The Ferrari 290 MM is a sports racing car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari in 1956.[2] It was developed to compete in the 1956 edition of Mille Miglia as a successor to the 860 Monza, hence the acronym "MM", and four cars were built.[3]
Development
In order to counter the new challenge presented by Mercedes-Benz in 1955 as the Mercedes racing team won both the World Sports Car Championship, the RAC Tourist Trophy and the Targa Florio in the same year, Ferrari set out to develop a new race car for the 1956 motorsports season called the 290 MM.[4] The biggest change in the car was the engine as it was now powered by a new 60° Jano V12 engine with four distributors, two plugs per cylinder, uprated cylinder heads a 9:1 compression ratio and a dry-sump oil system replacing the four-cylinder engines from its predecessors. Displacement was 3490 cc with a maximum power output of 320 PS at 7,200 rpm, and a rated top speed of 280 km/h.