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Dominic's Auto Museum
One man's passionate quest to survey finest motorcars in the world

#0032 - Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta Corsa, Mille Miglia (Biondetti) / Le Mans (Chinetti), 1949

Photographed: Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, 2009. Owner: Robert M. Lee

Superlatives Fall Like Rain in April: So what we've got here is style that formed a new sports car mould—a mature ala spessa effort penned by Touring's Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni that picked up exactly where the aerodynamic pre-War Alfa Romeo cars left off. We've got a sports-car package that immediately won some of the toughest, most prestigious endurance events—this very car here won the Mille Miglia with Clemente Biondetti, the Le Mans 24 Hours with Luigi Chinetti, and the 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps with Luigi Chinetti and Jean Lucas. And, of course, we've retrospectively identified the start of the most venerated sporting enterprise in automotive history—quite seriously, the formative experience of the Ferrari romance not so much seeded, but exploded into prominence with this one automobile.

In the meantime, journalist Giovanni Canestrini gave the motoring world (not just his country) a new automotive term, Barchetta, or "little boat," in order to best describe the shape and form.

Stylistically: The Touring Barchetta is linked to many prominent classic and vintage cars, beginning with the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Touring of the late forties, itself a luxurious development of competition Alfa Romeo cars from the pre-War era such as the 6C 2500 SS Aerodynamic Competition Berlinetta of 1939. Particular cues taken from the post-War 6C 2500 SS range from the headlamps, which feature a wrapped under treatment flowing into a body crease along the flank, to the elegant rounded tail, incorporating that same panel crease in the process of tidying up a posture that, in this new era, is more elegant for being shortened than for being lengthened.

The Stabilimenti Farina designed Cisitalia 202 is a similar effort that appeared a few years prior to Touring's 166—though the 202 and 166 are contemporaries, the latter spent its early days in a more conventional form, looking something like a cigar with cycle fenders. On the heels of the Italian efforts, Aston Martin burst back on the scene with David Brown's first concerted go-getter, the DB-2. The design of the DB-2 followed Touring's lead very closely, though the motor was the conventional part, a twin-cam straight 6-cylinder sourced from Lagonda, which Brown had acquired for this very purpose.

As for the Ferrari application, the 166 and its next of kin took other forms thanks to the talents of Touring's famous carosserie competition—most notably Vignale and Pinin Farina—closed competition and GT versions included, and would go on to further successes in the decade's great races. From this auspcious start, the capacity of Gioacchino Colombo's V-12 would steadily increase, and the romance would flourish.

Motor Numerology: Hang on, we're about to digress... Colombo's small capacity V-12 began with the 125, then became the 1,992cc 166. Following that, the 195, 212, and 225 emerged, each one taking a number of beautiful competition and grand touring forms before the ultimate iteration arrived, the 250. Along this journey, designs by Aurelio Lampredi interjected the original Colombo plan, resulting in the big block 375 that took Le Mans in 1954, as well as the Formula 2 straight 4-cylinder that would power Alberto Ascari to two World Championships before becoming the first Testa Rossa. On top of this, Vittorio Jano would chip in help on the Dino V-6 project. All of this came to pass before the close of the decade, and all of this I mention just to stress the variety of powerplants that went into Ferrari cars.

At the same time, it can't be said that development wasn't important, and this aspect of competitive motoring was well established with the Colombo motor. As related by Gianni Rogliatti, "If we examine the project for the V-12 engine and the way it was then developed, we see how the modifications made to the original 1,500cc engine, with a power of just over 100 horsepower, ended by doubling the cylinder capacity... with the result that the aspirated version developed three times as much power as the original." We should note that, in the process, no external changes were made to the engine—that is to say that a V-12 in the 166 is actually the same size block as a 250 V-12. The changes were strictly internal, and Colombo's original design was intentionally simple to take advantage of the opportunity for increases in capacity. We should also remember that even though the 250 is widely associated with the Testa Rossa of the late fifties, the 250 first appeared back in 1952, with drawings for the ultimate increase in capacity dating from 1951, very soon in the development life cycle. From there on, improving this genetic strain was simply a matter of changing how the motor feasted on fuel and air.

Beyond planning, and there may be suspicion over this claim, Ferrari also minded material development as well. "Enzo Ferrari paid particular attention to technological advances, especially materials used for the bearings, the pistons, valves, and light alloys, which enabled engine power to be increased. He even wanted to write a book on the subject but never managed to find the time." Stories of what people refer to derisively as cheap Russian steel threaten to demean this interest in material strength. But, at the very least, it was decided from the very start to do things like machine crankshafts from single pieces of cylindrical steel, and Ferrari were long famous for having their hands in the alloy, mixing it in vats on the factory floor well into and through the modern, mechanized changes to car the assembly process.

What's So Great?: A sufficient amount of nonsense dispensed with, we can now conclude that this 166 MM Barchetta is about 8 years from becoming a full-on Testa Rossa—the V-12, of course, and not the 2-litre Lampredi straight four. But between the two, and including everything in the middle, the Ferrari formula will not change. Things really won't shake up very much until the GTO, when external forces will force Il Commendatore to become more adventurous with engineering projects. This difference in the simplicity of the first decade's Ferrari car, ending perhaps with the 250 Testa Rossa, and the next generation of cars from the GTO onward is key to understanding the unabashed hot-rod nature of the vintage Ferrari, versus the well informed adaptive quality of the later cars.

To be more specific, by the 1960s, Ferrari road cars were keen to take advantage of expanding markets, particular in the U.S. where dear old Luigi Chinetti—twice winner in this very 166 Barchetta—is the importer representing the firm. On the competition end, Ferrari design is now informed by the competition in a way that hadn't happened before. No longer could the red cars simply out-muscle the competition, whether in large or small capacity categories. Braking technology, chassis technology, and most important of all, the location of the motor all went down to external pressures. Forging ahead meant adapting, and all of that is well and good but, again, the difference with the 166 is that it forged its own path according to Ferrari's untainted way of attacking motorsport. And that, in a nutshell, is what's so great about this little Barchetta.

Sources:

Ferrari, Design of a Legend: The Official History and Catalog, 1990, Gruppo Editoriale, Ferrari Technology by Gianni Rogliatti, p.212-223

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, The Little Boat that Made Ferrari by David N. Seilstad, sourced from 2009 Concours d'Elegance Program, p.110-113

 

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