Ferrari Berlinetta Shines in Amelia Island Sun

The Amelia Island Concours dodged the rain again this year and they did it by moving the event forward one day. It was a great solution to a pending disaster and impresario Bill Warner is to be congratulated for taking the bull by the horns and making the show work. They were over 300 cars on the field, with thousands upon thousands of visitors, but all went very smoothly, which is the hallmark of the Amelia Island Concourse anyway.

The show caters to all types of classic and sports cars, and there’s always a good group of Ferraris. There were three classes for Ferraris - one for Ferrari Production, one for Race Cars and one for Movie Cars, a nice way to section the cars off by theme. Bill Warner always comes up with some engaging and witty classes, providing interest as well as entertainment.

One of the rarest Ferraris on the show field was the 166 MM/195 S Touring Berlinetta, s/n 0066 M, brought by Michael & Kathy Leventhal. It’s a beautiful car that has all the elegant design keynotes of the early Touring Berlinettas, and Barchettas at well. It was made in 1950 and kept by the Scuderia Ferrari for a time and then sold to Anteo Allazetta who raced it in several hill climbs in Italy in 1953 and 1954. In this time, Ferrari upgraded the engine to 195 specs.

After that, it came to the USA through Luigi Chinetti and went through a group of famous and sympathetic Ferrari collectors before ending up with collector Michael Leventhal in 2008. Since then he has shown the car multiple times at prestigious events and has even taken it on the Louis Vuitton Classic Serenissima Run in 2012.

It is considered one of the most original 166 MMs extant.

More images and a fuller report of the Amelia Island Concours, with the all-important serial numbers, will be in the June 1 issue of Cavallino, #219.

Images from Cavallino Associate Editor Keith Bluemel.