Two of a kind
The four Marzotto brothers had a small amount of pocket money at their disposal, their grandfather Luigi had created a larger textile empire. And they also had a noble title. There was Vittorio, born in 1922 and second in the Mille Miglia in 1954, Umberto, born in 1926, actually the slowest, Gianni, born in 1928, who was the most successful of the brothers, winning the Mille Miglia in 1950 and 1953, in a Ferrari of course. In 1953, he and his brother Paolo came fifth in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, also in a Ferrari. Paolo, born in 1930, was also fast but couldn’t match Gianni. However, he was the owner of the Ferrari 166 MM with a Touring-Barchetta body and chassis number #0034M, which we would like to present here.
The vehicle was delivered on 8 March 1950. Marzotto sent the chassis to Carrozzeria Touring, and by the end of the month the 166 MM was wearing its new clothes – and the Count was able to drive #0034M in the Giro di Sicilia and then in the Mille Miglia, albeit without success. But there was a first victory as early as July, the Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti, followed by various places of honour and further trophies, including a 4th place at the Mille Miglia in 1951. In March 1953, Marzotto sold the Ferrari to Francesco Donato, who continued to race and gave #0034M a new Spyder body from Scaglietti; Francesco Buonaccorsi was the next owner from 1956.
And then there is a gap until 1970, when Corrado Cupellini appears on the scene. The Italian sold the car to Spain, to the nephew of the despotic General Franco, Nicolas Franco. But he sold the car’s papers to Italy – and there, probably ‘out of nothing’, a Vignale Spyder was built at Fantuzzi. With which the Italian Gnutti brothers compete several times in the new edition of the Mille Miglia. In Spain, the Ferrari goes to Juan Quintano, who in the early 90s orders a new body based on the original Touring Barchetta, also from Fantuzzi. And then regularly enters the vehicle in historic races.
Now the ‘Spanish’ 166 MM is coming up for auction at Bonhams in Paris in 2025, with an estimate of 4 to 6 million euros. Surprisingly, both stories come together in the auction house’s description, which also answers the question about any question marks. At least officially. And we are only silent observers here.
But there is another very detailed collection of these Ferrari 166s here.
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