| "Twelve miles apart, in Italy's Reggio Emilia region, two small yet intensely dedicated companies built great racing cars and battled each other for supremacy on circuits throughout the world.
The fierce rivalry between Ferrari and Maserati was at its peak during the 1950s, when both went all-out to compete in Grands Prix and sports-car racing. Their feud helped keep Italy at the forefront of motorsport for several decades. It also laid the foundation for the recent racing resurgence of both Ferrari and Maserati. Karl Ludvigsen chronicles the drama, personalities, crises and casualties of this famous home-town rivalry."
Key content
125 C vs. 4CLT/48 – in Grands Prix, Ferrari entered new territory with its V12 engine while Maserati fielded a development of its pre-war Voiturette.
Mondial and Testa Rossa vs. A6GCS/2000 – both companies built sports-car sisters to their Formula 2 models to compete in the popular 2-litre class.
335 S vs. 450 S – Maserati pitted Stirling Moss, Jean Behra and Juan Manuel Fangio against Ferrari’s Luigi Musso, Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn.
250/275/330 P vs. 63/151/65 – when sports prototypes moved to mid-engined designs in the early 1960s both marques created thrilling V12-powered cars.
312 F1 vs. Cooper-Maserati – for the dramatic new 3-litre Formula 1 Ferrari had its own chassis while Maserati supplied engines to Britain’s Cooper team.
Today, under common ownership, Ferrari and Maserati reap the rewards of their racing heritage by building more cars than ever before.
The author
Karl Ludvigsen is a highly successful Haynes author. His recent title The V12 Engine won the Guild of Motoring Writers’ 2005 Montagu Trophy for ‘the greatest contribution to recording the history of motoring’. He lives in Suffolk, UK. |
