www.QV500.com - Ferrari 166 Part 6: 166 Mille Miglia '53

As the accompanying chassis index clearly illustrates, six of the 13 Series II Mille Miglia's were clothed with Barchetta bodies by Vignale. These gorgeous vehicles all followed a similar theme with taught, shapely bodies and aggressive grille openings. Vignale clothed a further three as Berlinetta's that once again featured exotic, tightly wrapped bodies. One chassis, 0262 M, received a body by Abarth to a design that was clearly influenced by the Franco Scaglione (for Bertone) Abarth Biposto 1500 seen during March of 1952 at the Turin Salon. Featuring a similar central driving light with supplementary lenses on each front wing and two stylised radiator grilles in between, the ancestry of this design was clearly evident and would later be an inspiration for the trio of Alfa Romeo BAT cars designed, once again, by Bertone. This Abarth-bodied Mille Miglia was undoubtedly one of the most striking designs ever to have graced a Ferrari chassis, what a pity then that the original bodywork was removed during the 1950’s to be replaced with a Scaglietti shell. The final Series II 166 Mille Miglia (chassis 0346 M) was dressed by Pinin Farina who executed a design that was very much in keeping with their other work of the period. 13 Series II 166 Mille Miglia's were produced between late 1952 and mid 1953, this variant subsequently being replaced for the 1954 season by Ferrari's new 500 Mondial. The chassis numbers of the 13 '53 MM's are listed below, along with the original configurations:

166 Mille Miglia/53 Series II Chassis Index