Barchetta

A barchetta (Italian pronunciation: [barˈketta], "little boat" in Italian) was originally an Italian style of open two-seater sports car which was built for racing. Weight and wind resistance were kept to a minimum, and any unnecessary equipment or decoration were sacrificed in order to maximize performance.

Although most barchettas were made from the late 1940s through the 1950s, the style has occasionally been revived by small-volume manufacturers and specialist builders in recent years.

Typically handmade in aluminium on a tubular frame, the classic barchetta body is devoid of bumpers and any weather equipment such as a canvas top or sidescreens, and has no provision for luggage. Some barchettas have no windscreen; others, a shallow racing-type screen or aero screen.

Classic barchettas either have no doors, in which case entry and exit entails stepping over the side of the car, or very small doors without exterior handles.

Giovanni Canestrini, when editor of La Gazzetta dello Sport, a popular Italian sporting newspaper, was the first to use the term "barchetta" on a car, using it to describe the new Ferrari 166MM displayed at the 1948 Turin Auto Show. The name has been associated with the model ever since.

The MM in the car’s designation stands for "Mille Miglia", the race it won in 1948 and 1949. In 1949 the 166MM barchetta also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans (driven by Luigi Chinetti and Lord Selsdon) and the Targa Florio (with Clemente Biondetti and Igor Troubetzkoy), the only car ever to win all three races in the same year. It also won the 1949 Spa 24 Hours. The car’s unadorned, lightweight aluminium body was designed by Carrozzeria Touring’s head of design, Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni.

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Wikipedia