Ferrari 166 MM/212 Export Uovo by Fontana
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Car producer : |
Ferrari |
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Model: |
166 MM/212 Export Uovo by Fontana |
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Year: |
1950 |
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Type: |
Coupe |
The Ferrari 166 S was an evolution of Ferrari's 125 S sports race car that became a sports car for the street in the form of the 166 Inter. Only 39 Ferrari 166 S's were produced, soon followed by the production of the 166 Mille Miglia (MM) which was made in much larger numbers from 1949 to 1952. The 166 MM were in fact updated 166 S and were the cars that score many of Ferrari’s first international victories and made Ferrari a serious competitor on the racing industry. It shared its Aurelio Lampredi-designed tube frame and double wishbone/live axle suspension with the 125. Like the 125, the wheelbase was 2420 mm long. 39 examples were produced from its introduction at the Turin Motor Show in 1948 to its retirement in 1950. It was replaced by the 2.3 L 195 S in 1950. The first 166 Inter was designed by Touring's chief stylist, Carlo Anderloni. 166 S competition models were generally coach built by Carrozzeria Allemano.
The 1.5 L Gioacchino Colombo-designed V12 engine of the 125 was changed, however, with single overhead camshafts specified and a larger 2.0 L (1995 cc/121 in³) displacement. This was achieved with both a bore and stroke increase, to 60 by 58.8 mm respectively. Output was 110 to 140 hp (82 to 104 kW) at 6,000 rpm with one to three carburettors.
The earliest Ferrari 125 S examples wore coachwork that was almost monoposto in style, being slightly revised with cycle-wing fenders for the initial 166 Spider Corsas. On September 14, 1948, Ferrari used the Torino Motor Show to debut the 166 MM, a more becoming version of the 166 with new barchetta coachwork by Touring of Milan.
Motor Trend Classic named the 166 MM Barchetta as number six in their list of the ten "Greatest Ferraris of all time".
The Ferrari 212 Export was a sports racing car produced by Ferrari in 1951 to replace the 195 S. It had a shorter wheelbase than the road-oriented Ferrari 212 Inter model, which was a Grand tourer.
The Colombo engine used in the Export had an 8.0:1 compression ratio, up from the 7.5:1 ratio used in the Inter. Customers who wanted the Export to be a faster GT than the Inter ordered the engine with one Weber 36 DCF carburetor, which would give a power output of 150hp (112 kW) at 6000 rpm. Most Exports were used in competition and were fitted with a more complicated setup with three Weber 32 DCF carburetors, yielding a power output of 175hp (130 kW; 177 PS) at 6500 rpm.
In 1951, 212 Exports took the first three places in the Tour de France automobile racing event and won the Giro di Sicilia and the Giro di Toscana motor races.
With only about 100 models of the 212 produced, production was divided up into competition-ready Export models, which sported even-numbered chassis, and road going Inter models, which received odd-numbered chassis. Towards the end of the production run, some of these 212 models carried the chassis number suffix “EU,” which stood for Europa. Numerous coachbuilders would be commissioned to clothe the 212 chassis and engine, but none were more distinctive than those bodied by Vignale.
