Ferrari 166MM Uovo: Mille Miglia missile

By James Page

| 28 Apr 2025

Classic & Sports Car – Ferrari 166MM Uovo: Giannino Marzotto’s Mille Miglia missile

This is not the most subtle of entrances, driving the unique Ferrari 166MM Uovo through the grounds of Blenheim Palace.

Its trio of Weber carburettors and heavy, unforgiving clutch are better suited to running at full song on the open road than manoeuvring at low speed, and blipping the throttle to keep the V12 alive results in even more smartphones being turned in our direction.

Eventually we reach the sanctuary of Blenheim’s picturesque South Lawn, turn off that glorious engine and step out to take one final look at this distinctive shape in the late-afternoon sunshine.

This quirky but successful reworking of a Ferrari 166MM was fast enough to battle for outright victory in major races

On the eve of the 2024 edition of Salon Privé, showstopping cars have been coming and going all day, but this particular Ferrari is unrivalled in its ability to turn heads.

It was the brainchild of Italian racer Giannino Marzotto, who initially referred to it as the Jet Coupé.

Over the years, however, it has become better known as the Uovo – the Italian word for egg…

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo’s bonnet strap is confirmation of its racing past

Along with Vittorio, Umberto and Paolo, Giannino Marzotto was one of four wealthy brothers who raced for less than a decade in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and in a relatively small number of events, yet between them they achieved a remarkable amount of success.

They were never full-time professionals and are often referred to as gentleman drivers, but that sells them short.

The brothers were not only important early patrons of Enzo Ferrari and incredibly loyal to the marque, but also talented enough to occasionally race as part of the Maranello factory team.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo got its name from the Italian word for ‘egg’

Enzo himself once wrote that Giannino ‘would have been an excellent professional driver and perhaps even a champion’ – his short career was headlined by two victories in the Mille Miglia.

When he took the first of those, in 1950, he was only 22 years old and drove in a double-breasted suit and tie.

After his second win, three years later, no less a rival than Juan Manuel Fangio wrote: ‘Marzotto passed me without trouble, showing that he was no amateur, but a front-rank driver.’

Today, the 166MM Uovo is powered by a 2562cc V12 from a Ferrari 212

Giannino’s early experiences of Ferraris had left him impressed with their V12 engines, but less enamoured with their handling and aerodynamics.

He often tested cars on the roads around Maranello and reported his concerns to Enzo, who remained unmoved.

A few years later, Il Commendatore would tell Belgian ace Paul Frère that “aerodynamics are for people who can’t make proper engines”.

‘Although the Ferrari 166MM Uovo lacked the power of bigger-engined Mille Miglia rivals, its nimble handling more than made up for it’

At the end of 1950, Giannino decided to take matters into his own hands, and he came up with a plan to assemble a lightweight, aerodynamic coupé using a Ferrari chassis, engine and running gear.

He discussed his ideas with his friend Paolo Fontana, who owned a coachbuilding company in Padova, and designer Franco Reggiani, and the three of them set about turning theory into reality.

Reggiani was a precocious design talent whose long career would eventually cover everything from aviation, boats and cars to sculpting works of art – and even developing machinery for the baking industry.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo’s complex bodywork is made of Peraluman, an aluminium alloy

While it is commonly reported that he designed the Ferrari 166MM Uovo and Carrozzeria Fontana manufactured it, his family has stated that, in reality, he performed both jobs himself.

According to the family’s account, Fontana’s contribution was simply to give Reggiani a corner of its Padova premises in which to work.

Giannino later wrote that his vision was for the car to feature ‘very low bodywork where everything was rounded and tapered’.

Supported by a delicate tubular frame, the panelwork was made out of Peraluman, an aluminium alloy that was very difficult to work with, but which was light and strong.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo’s roof is secured by wire cables

‘What was now needed,’ Giannino continued, ‘was a steeply sloped windshield that offered the least amount of wind resistance.

‘Reggiani had worked in the aeronautical industry during the war [and] provided in an exemplary way.

‘With great surprise we discovered that [it] did not give rise to annoying reflections. Visibility was excellent.’

That final consideration was further enhanced by the fact that Reggiani did away with support pillars for the windscreen.

Instead, the roof was ‘tied’ to the scuttle panel via thin steel cables located in each corner.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo’s panelwork is supported by delicate bracing

‘The driver’s seat itself was much more towards the rear axle than normal,’ Giannino added.

‘Enzo Ferrari told me that when the driver sits very close to the front wheels, driving is easier but dangerous, because the driver does not perceive the skidding of the vehicle when cornering.

‘By placing the driver close to the rear wheels, he captures the movement of the tail… As a result, the car when cornering was very sensitive and particularly reactive to the use of power.’

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo’s jet-like intake

Beneath that unique coachwork was the chassis of a 166MM – 024MB, which had been bought new in early 1950 by Umberto Marzotto – plus the 2562cc engine from a Ferrari 212.

Today, the whole package has lost none of its impact.

From the front air intake resembling that of a jet engine, it rises to the wraparound windscreen and continues to a taut, muscular rear.

It is striking whichever way you look at it, and much more compact and cohesive in the metal than it can appear in photographs – the design was way ahead of its time when compared with some of its contemporaries.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo’s striking design championed aerodynamics as a performance aid at a time when Enzo Ferrari dismissed the idea as unnecessary

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo made its competition debut on the 1951 Giro di Sicilia, where it would be joined by an open Ferrari that had been planned in tandem with the Uovo and which would be driven by Vittorio Marzotto.

Based on a 212, it featured an extremely basic, cycle-winged body that had been hurriedly lashed together in a matter of a few days.

Giannino recalled: ‘The two cars took the starting signal surrounded by the dismay of the experts and the merry curiosity of the crowd.’

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo’s bonnet scoop feeds air to the V12’s trio of Weber carburettors

Once under way, however, he found the Uovo to be a ‘marvellous’ car, even on Sicily’s narrow, winding roads: ‘The non-stop race was long, approximately 1100km, and had more than 8000 sharp bends, [however] the particular distribution of weight on the coupé allowed me to go through the winding roads doing an imperceptible movement of the wheel and keeping most of the power on.

‘The very good visibility gave me the chance to drive as in a Grand Prix, skimming along the guardrail and pavements.’

Giannino was leading as he approached the final stages, but the differential failed at Messina.

He then got on a train to Palermo and arrived just in time to celebrate with Vittorio, who had taken an unlikely victory.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo’s surprisingly spacious cockpit has a high scuttle

The following month, Giannino drove the Uovo in the Mille Miglia and, although it lacked the power of its bigger-engined rivals, its nimble handling more than made up for it, and he was feeling confident as the start approached.

By the time he was heading down the Adriatic coast, he had built a lead of about 10 minutes despite the fact that he was driving well within himself; near Senigallia, however, he heard an ominous sound coming from the back of the car.

He stopped and inspected one rear tyre while co-driver Marco Crosara checked the other.

When they found nothing amiss, Giannino assumed that the differential was about to fail again.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo sports ‘new’ dials from its 1980s rebuild

Not wanting to risk it locking up at high speed in the wet conditions, he made the decision to stop.

Having built up such a commanding lead, it was a bitter blow, especially when he later discovered that the cause of the noise was a tyre problem after all, which he and Crosara had simply failed to spot.

It was particularly embarrassing considering that he’d already given Enzo Ferrari a hard time about what he thought was another blown differential.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo was clearly fast enough to battle for outright victory in major races, but it had failed to finish in both of its two outings.

Giannino Marzotto and Guido Mancini drove the Ferrari 166MM Uovo on the Mille Miglia during the early 1950s

Better was to come the next time out, when Giannino entered the car for the Coppa della Toscana, which was based in Florence and featured a route of almost 700km.

Despite the fact that he had a long day ahead, Giannino was up until 2am talking to journalist Giovanni Canestrini, who scolded the youngster for not taking the race seriously enough.

That impression was further reinforced when Giannino showed up for the start without his driving gloves, having forgotten to bring them with him.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo’s tapering rear details

After only a short distance, he was suffering from blisters and the Uovo’s cockpit was getting uncomfortably hot, but he pressed on and overtook the Ferrari 212 of Piero Scotti on the approach to Radicofani.

He then caught Vittorio, who was having trouble with a slipping clutch in his Ferrari 340 America, but at the Livorno refuelling stop he found that he’d once again dropped behind his brother.

He refocused his efforts and drove at ten-tenths for the rest of the race, crossing the line in Florence to take victory in five hours and 14 minutes.

‘It rises from a front air intake to a wraparound windscreen and a taut, muscular rear end’

That would be the final occasion on which Giannino competed in the Uovo, yet it remained part of the Scuderia Marzotto stable and raced on through the 1952 season.

Outings that year included a return to the Mille Miglia, driven by Guido Mancini.

After a cautious start, he arrived in Ravenna in 29th place but was then fastest of all on the challenging section across the mountains from L’Aquila to Rome.

He was seventh overall by the time he was forced into retirement between Siena and Florence.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo was constructed at Paolo Fontana’s coachbuilding company in Padova, apparently by designer Franco Reggiani

In late 1953 the Uovo was shipped to Mexico and sold – by then with a Ferrari 166 engine – via Carlos Braniff to Ignacio Lozano Jnr, publisher of Los Angeles-based Spanish newspaper La Opinión.

Lozano Jnr raced it at venues including Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines during 1954, and it was around this time that movie icon James Dean had his photograph taken with the car outside a workshop near the Burbank Studios.

Lozano Jnr later sold it to David Andrews, apparently minus its engine because Andrews had wanted to fit an American-built V8.

The car subsequently passed to Ferrari enthusiast Harvey Schaub and then, in 1982, to Jack du Gan, by which time it was looking very sorry for itself.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo’s spare wheel, mounted at the back of the cabin

Du Gan set about fully restoring the Ferrari 166MM Uovo, stripping it down to its bare chassis and thankfully adopting a sympathetic, ‘refurbish rather than replace’ approach to its delicate bodywork.

Somewhere along the way – while it was owned by either Andrews or Schaub – the car had gained the 2562cc engine from a Ferrari 212 Inter, which has remained with it ever since.

The work was completed in time for the 1986 1000 Miglia retrospective, and the Ferrari continued to be a crowd-pleasing addition to the event over the following few years.

This unique Ferrari was restored in the 1980s, shortly before it participated in the 1986 1000 Miglia retrospective

It was even reunited with Giannino, who was impressed with the engine and gearbox, but less enamoured with the steering and brakes, both of which he recalled being much more effective in period.

He suggested that the tyres were too big, but conceded with good humour that old drivers “are also a little obsolete, and alas without the possibility of remedy”.

Giannino’s final race had been the 1954 Mille Miglia.

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo’s flowing bodywork still looks striking

As with his brothers, he’d known that his future lay in the family business empire, which had started in 1836 with the opening of a wool mill in the small town of Valdagno in northern Italy.

It then expanded greatly under the guidance of their father, Gaetano, who not only diversified beyond textiles into areas such as agriculture, but also built a ‘social city’ district in Valdagno that provided good-quality housing and schools, plus sporting and cultural facilities.

That sense of social responsibility would be passed down through subsequent generations of this remarkable family.

If this Ferrari’s looks aren’t enough, twin upswept tailpipes confirm the Uovo’s arrival

The Ferrari 166MM Uovo survives as a tribute to Giannino Marzotto’s youthful vision, and it’s impossible to sit in the spartan cockpit, looking over the high scuttle through that shallow windscreen, without picturing yourself following in his wheeltracks, howling through the Italian countryside.

An extremely effective road-racer in its day, it evokes a period in which amateur drivers – in the very finest sense of that word – could enjoy success at the highest level.

Images: John Bradshaw

Thanks to: Moritz Werner, Keith Bluemel, Barkaways and everyone at Salon Privé. The Porter Press book Ferrari Uovo is available via porterpress.co.uk

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