www.QV500.com - Ferrari 166 Part 2: 159 Sport
 

159 Sport chassis 002 C - 1947 Turin GP		 It soon became apparent to Ferrari that although his 125 was a very impressive race car, it would need more power to remain in contention for race honours during 1948. But the nature of Colombo's fabulous V12 allowed displacement to be continually increased and thus, by late 1947, Ferrari were able to run a new 1902.8cc engine. Bore rose to 59mm (up from 55mm) while stroke was also increased to 58mm from 52.5mm. The 125 Sport's set of three Weber 30 DCF carburettors were retained and the compression ratio marginally decreased (down to 8.5:1), this in an attempt to improve engine longevity.
   
Output was 7bhp up on earlier Super Sport engines with 125bhp being produced at 7000rpm. Ferrari ran two 159's during late 1947, chassis’ 02 C (the upgraded 125) and a new scratch built example, chassis 002 C. It was this later chassis that brought Ferrari his first international race victory when, in October of 1947, Raymond Sommer won the Turin Grand Prix. Only one 159 was ever constructed from scratch and although chassis 02 C (originally the second Tipo 125 car) was upgraded to 159 specification in 1947, it is not included in the Tipo 159 chassis listing as it retained its original chassis number during this period. However, when chassis 02 C was subsequently modified to 166 Spyder Corsa specification (along with 01 C), the chassis number was changed to 020 I, suggesting re-manufacture rather than a simple upgrade job. Similarly, chassis 002 C retained its original number when upgraded to 166 Spyder Corsa and is consequently still regarded as a 159 even though it now has a 166 specification engine and Motto Barchetta bodywork.

Ferrari 159 Sport Chassis Index
 
002 C 1947 Turin GP 1st, South American race history, re-bodied by Motto as a Barchetta in 1950