Gallery: Mahindra Pik-Up

Mahindra maps out 'potential' U.S. dealer network for forthcoming small diesel pickup originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There is certainly no shortage of extraordinary stories about Ferraris being dug out of somebody's barn after decades of neglect, but few are quite as intriguing as this one. As a student at the University of Alabama in 1966, Darrell Westfaul bought a competition 1950 Ferrari for $1,500 which he drove during his senior year. He planned to restore the car after graduation, but plans changed and the car was relegated to moving from garage to warehouse to garage for forty years.

Now 63 years old, the owner took the car out of storage and donated it to the university where he enjoyed it four decades earlier. The university sold the car for upwards of $1 million under an arrangement that will provide Mr. and Mrs. Westfaul with dividends on which to live for the remainder of their lives, after which the interest from the capital will go towards a scholarship fund.

Sounds extraordinary? That's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Well researched and documented by the owner, the 1950 Ferrari 166MM Touring Barchetta turns out to be far more than an "ordinary" Ferrari, imbued as it is with an extensive race history and pedigree. Already one of the earliest Ferrari models, s/n 0046MM, originally owned by famed designer Nuccio Bertone, was made even more special by the fitting of custom bodywork by Zagato in 1953, after having competed four times in the famous Mille Miglia race in 1950, '51, '52 and '53.

The car was sold to a museum in Arizona, whose owner will put in an additional $300,000 to properly restore the car to original condition.

[Source: University of Alabama via Tuscaloosa News and Alabama Press-Register]

Old School: Alabama grad donates million-dollar Ferrari originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta is one of the most sought-after collector's cars of all time. It was the first true Ferrari; only 25 of them were built and only a handful remain in existence - these cars were raced, and raced hard. It was an especially big deal to classic automobile aficionados and Ferrari historians when s/n 0052 M was found after nearly fifty years in obscurity, stored by a collector in Arizona.

As exciting as it was to find a 166, nobody had any idea just how unique this car was until Ferrari expert Marcel Massini got it back to his workshop. Massini brokered the purchase of the car from the late owner's estate after his passing, and was commissioned for a full mechanical rebuild. The exterior was to be left as-is in reverence to the car's extensive racing history, but when Massini started disassembling the engine he found the car was actually fitted with a two-liter Formula 2-spec competition engine, with a gear-driven camshaft instead of the conventional chain drive. When the numbers were found to match, it became apparent that this was a factory prototype, built that way from the start, and not retrofitted somewhere down the line.

166 MM Touring Barchetta Speciale s/n 0052 M has a deep racing history, having competed at Le Mans, the Targa Florio, Mille Miglia and took the chequered flag at the 12 Hours of Paris. The restored machine, which appeared on the September/October '06 cover of Cavallino Magazine, re-emerged to the public at the 2007 Cavalinno Classic, and the guys at Ultimatecarpage.com were there to snap some photos. Check it out.

[Source: Ultimatecarpage.com]

Molto Speciale: Ferrari 166 MM Touring Barchetta factory prototype originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.