Flashback Friday from December 1997

1949 Ferrari 166MM “Barchetta” [chassis 0010M] with coachwork by Touring of Milan that I was working on about 23 years ago.

This was part of the teardown pictures I took. Although the 166MM had been restored twice prior it had been heavily used (and loved) for years. One interesting note about the chassis was that it was still bent — either when it crashed (but still won) the 1949 24hr race at Spa or when it had an encounter at Pebble Beach with a telephone pole (Jim Kimberly in May 1951) when racing. All the coachwork over the decades since had been repaired/modified to fit the non-straightened chassis. First order of business was to get the chassis correct and proper. And then to refit (and repair/restore) the aluminum skin to fit.

Inevitably everyone in the metal shaping community gets excited by making aluminum coachwork panels unfortunately without understanding of the structure within to properly support and attach it. Study the pictures as one can see the internal tubular structure and framework of the “Superleggera” construction by Touring of Milan. What they created and constructed has lasted for decades and definitely worth the study thereof in itself.