Its about time I picked a nice red Ferrari...
Ferrari 166MM Barchetta
The 166 Mille Miglia was given the nickname Barchetta which is Italian for "little boat" by the Italian press upon its debut thanks to its striking appearance - allegedly the reported exclaimed "I'm stunned, for that is quite unsettling. That is not a car; it is absolutely new! That is a little boat--a barchetta!" The body was designed by Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni to meet Enzo Ferrari's demand that when these cars lined up that everyone know it was a Ferrari. The design would serve as the inspiration for cars such as AC's Ace and Cobra and Alfa Romeo's Disco Volante plus countless others. It was like no car ever built and is what put Ferrari on the map - a true dual purpose race/touring car. Only 25 were produced and only a handful exist today - the car in the second picture is an unrestored prototype found after 50 years stored in Arizona.
The 166MM Touring Barchetta Speciale had a distinguished racing history, competing at Le Mans, Targa Florio, the 12 Hours of Paris, Le Mans and of course the Mille Miglia.
In 1973 Road and Track magazine published a short story by Richard Foster titled "
A Nice Morning Drive". This story about a not-so-distant future (1982) where sports cars had been outlawed and only "safe" vehicles (resembling modern day SUVs) were allowed was the inspiration for a tune by some silly prog band from Canada that swapped the original story's MG for a "brilliant
red Barchetta". Leave it to the Canadians to mispronounce the word Barchetta (ch is "k") and doom countless others to the same fate.