The Ferrari 290 MM was a

sports racing car Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is o ...

produced by

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

in 1956. It was developed to compete in the 1956 edition of

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

, hence the acronym "MM", and four cars were built.

Development

The 290 MM was powered by a new 3.5 litre, 60° '' Jano''

V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...

. Displacement was with a maximum power of 320 HP at 7200 rpm, and a top speed of . The car won the 1956 Mille Miglia, raced by

Eugenio Castellotti Eugenio Castellotti (10 October 1930 – 14 March 1957) was a Formula One driver from Italy. Driving career Castellotti was born in Lodi, Italy. He acquired a Ferrari at the age of twenty, from a local benefactor, and began racing sports cars ...

, while another 290 MM, driven by

Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio (American Spanish: , ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995), nicknamed ''El Chueco'' ("the bowlegged" or "bandy legged one") or ''El Maestro'' ("The Master" or "The Teacher"), was an Argentine racing car driver. He dominated t ...

, finished fourth.

Phil Hill Philip Toll Hill Jr. (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008) was an American automobile racing driver. He was one of two American drivers to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, and the only one who was born in the United States ( ...

and

Maurice Trintignant Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant (30 October 1917 – 13 February 2005) was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest caree ...

also won the Swedish Grand Prix of that year, granting Ferrari the overall victory in the 1956 World Sportscar Championship. The following year a 290 MM won the 1000 km Buenos Aires. On December 10, 2015,

RM Sotheby's RM Sotheby's, formerly RM Auctions, is a classic car auction company headquartered in Blenheim, Ontario, Canada. With offices across the United States and several European countries, the company's services include restoration, private treaty sale ...

sold the 290 MM driven by Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1956 Mille Miglia at auction for US$28 million — the highest price for a car sold in 2015 and the third most expensive ever at that time. In 2018, another example sold for US$22 million. 1956-04-29 Mille Miglia Ferrari 290MM sn0616 Castellotti

1956-04-29 Mille Miglia Ferrari 290MM sn0616 Castellotti

References

Bibliography

External links

Ferrari 290 MM: Ferrari History
290 MM Sports racing cars Mille Miglia {{Classicpow-auto-stub