonoma Mission Inn. The participants enjoyed wines from many Dry Creek wineries during their California stay. This is a continuation of a new “tradition,” serving only wines from one growing area each year. Local drivers and visitors were reminded how many great wineries are found in an area like Dry Creek.

Ever Drive a Truck?

When we do the Mille, we have two mechanics follow in pickup trucks, to perform emergency repairs. This gave me a chance to inspect and drive a modern pickup.

We had Dodge Dakota V8 pickups, very handsomely turned out, with leather upholstery, all the normal passenger car accessories, chrome wheels, and deep, rich paint. The price stickers said $29,000; actual transaction prices are likely to be lower, making these quality vehicles quite a bargain.

Seeing them on the road, easily keeping up with Ferraris and Jaguars showed how able and civilized modern pickups have gotten. These Dodges are mid-sized, handy in traffic and agile on the road. They had little jump seats behind the front seats, and 1⁄2-sized rear doors for access. Very accommodating.

Sound systems, climate controls and all the other creature comforts are equal to what you’d expect in top quality passenger cars. It’s nice to know that if you ever need the utility of a truck, you won’t have to forego comfort.