1953 Ferrari 375 MM Spyder

While Enzo Ferrari's focus was always on Grand Prix victories, he was never reluctant to apply the lessons learned in Grand Prix-or to spread out the high cost of GP car and engine development-to large displacement sports cars. Sports cars also earned both starting and prize money for the factory, and there seemed to be a constant queue of sports racer customers-waving dollars, lira, francs, pounds and pesos-standing outside the factory gate.

The 375 Mille Miglia descended directly from the four-liter GP formula and the big engine that Aurelio Lampredi designed for it. It was natural to tune the engine down a little, wrap a two-seat body around it, and go collect some prize money. Typically bodied by Pininfarina, the 375 MM was both the factory team car and a favorite of well-heeled customers. One of them, Casimiro de Oliveira of Portugal, so frequently bruised his 375 MM's Pininfarina body that it had to be returned to Ferrari after only a year,...