Feast your senses on the sun-baked product of 1950’s Italian racing heritage and the Arizona heat. Left uncovered for most of the last 50 years, this rarity of rarities has been mechanically mended but the body is being left untouched by owner Manny Del Arroz. We dig a guy who loves his classics and wants to drive them, not leave them in hermetically-sealed containers as concours queens.

With a Gioacchino Colombo-designed 2.0L V12, the 166MM featured the same wishbone front suspension and live rear axle as its predecessor, the 125. The Ferrari 166 was used to win the 1948 and 1949 Mille Miglia, the 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the 1949 Targa Florio. The only car to ever compete such a feat in the same year.

So how much Del Arroz pay for this non-running, sun-bleached find?

“They told me the price — over $1 million — and I said ‘I’ll take it.’ Sight unseen” Del Arroz said. And that was before anyone knew that this exact car had been driven by El Maestro, 5-time World Champion Juan Miguel Fangio.

[SFGate via TheAutoInsider, Wikipedia, Denis David]