barchetta

Le Mitiche Sport a Bassano 2011

July 13, 2011 By pete

By Chuck Schoendorf and Dino Brunori
Photos by Dino Brunori

If you own an open sports car from the golden era of the great Italian road races like the Mille Miglia, Targa Florio or Coppa d’Oro, you must attend Le Mitiche Sport a Bassano. Come once and you will become a Mitiche addict, and both a certified sports car driver and a certified nut ! A certified driver because of the gruelling, non-stop challenging mountain roads, a certified nut because all the cars are barchettas, meaning open cockpit, and it always rains in the mountains!
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Origins of the Name: Ferrari Barchetta

July 14, 2010 By pete

The Ferrari 166 MM is the car on which Ferrari built its legend. This is chassis 0008M which finished seventh in the Targa Florio and fourth in the Mille Miglia in 1950 driven by Bracco and Maglioli. But who first called it a “barchetta”? Photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt

In Dino Brunori’s article about Le Mitiche a Bassano, Johnny Lurani was credited with first calling the Touring bodied 166 Ferrari a ‘barchetta.’

We were incorrect. But every cloud has its silver lining, however, and in this case it was an email from Karl Ludvigsen who wanted to set the record straight and has further allowed us to publish the below article, which came from his book,
“Ferrari – 60 Years of Technological Innovation.”

by Karl Ludvigsen

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Barchetta Lite

July 14, 2010 By pete

Since the term barchetta, once reserved specifically for small row boats and Touring-bodied Ferrari spiders has long since passed into the lexicon as meaning any open two seater, we thought we might add to the confusion with a sense of humor. And so, below are a few more ideas of what a barchetta might be.

Barchetta Before. The late historian Stan Nowak with Ferrari s/n 004.

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