1950 Ferrari 166MM Le Mans Berlinetta
Coachwork by Carrozzeria Touring
Chassis no. 0048

• The original and quintessential early 1950s privateer Ferrari racing car, the third in a series of five Touring 166 Le Mans Berlinettas
• Extensive period racing history including the Mille Miglia in 1951, 1952 and 1953
• Presented in original specification, Ferrari Classiche certified as ‘matching numbers’ chassis, body, engine and gearbox
• In superb driving and show condition, the ideal Mille Miglia entry
• Restored by Quality Cars in Italy, winner of the Judges Cup at the
• 2021 Concorso di Modena, otherwise unshown
• European registered

Ferrari 166 Le Mans Berlinetta chassis 0048 M was first registered in July 1950. The new owner was Angelo Biemmi of Iseo, Brescia. In March 1951 it passed to Luciano Masseroni of Milan, the son of Carlo Rinaldo Masseroni, a large-scale footwear manufacturer, president and owner of ‘Football Club Internazionale Milano’, commonly referred to as ‘Inter’. Some six weeks later, Masseroni Jnr and co-driver Riccardo Vignolo started the Mille Miglia. After 978 miles (1,574km) hard driving the pair finished a fine 3rd in the 2.0-litre sports car class, 21st overall.

Via Ferrari dealer Franco Cornacchia of Milan, the car passed swiftly through two owners hands before arriving in March 1952 with Milanese racing driver Bruno Moroni who, paired with Arturo Carta, started that year’s Mille Miglia but retired some way into the race. As on many occasions during this period it was entered under the banner of Cornacchia’s Scuderia Guastalla.

Mid-season the car was sold to Ferruccio Musitelli of Bergamo who, usually sharing it with his brother Giulio, raced the 166 MM with great success over the next two years. Giulio finished 3rd overall, 1st in class, at the September 1952, Coppa Intereuropa, Monza race and reprised the class win the following year, though the brothers’ entry on the 1953 Mille Miglia resulted in a DNF.

In February 1955 the car had a new owner, Adolfo Macchieraldo of Turin who sold it later that year, possibly via a third party, to Marcel Willemin of Geneva, Switzerland, where it was to stay until the mid-1990s. Willemin competed in the May 1955 Grand Prix de Spa sports car race where he and ‘0048 M’ finished 4th in class. It passed to fellow Geneva resident and Ferrari mechanic Edgar Jean-Mairet the following year.
The car was later bought by Jean-Pierre Zanchi of Lutry, and by the early 1970s it was in the grounds of Pierre de Siebenthal’s sprawling scrapyard facility near Lausanne among the dozens of projects. It was red, requiring restoration, with its original body, chassis, engine and gearbox.

Italian broker Emilio Comelli teased ‘0048 M’ from de Siebenthal in 1995, later selling it as a restoration project to German collector Friedhelm Loh who, after to a change of plans, sold it to the current owner’s father. Recognised experts Quality Cars of Padova (body, paint, interior) and Corrado Patella (Autofficina Omega of Vicenza, for all mechanical work) were entrusted with its complete restoration. Although the original colour is not listed on factory records, on preparing the bodywork Quality Cars found patches of blue underneath the red of metalwork that was remarkably complete, requiring little replacement. In a conversation with Angelo Biemmi’s family in 2025, they remember him owning at least two Ferraris, one of which was blue.

Once completed, the car went into storage, rarely used until 2021 when it was displayed at the Ferrari factory-supported Concorso di Modena and awarded the Judges Cup. In January 2024 it gained Ferrari Red Book certification confirming its matching body, chassis, engine and gearbox. The axle is of the correct type but not the one fitted to ‘0048 M’ from new. Carefully garaged and little used – barely 500km – since its comprehensive restoration 25 years ago, Ferrari 166 Le Mans chassis 0048 M has been rarely seen on the concours and events circuit.

Respected Ferrari mechanic Carlo Bonini remembers the car from his days as a young man at the factory. He summed this 166 MM Berlinetta up as “one for the true Ferrari connoisseur, a car that takes you to the beginning of the Ferrari era… you definitely feel like you're connecting with Enzo Ferrari; maybe he even touched it many years ago,” before continuing:
“If I had this car I would look at it every day like looking at a painting by a famous painter.” And drive it of course: with three period Mille Miglias under its belt acceptance to the modern retrospective event is a given. What will you be doing in Italy next summer?