A Brief History of Maserati Part II
The Years of Glory

by Pete Vack
Photos Copyright Alessandro Gerelli

After the war, the 4CLT (T for tubular chassis)and 4CLT/48 were very successful in international events, and the /48 was nicknamed the "San Remo" after Ascari's victory there in 1948.

In 1947, with the departure of the Maserati brothers, the second great period for Maserati began. Yet their legacy would live on for years. The post war 4CL, 4CLT, and 4CLT/48s were essentially traditional pre-war cars, which soldiered on until the end of the 1500 cc formula in 1951. The A6, a Maserati designed and built engine, was developed into the A6GCS and continued to be competitive until 1955.

While the first road cars were built with Pininfarina bodies, Maserati continued to campaign sports racing cars. This is the A6GCS of 1953, designed and built by Fantuzzi.

One of the reasons the Maserati brothers departed was the decision by young Omer Orsi to build road cars. It became readily apparent that in order to survive as a company, Maserati would have to build GT cars, a fact that Ferrari would also come to terms with. From 1947 to 1949, a small number of conservative Pininfarina sports coupes were built on the A6G 1500 cc chassis. With the A6G-2000 (and later the A6G/54), the coachbuilders included Zagato, Frua and Vignale as well as Pininfarina. Some of the finest achievements of Italian design complement these cars, and they are extremely desirable today.

The A6G-2000 road cars were bodied by Zagato (a 1956-57 version seen here), Pininfarina, Allemano, Frua and Vignale, each one totally individual and each a treasure.

Clearly, however, Maserati needed to find suitable replacements for the missing Maseratis. Young Alberto Massimino was brought on to design the 1952 Formula Two car, the A6GCM. While all these acronyms may sound confusing, they are least made sense. The A was the basic car, the 6 meant six cylinders, the G stood for "Ghisa" or cast iron, the material of which the block was constructed. The C was for Corsa, and an S was for Sports, or M was for Monoposto.

In addition to Massimino, the Orsi concern snatched up Gioachino Colombo, a truly great engineer. Along with Jano, Colombo was instrumental in the design of the Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 Grand Prix car, and after the war penned the 125 Ferrari, and the V-12 engine. By 1951 his association with Ferrari had ended. He was at Alfa Romeo for a second term when called to assist Massimino in the design and development of what may be the greatest Grand Prix car of the 2.5 liter formula, the 250F.

The most successful race car in Maserati's history, and the car which put the Orsi concern on the world map. The 250F was introduced in 1954 for the 2.5 Liter formula, seen here as driven by Moss (his was actually green, however!). Fangio won the World Championship in 1957 with the last version of the 250F.

Introduced in 1954, the 250 F was immediately successful in the hands of Stirling Moss and others, although defeated by the might of the Mercedes Benz team. But by 1957, with Mercedes out of the picture, Juan Manuel Fangio, now driving the 250F, allowed the Argentinean to capture his fifth and final World Championship. Fangio’s victory at the 1957 Nurburgring was a defining moment for Maserati, Fangio, and the 2.5 liter formula. Driving 10/10s and breaking his own lap record with every circuit, Fangio caught and passed both Mike Hawthorne and Peter Collins to win the race. A great car, a great driver, a great race.

Profiting from the successes in Grand Prix racing, Maserati installed a detuned version of the 250F engine into the 3500GT cars. These are wonderful road cars, most of which had Touring bodies. Seen here is a rare Vignale with an even rarer hardtop.

Coinciding with the victories achieved on the Grand Prix circuits, Maserati was also having success in sports racing, with various 1500cc, 2000 and 3000 cc cars, driven by Moss, Fangio, and Jean Behra. The aging A6G series gave way in 1958 to an entirely new 3500GT, with a smart Touring designed body. Almost 2000 were built in various versions between 1958 and 1964.

The 450S was the most powerful sports car to date, equipped with a new V-12. With 400 hp the car would do over 180 mph. 10 or 11 were built between 1956 and 1959.

By 1956, it was apparent that a larger, more powerful engine was needed, and the 450S was born. This 4.5 liter V-8 was rated, probably optimistically at 400 hp, but fast it was. Far faster than the chassis could cope with, a situation shared with Ferrari as they raced towards the final showdown in Sports Car Championship at Caracas Venezuela on November 3rd, 1957. Both of the 450S cars entered crashed heavily, and a third 300S was also destroyed in a crash. They lost the Championship to Ferrari, and the casualties nearly broke Maserati. Effectively, Maserati (and Fangio) retired from racing at the end of the 1957 season.

In the mid fifties, Maserati constructed a bewildering variety of sports racing car; the 150s, 300S, 200S, 200SI, and 250S. This may be a 200S or a 250S.