Tag Archives: 166 mm

166 MM Berlinetta Le Mans

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1950 Ferrari 166 MM Berlinetta Le Mans by Touring

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 19-20, 2022

Photo – Gooding & Company

Ferrari’s first cars were the 125 S and 159 S. After that, on the racing side, there was the 166 S and 166 MM. That makes this a very early, very valuable Ferrari. The 166 MM was built between 1948 and 1953, and it was a fairly high-volume model. Well, relatively anyway: 47 were built.

Of those, just five of those were Touring-bodied Berlinettas, which were introduced in 1950. Power is provided by a 2.0-liter V12 rated at about 170 horsepower. This is a car from 1950 with a five-speed. It meant business.

This model’s racing success was also serious. It was the only model to have ever won Le Mans, the Targa Florio, and the Mille Miglia. This car, confusingly serialed as 0066 M, was the last of the five built. It never took part in any of Europe’s grand races, but did take part in hillclimbs and road races in Europe before being imported to the U.S. in 1958.

It’s been with its current California-based owner since 2008 and it’s back at auction with an estimate of $5,500,000-$6,500,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

L’Uovo

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1950 Ferrari 166 MM/212 Export by Fontana

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-19, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

This early Ferrari is certainly a unique design. Check out how short that windshield is. Driving it has to feel as if you are just strapping yourself to an engine and hanging on for dear life. It sort of has a proto-pontoon fender look to it, but it all curves inward at the passenger compartment before the bobbed rear end. It’s aggressive, racy, and screams “competition Ferrari.”

This car was purchased new by the Marzotto brothers in Italy in 1950. It has serious competition history in period, including:

  • 1950 Targa Florio – DNF (with Umberto Marzotto)
  • 1950 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Umberto Marzotto and Franco Cristaldi)
  • 1951 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Giannino Marzotto and Marco Crosara)
  • 1952 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Guido Mancini and Adriano Ercolani)

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t super successful in it’s day, but it still ran at the biggest races in the world. After the 1950 racing season the car was rebuilt by Carrozzeria Fontana, with the body you see here having been constructed at that time. Dubbed “L’uovo,” or the egg, it was designed to be aerodynamic and light.

After the 1952 season, the original 166 MM engine was replaced by an engine from Ferrari’s newer 212 Export model, which would mean that it carries a 2.6-liter V-12, which makes 175 horsepower (though this is unclear from the catalog description). In 1953 the car made it’s way into Californian ownership. In 1986, an Italian buyer brought the car home from the U.S. and had it restored. Displayed infrequently, the car has competed in the modern Mille Miglia a few times in the last 20 years.

This one-off, big money Ferrari will go under the hammer next month. For more information, check out RM Sotheby’s site here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $4,500,000.

Ferrari 166 MM

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1950 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta by Touring

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 11, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

You’re looking at one of the earliest Ferraris. The 166 MM was one of the first Ferrari models – produced after only the 125 S, 159 S, 166 S, and the 166 Inter. The “MM” stood for “Mille Miglia”, the famous Italian road race that Ferrari won (actually finished 1-2) in 1949 with cars similar to this.

The cars are powered by a 2.0-liter V-12 making 140 horsepower. The Barchetta body is by Touring and, of Touring’s 25 Barchettas, this is #23. Only 32 166 MMs were built in total. One of the first owners of this car was a racing driver. And he took it racing. The competition history for this chassis includes:

  • 1951 Mille Miglia – 6th in class (with Eugenio Castelotti and Giuseppe Rota)
  • 1953 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Ambrogio Arosio and Italo Di Giuseppe)

In early 1954, the car was already owned by someone else and racing hard in the United States. It’s been a respected car in the collector community pretty much since, winning awards at Pebble Beach as early as 1979. It’s Ferrari Classiche certified and retains all of its major original components. A Ferrari 166 is a hard to come by, but must-have for any serious collector. This is a great example and it’s expected to bring between $8,000,000-$10,000,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of RM Sotheby’s lineup.

Update: Not sold.

Ferrari 166 MM/53

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1953 Ferrari 166 MM/53 Barquette by Oblin

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 7, 2014

1953 Ferrari 166 MM-53 Barquette by Oblin

The Ferrari 166 MM was the evolution of the Ferrari 166 S that was introduced for 1949. For 1953, Ferrari upgraded the 166 MM for one last go and called the limited run the 166 MM/53. That’s the history of the model name… let’s talk about this car.

Upon completion, chassis #0300M was sent to Vignale to be bodied. It left the factory as one of two 166 MM/53s bodied as a Vignale Berlinetta coupe. By May of 1953, the little coupe was screaming around Spa-Francorchamps, it’s 2.0-liter Colombo V-12 and its 154 horsepower echoing off the trees of the legendary circuit. After returning to Belgium at the beginning of 1954 (after racing in Brazil for a brief spell), the car was sent to Martial Oblin in Brussels to have a new body fitted.

The result is this sporty little barchetta – and the only Ferrari bodied by Oblin (it’s one of only three cars he bodied in total). The car competed successfully in races all over Europe after that. It has had many owners since and was completely restored in 2012 at a cost of over $400,000. This is one of 25 166 MMs built and one of 13 166 MM/53s built. I think that qualifies as rare – especially when it has one-off bodywork. It is expected to sell for between $4,000,000-$4,800,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Artcurial’s Retromobile sale.

Update: Not sold.