Chassis 1C/10S Updated Information

Inter. Eligable for International Racing seris.

 

I = Inter (internazionale)

Stands for the dual purpose of the 166 Inter Spyder Corsa, the 2 newly established race categories for 1948 - the Formule International 2, and the Formule International des Voitures Sport. Or in other terms the new F2 and the 2 litre sports car class.

 

Also the national series like e.g. in Italy had been in accordance with the international FIA formula.

By the way, the "C" for "corsa" had been put aside then and reserved for the new F1 Grand Prix car which made its debut some months later at Torino.

 

thank you.

 

The 'S' stood for Sport in the early cars, and was then used on Inter chassis too. The mystery is that it was only used on the odd number (road type) cars, and is not seen with any even numbers.
The numbers start 001S, 003S etc all the way to 123S and then sporadically up to 0151S.
If 10S was stamped by the works in that very early time one might conclude that it was done before a decision had been made to use the odd numbers for the road cars, but who can tell at this remove?

 

The dates of the 'production' even/odd chassis numbers might be of interest:

001S has a certificate of origin (Anselmi) 4.Feb.48
003S 7.Feb.48

Then
0002M (166MM) was exhibited at Turin salon 15 Sep. 48. Was it already stamped at this date? Not neccessarily until it came to be sold.
0004M (166MM) C of O 22.6.49
0006M (166MM) C of O 16.3.49

So there could have been a period of over a year before the form of the even number scheme was finally decided on.

 

Can you prove that?

The numbering system is much more logical as one thinks.

The first 2 cars in 1947, which can be considered as prototypes, had been 01C and 02C (there was never a 3C or 03C, purely Stan Nowak's fiction).

In fall 1947 they decided to split into even numbers for competition and odd ones for road cars. The competition cars for F2 and road racing were designated 166 Inter (not Spyder Corsa, this was only the bodywork), the numbering started at 002. If one looks at the stamping of Jim's car you see "002 - space - I". Why the sister car was stamped 004C - no idea. But the cars to follow were 006I to 016I (up to mid 1948). The road cars were initially designated "Sport", and numbered 001S and 003S. The "C" for Corsa was from then on used only for the singleseater Grand Prix cars, starting 02C up to 12C (mid 1948 to mid 1949). The GP cars had been dual-use for F1 and F2, only different engines. Some cars like e.g. 08C and 12C had been switched between F1 and F2 very often, at some occasions even from week to week. The new monoposti substituted the 166 Inter for F2 racing, so the model was abandoned in mid 1948. Substitution for road racing was the 166 MM. As the "C" was reserved for the singleseaters, and the "S" for the road cars, the new serial suffix for the sports racers had been "M", with numbers started at 0002M, 0004M and so forth. Why they used 4 digits for the sports competition cars, but only 3 for the road cars - no idea. After the production stop of the 166 Inter with Spyder Corsa bodywork in mid 1948 they decidied to use the designation "Inter" for the road cars (starting with 005S), but kept the "S" suffix of the serials.

 

I'm a bit afraid to take the step from watching from the sidelines directly into the game, but I was wondering: What happened to 02C? If I understand everything correctly, 01C and 02C were the first (prototype) cars built, with 002C being the third. Weren't 01C and 02C built at the same time and based on the same plans and drawings? Digging through the internet for half an hour, all I found out is that 02C still exists, now as 020I. Shouldn't this chassis be perfect to compare to 01C/10S and 01C/010I? Or is it also questionable if 02C became 020I, the same way like 01C/010I?

 

It should be remembered that certificate is a part of registeration documentation so it only states when a decision to register a car with certain serial number was made. Sometimes certificates were issued for old cars that had been raced/driven around with temporary permits - if any - and sometimes the car in question didn't exist just yet... Best wishes, Kare

 

Although off-topic some words about 003S.
The Maranello workshop picture which has been shown and discussed here already various times leds to the conclusion that 003S had been finished some weeks later than the 2 SC 006I and 010I, meaning somewhere in April 1948. This would fit to its first appearance at the Mille Miglia on May 1. Therefore a c/o issued as early Feb 1948 would not fit into the picture at all, hence my question.

 

The chassis of 020I has the bended X section as the other LWB Spyder Corsas, but the underslung frame at the rear which had been first introduced in May 1948 for the SWB SC's and then used for the 166MM's.

 

A number of us agree...

 

Where did I write this? I only wrote about 020I.

In every religion there are believers and unbelievers...

 

Just wanted to ask if 02C/020I shouldn't have the same chassis layout as 01C/010I, but John beat me to it. So the "02C became 020I" story is also questionable?!

So if I understand everything correctly, both 002C and 10S have bended X-tube and overslung frame, whereas 020I has bended X-tube and underslung frame, and 010I has a fishmouth-welded X and overslung frame?

 

Based on my actual status of information - yes.
However, I'm awaiting new info which may change this (no comments yet).

 

Thank you, Michael. I understand that the welded X is actually an older design than the bended X, but Ferrari returned to the welded X with the first road cars, and that the underslung frame is a later design than the overslung one. Looking at what you, beside your new information, confirmed from my last post, that leaves a big mess, in which we can only speculate that 10S was built in the timeframe of 002C's creation, if Ferrari/GILCO didn't experiment. I'll humbly step back again now and leave the discussion to you experts. Thanks again to everyone for this exciting thread!

 

I have been on vacation and now have had a chance to look over all the comments and theories about this car.Really now, isn't this what keeps the home fires burning.. It looks like the #1 on the front crossmember recently uncovered is not the same as the numerous #1C stampings on other parts of the car. You know, I think for the time being I am going to stick with post #38 by that "tongascrew" guy[whome ever he is] and let more research and theories filter in. For some reason I think he has something there. Just one man's opinion tongascrew

 

No, it's not an older design, it's a DIFFERENT design. The fact that it is shown on a 1946 drawing doesn't make it outdated. It has been used at least until the early 50's, but mainly for road cars where additional weight was less important than for pure competition cars, and where full bodywork and comfort required a stiffer frame layout.