Guide: Little Big One - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the Ferrari 166 Mille Miglia
BACKGROUND
Following Ferrari’s successful debut campaign as a manufacturer in 1947, the Maranello firm headed into the 1948 season with an enlarged two-litre engine to replace the 1.5 and 1.9-litre units used thus far.
This 166 engine (once again named on account of each cylinder’s unitary capacity) was initially used in a brace of new two-seat models dubbed the 166 Sport and 166 Spyder Corsa.
The 166 Sport came with fully enveloped bodywork and three examples were built. The first two were successfully raced while the third arrived later in 1948 and served as a prototype for a future Ferrari road car (what became the 166 Inter).
By contrast, the 166 Spyder Corsa was sold as a dual purpose model which, with its cycle-winged fenders and headlights removed, was also eligible to race in monoposto-type events. Seven were built and Ferrari’s existing trio of cars used in 1947 were also brought up to this latest specification (although not all with the latest generation bodywork).
Together, these 166-engined Ferraris delivered a plethora of impressive results during 1948. Perhaps most notably, the 166 Sport won the Giro di Sicilia and Mille Miglia while the 166 Spyder Corsa took victory in the Paris 12 Hour race at Montlhery. In terms of major international sports car events, only the Spa 24 Hours (won by Aston Martin) failed to go Ferrari’s way.
Heading in to 1949, when the Le Mans 24 Hours would return to the calendar, Enzo Ferrari decided to refresh his product line with two new offerings, both of which would continue to use the by now well-proven two-litre engine.
At the Paris Motor Show in October 1948, the 166 Inter was unveiled which had been conceived as Ferrari’s first model intended primarily for road use. It followed the aforementioned prototype of the Inter series based on a 166 Sport (chassis 005 S) which had been displayed at the Turin Motor Show three weeks prior.
Alongside 003 S in Turin (the Maranello company’s first appearance at a motor show), Ferrari had also taken the wraps off an even more exciting machine: the 166 Mille Miglia.
Named in honour of Clemente Biondetti’s victory on the 1000-mile dash from Brescia, down to Rome and back again earlier in the year, the 166 Mille Miglia became the car of choice for anyone wishing to compete at the top level of international sports car racing. However, it could also be configured in slightly more comfortable Lusso trim for those buyers who simply wanted the ultimate road car of its day. A little less than a quarter of cars were completed as such.
CHASSIS
Although based upon another tubular steel frame manufactured at Gilco Autotelai in Milan, the 166 Mille Miglia differed from those Ferraris that came before on account of its significantly reduced wheelbase which was shortened to just 2200mm in the interests of weight-saving, improved handling and increased rigidity.
For comparison, this represented a 220mm reduction over the standard 166 Spyder Corsa and a massive 420mm compared to the 166 Sport.
As before, independent front suspension was via double wishbones and a single transverse leaf spring. Similarly, the back end used a live axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and an anti-roll bar.
Hydraulic Houdaille shock absorbers were fitted all round along with single-circuit drum brakes.
Centre-lock 5.5 x 15-inch Borrani wire wheels shod with Pirelli Cinturato tyres were fitted as standard. Track dimensions (50mm wider at the front axle) were carried over from the 166 Sport.
At 90-litres, the rear-mounted fuel tank was the biggest fitted thus far to a Ferrari.
ENGINE / TRANSMISSION
The 166 Mille Miglia was the third Ferrari to use a two-litre version of the Gioacchino Colombo-designed 60° V12. These wet-sump engines featured a light alloy block and head with hemispherical combustion chambers and a single chain-driven overhead camshaft for each bank of cylinders. Ignition was by a single spark plug per cylinder and two Marelli magnetos.
Compared to the old 1.9-litre 159 engine used in late 1947, the 166 motor featured cylinder bores enlarged by 1mm (from 59mm to 60mm) and a 0.8mm longer stroke (extended from 58 to 58.8mm). Overall displacement was 1995cc which represented a 92cc gain over the 159 engine.
The standard configuration for a 166 Mille Miglia engine comprised a 10.0:1 compression ratio and three downdraught Weber 32 DCF carburettors.
Peak output was a quoted 140bhp at 6600rpm.
A handful of cars destined either for Scuderia Ferrari or special customers variously ran higher compression ratios and even bigger 36 DCF carbs for nearer 150bhp.
Alternatively, if a customer was ordering his or her 166 Mille Miglia exclusively for road use, a single 36 DCF carburettor could be ordered and in this configuration the Colombo motor put out closer to 130bhp.
Regardless of which state of tune the engine came in, it was always mounted in unit with a Ferrari-designed five-speed manual gearbox with transmission through a single dry-plate clutch and open differential.
BODYWORK
In a fashion typical of the era, 166 Mille Miglia buyers could have their car equipped with bodywork designed by any of the myriad coachbuilders that existed in Europe at the time. However, despite such a wide potential choice of body builders, all but two of the new cars built to 166 Mille Miglia were clothed by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan.
As for the other pair, one each emerged from the workshops of Zagato (Milan) and Vignale (Turin).
TOURING COACHWORK
In addition to its popular Spyder, Berlinetta and Coupe designs that came to characterise Ferrari’s of this period, Touring of Milan utilised a patented Superleggera assembly technique that involved a structural framework of small diameter steel tubes which conformed to the body shape which was then covered by an aluminium outer skin.
Both Touring’s Spyder and Berlinetta designs followed a similar approach with fully integrated yet semi-pontoon front fenders, massive primary nose intakes, a delicate swage line down each flank and short overhangs at either end.
The Berlinetta was draped in a fixed head Fastback body that featured a proper split glass windscreen and semi-pontoon rear fenders while the open version came with no weather protection, a simplified tail design and just a single or twin aero screen. The aero screens themselves varied from car-to-car depending if the customer’s intention was to compete. If not, heavier duty chrome shrouds were used in conjunction with larger screens to give an extra degree of protection from the elements.
ZAGATO COACHWORK
The solitary Berlinetta commissioned from Zagato of Milan followed a broadly similar approach to that of a fixed head Touring machine but in not quite such a well resolved manner. The one-of-one chassis 0018 M featured a less intricately contoured body than Touring’s efforts, but notably featured more expansive window treatment hence its subsequent ‘Panoramica’ nickname.
VIGNALE COACHWORK
Arguably the most modern-looking 166 Mille Miglia was the single machine to emerge from Vignale’s studio on chassis 0062 M. This five window Coupe commissioned for road use featured flatter front fender and hood integration, a single-piece windscreen and slightly more elaborate use of brightwork in a taste of what was to come as Vignale’s increasingly avant garde designs briefly became very popular during the early 1950s.
INTERIOR
In line with the 166 Mille Miglia’s competition-bred nature, interior fixtures and fittings were sufficient for long distance racing but still fairly spartan.
Each car came with a handsome wood-rimmed steering wheel that featured a trio of un-vented polished aluminium spokes. Behind this was a dash that typically featured a quintet of instruments although the layout of said gauges could be tailored according to the customer’s preference.
The ‘standard’ configuration comprised a large centrally mounted 8000rpm rev counter flanked on either side by a pair of stacked read outs for oil pressure, oil temperature, fuel and water temperature. Some cars also came with a speedometer, some featured a side-by-side layout and others featured large combined gauges for the normally smaller supplementary dials.
If a particular car was destined for competition use, upholstery was typically kept to a minimum with just the bucket seats trimmed in leather and the dash left in body coloured metal. At the other end of the scale, some cars ordered for road use came with the dash and leading edge of the rear cockpit section along with the inner doors and the gear gaiter trimmed in leather. Carpeted floors were also available for the most refined driving experience possible.
OPTIONS
Practically every aspect of the 166 Mille Miglia’s design was customisable given sufficiently deep pockets. This extended to the body and trim, the interior equipment, the engine’s state of tune plus the gearbox and rear axle ratios.
WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE
If equipped with Spyder bodywork, a 166 Mille Miglia tipped the scales at around the 750kg mark with Berlinetta variants typically around 25kg heavier.
Depending on gearing, a top speed in the region of 145mph was possible along with a 0-62mph time of a little under six seconds.
PRODUCTION CHANGES
Considering the 166 Mille Miglia’s coachbuilt nature along with the rapid evolution of motor sport at the time, it was no surprise that most cars differed in detail from one another.
In terms of the Touring-bodied cars that made up the bulk of the production run, differences could be found in terms of the hood length, general body contours, headlights, grille treatment (slatted or egg-crate), cooling solutions (particularly with regard to the hood), horn grilles, indicators and fuel filler caps (exposed or concealed). Some cars also came with leather retaining straps for the hood.
PRODUCTION RUN
The first 166 Mille Miglia (chassis 0002 M) was completed in September 1948 ahead of its debut at that month’s Turin Motor Show. The last examples rolled out of Maranello in July 1950.
In total, 33 cars could lay claim to 166 Mille Miglia status.
Of these, three were converted to 195 Sport trim prior to delivery (0026 M, 0038 M and 0060 M) and one was converted from a 166 Spyder Corsa (re-numbered 0012 M from 008 I).
With this in mind, as few as 29 cars could also be considered the true production number.
Ferrari introduced a second generation 166 Mille Miglia for 1953 which was variously dubbed the Series 2 and 166 MM/53.
COMPETITION HISTORY
The 166 Mille Miglia went on to have an enormously successful career and was a frequent winner of major international events despite the opposition normally having much bigger engines.
Although only around a quarter of the eventual production run had been completed by the end of the 1949 season, the 166 Mille Miglia played a vital part in helping Ferrari to its best campaign yet.
The 166 Mille Miglia’s three biggest victories of that year were undoubtedly at the Mille Miglia (Clemente Biondetti and Ettore Salani for Scuderia Ferrari), the Le Mans 24 Hours (Luigi Chinetti and Paul Mitchell-Thompson in Chinetti’s privateer example) and the Spa 24 Hours (Chinetti again, this time co-driven by Jean Lucas).
In addition, further victories were achieved at the Luxembourg Grand Prix (Luigi Villoresi for Scuderia Ferrari), the Coppa Adriatica at Senigallia (Franco Cornacchia in his privateer machine), the Circuito di Trieste (Cornacchia again) and the Coppa Gallenga (the Vermicino-Rocca di Papa Hillclimb where Giannino Marzotto for the Marzotto racing stable which would quickly become Ferrari’s biggest buyer of sports racing cars).
For 1950, Ferrari introduced a new big block V12 engine which was used on a couple of occasions and the 2.4-litre 195 Sport which replaced the 166 engine for most works entries and those of a couple of VIP customers such as the Marzotto brothers.
Nevertheless, more 166 Mille Miglias continued to emerge from the factory and the little two-litre car had another great season with outright wins at the Luxembourg GP and Silverstone International 1 Hour Trophy (both Alberto Ascari for Scuderia Ferrari), the Paris 12 Hours at Montlhery (Luigi Chinetti / Jean Lucas), the Coppa d’Oro della Dolomiti (Giannino Marzotto), the Circuito di Senigallia (Antonio Stagnoli), Mar del Plata (Carlos Menditeguy), the Corsa al Monte Pellegrino Hillclimb (Luigi Musso) and the Aosta-Gran San Bernardo Hillclimb (Antonio Stagnoli).
1951 saw the introduction of an even larger Colombo-engined Ferrari competition car, the 2.6-litre 212 Export, but the 166 Mille Miglia was still competitive in the popular under two-litre class where it continued to rack up a plethora of victories.
In terms of outright wins that year, the 166 Mille Miglia won the Coppa d'Oro di Sicilia, the Carese-Campo di Fiori Hillclimb and the Bolzano-Mendola Hillclimb (all thanks to Antonio Stagnoli whose car was now in Zagato Spyder trim). Perhaps most significantly, Giannino Marzotto and Marco Crosara took victory in that year’s Coppa della Toscana.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ferrari - https://www.ferrari.com
