One to Buy: ex-Porfirio Rubirosa / Fernand Tavano 1953 Ferrari 166 Mille Miglia / 53
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Although Ferrari’s legendary Gioacchino Colombo-designed V12 started life with a displacement of 1496cc in 1948, by the end of that year it had been enlarged to 1995cc (166cc per cylinder).
In two-litre trim, the Colombo engine was capable of outright victories at the highest level, even when up against machinery with much larger capacity motors.
While Ferrari naturally followed suit and created ever bigger, more powerful engines, the company’s 166 models remained hugely sought after as the under two-litre class became popular in its own right.
Arguably the most successful of these 166 variants was the Mille Miglia built between 1948 and ‘50 which famously won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1949.
For 1953, the 166 Mille Miglia was revived with the revamped 166 MM/53 of which 13 were completed.
Set to go under the hammer at Gooding & Company’s London sale on September 1st is one of these 13 cars: chassis 0328 M / 0308 M.
Originally sold to infamous Dominican diplomat, amateur racing driver and international playboy, Porfirio Rubirosa, Ferrari immediately re-numbered the car as chassis 0050 M (the same number as Rubirosa’s older 166 Mille Miglia) presumably as a tax dodge.
Rubirosa only raced his blue and white Ferrari on one occasion (posting a DNF at the 1953 Reims 12 Hours), after which it returned to the factory where it was re-numbered again, this time as 0308 M.
The car was subsequently raced by Fernand Tavano, Jacques Coune and Serge Orban before being acquired by the current owner, Bernard Worth, in January 1960.
Since then, chassis 0328 M / 0308 M has remained in Mr Worth’s ownership and contested myriad events around Europe to include a brace of outings on the Mille Miglia retrospective.
