Both Ferrari and Maserati cars are painted red. Though confusing for the viewer, this is historically accurate. At the time the film is set, cars were coloured according to nationality. Italian cars were red, French ones Blue, German ones White and British ones dark green.
For insurance reasons, Adam Driver wasn't permitted to drive any of the original classic race cars. Co-star Patrick Dempsey drove replicas of the open-topped cars, which offered no protection to the exposed drivers.
Due to the high death toll among both drivers and spectators, the 1957 Mille Miglia was the last in its original format. There had been 56 known deaths in 24 runnings (1927-1939 and 1947-1957), with 35 in the last ten years as the cars got faster. A safer version was held from 1958-1961, then the Mille Miglia was permanently cancelled. Since 1977, the Mille Miglia has been reborn as a regularity race for classic and vintage cars.
Christian Bale was cast in the lead role in late 2015, prompting a reunion with director Michael Mann after Public Enemies (2009), but dropped out because he didn't have enough time to gain the necessary weight for the role. Hugh Jackman was the first actor to replace Bale, until Adam Driver took over the role in January 2022.
Michael Mann had been trying to get the film made for 30 years. An article from 1993 reveals that Mann was developing this biopic with Robert De Niro attached to star, as his follow-up to The Last of the Mohicans (1992). Mann and De Niro ended up working together on Heat (1995).