There are no Ferraris older than Amanda's 166 Inter. At least not when we're talking about the Maranllo brand street cars.
Amanda owns a Ferrari that was produced in only 38 copies. The brand's first street car was called the 166 Inter, and at least one of them is driving around with Amanda behind the wheel in New Zealand.
The car, which was in production from 1948 to 1950, has a 2-liter V12 engine with 90 horsepower and a top speed of 150 km/h. A far cry from today's Ferraris, which almost certainly have that kind of power at idle.
Actually, not many have known that Amanda and her husband Phillip own one of Ferrari's first street cars. But it hasn't quite been able to keep the secret.
And one day Ferrari's own film crew came to New Zealand to see the wonder. And of course also to get the story behind it.
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– We built cabins by the mountains in Alaska. In the evening we sat under the kerosene lamp and looked through Hemmings catalogs with car ads.
– It was in such a thing that we saw this beauty, says Amanda.
It has been many years since Amanda and Phillip fell for the ad in the catalogue. But the love for the older Ferrari is not rusted. On the contrary.
– I remember so clearly when we got it home. It had a body that was hard and raw aluminum.
– She (the car, ed.) must be appreciated for who she is. A historical artifact. But she also needs to be roped in. It's not enough just to look at. You have to listen to the engine, says Amanda.
And if it was up to her, she drove in the car every day. Even without the radio on. It is, as she points out, not necessary at all.
Amanda, Phillip and their immediate neighbors kept the Ferrari a secret for many years. But when some Italians came to town one day, it escaped anyway.
– Our pharmacists called one day and said there were some Italians in town. He wondered if I could drop by and surprise them.
The Italians must have brought the story home with them. That is, when they had first picked up their jaws at finding such a historic Ferrari so far away from the factory. For the rest? Yes, Amanda herself can tell you that in the video below.
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