1948 Nardi Corsa Barchetta

Enrico Nardi achieved notice in the late 1930s as a racing car designer, constructor, and driver after piloting the first of Enzo Ferrari's cars, the Auto Avio Construzioni Tipo 815 Spider, at the Mille Miglia in 1940. His association with Ferrari continued after World War II when he worked on the Ferrari 166 MM. In late 1947, Nardi joined with Renato Danese to establish a workshop on the Via Vincenzo Lancia in Turin where they could build racing cars and prototypes for other customers. They also began to construct their own cars for the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio, utilizing Alfa Rome 6C 2500 engines. This car ran in both of these races in 1948 and 1949, although it failed to finish them. It left Italy in 1950 destined for its first American owner, Perry Fina of New York, who campaigned the car in races at Palm Beach, Bridgehampton, and Watkins Glen. The current owner purchased the car in 1997 and has continued to race it in vintage events.