The oldest Ferrari on UK grounds is now officially for sale. It’s the 11th unit that once left the factory in Italy and comes with chassis number #021. In case you’re wondering why the number don’t add up, well, that’s because back in the day Ferrari just used odd chassis numbers.
This Ferrari 166 Inter Coupe is a rather rare example of the Italian sports car manufacturer and was built back in the year 1949. It was part of Ferrari’s first ever set of 29 production cars that left the factory over the course of three years, starting with just three in 1947, an additional five in 1948 and the remaining 21 in 1949.
Fully named the Ferrari 166 Inter Coupe Stabilimenti Farina 1949, this particular example is the 4th out of 10 total cars boasting the exclusive bodywork by Stabilimenti Farina.
The history of the car starts with first owner A.I.C.A.R. S.r.l. (Agenzia Internazionale Commercio e Ricambi) from Milan, an International Agency for Automobile and Spare Parts Trading. It didn’t take long for the Ferrari to move owners for the first time as it became the property of Egildo Banfi, resident of Milan, in the same year it left the Ferrari assembly line.
In 1962 the car was exported to Houston resident Jim Rich, who then sold the car on a few years later to an unknown resident of the state Oklahoma. In 1965 the classic made its way back overseas to Europe, becoming the property of P.G. Palumbo, living in Ascot, England. Almost 30 years later, in 1991, the Italian classic was to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s in Monaco if only it sold. With an estimated price of $120.000 there were no buyers interested in taking it home.
Five years later the Ferrari did sell at a Brooks auction at Olympia, London for an estimated 64,000 GBP. The history books show the classic changed owners a couple of more times during the 90’s including the company that currently offers it for sale, Talacrest Ltd. At the end of the 1990’s Talacrest managed to sell it and during the next decade it participated in the 2000 and 2004 Mille Miglia before making its way back to Talacrest last year. More information on this car and its state can be found here.
