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To commemorate their first major success at the prestigious 1948 Mille Miglia, Ferrari upgraded their sucessfull design and made a series of cars called the 166 MM. These contributed more than any other previous type, scoring many of Ferraris first international victories and established the company as a serious manufacturer of sports cars.

For their new series, Ferrari outsourced production of the bodies to specialist companies like Touring of Milan who made almost 25 roadsters using their patented Superleggera technique. It fixed aluminum-alloy panels directly to a tubular space frame which was both light and rigid. Touring's roadster was the first to be nicknamed the Barchetta (Italian for little boat) and afterwards other chassis and bodies of similar shape adopted this name.

Ferrari's first coupes were built on these chassis, the very first of which was a very unique Zagato Panoramica Speciale built on chassis #0018. It was followed up three Touring Berlinettas made for the 1950 LeMans.

With its lightweight body, the 166 MM became Ferraris most potent sports car. It was based on the same chassis that Ferrari debuted years earlier, but featured an upgraded V12 engine, capable of 140 bhp. Combined with a durable chassis that had an independent front suspension, both factory and independent drivers raced these cars to many victories.

Luigi Chinetti scored the most famous of these victories when he raced 23 out of the 24 hours at LeMans to score Ferrari's first overall win. To comply with the regulations, Lord Selsdon only raced an hour. The very same car, chassis 0008M, also won the 1949 Mille Miglia with Clemente Biondetti and Ettore Salani, making it one of the most significant, and may be the single most important single car in Ferrari history.

After his victory at LeMans, Chinetti went into business with Ferrari and became his North American Importer. In the US, he setup the North American Racing Team (NART) which supported many important Ferrari race efforts in the US and abroad. 0008 went on to win a number of less significant victories and, in more recent times, has been restored to its 1949 LeMans-winning guise with #22 plastered all over its burgundy body.

The 166 series was built quite successfully up until 1953. Afterwards, it was outclassed by Ferrari's that used Lampredi's long block engine, including two prototype 275 S cars that led to the 340 America series. However, for privateers, Ferrari enlarged the 166 engine, and the 166MM evolved into 212 Export.

Story by Richard Owen for Supercars.net