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La Souveraine
193
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Harald BORNEMANN (20th–21st century), Ferrari 166 Barchetta …
See original version (French)
193
-
Harald BORNEMANN (20th–21st century), Ferrari 166 Barchetta …
See original version (French)
Estimate €60 - €80
Voluntary lot
Description
Harald BORNEMANN (20th–21st century), Ferrari 166 Barchetta Touring, Pop Art silkscreen print, signed and numbered “32/35” in the bottom left-hand margin - 100 x 70 cm (paper warped at the bottom, small stains in the margins)
COMMENT: Quite simply, this is the car that gave rise to the Ferrari legend. Its name says it all: ‘166’ for the displacement of each cylinder in the 2-litre Colombo V12 (approximately 1,995 cm³, or 166 cm³ × 12), and ‘MM’ for Mille Miglia, in tribute to the 166 S’s victory in the race in 1948. The 166 MM cemented its legacy the following year: victory at the 1949 Mille Miglia, followed — the masterstroke — by victory at the 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans with Luigi Chinetti, who drove for nearly twenty-three hours out of twenty-four, alongside Lord Selsdon. This was Ferrari’s first victory at Le Mans, the one that definitively put the fledgling marque on the world map.
And then there is the bodywork. The most famous version is the barchetta by Touring Superleggera — indeed, it is said that the term ‘barchetta’ (little boat) was coined by Gianni Agnelli specifically for this model. A lightweight tubular frame clad in aluminium, perfect proportions, flanks carved by a single rib: a design of absolute purity that would influence decades of roadsters, right up to the AC Ace and, by extension, the Cobra. Only around thirty Touring barchette were produced, along with a few berlinettas and Vignale or Zagato bodywork variants — the total production run of the 166 MM amounted to just a few dozen units.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits:
The Sovereign
See original version (French)
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