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©Roger Harrison
Edwin Faulkner and his 1968 Quattroporte I - 2a serie
The Maserati Quattroporte represented the ultimate in speed and luxury in the saloon class. It was really the first four-door supercar. The shape was the work of Pietro Frua and looked assertive and dignified if not quite beautiful. There was beauty to be found under the bonnet, however, in the form of Maserati's four-cam 4.2-litre or 4.7-litre V8 engines, which were renowned for great smoothness and torque. In manual form the Quattroporte (four-door in Italian) could touch 140mph with the ZF 5 speed manual transmission, which made it the world's fastest saloon car at the time. In total 679 Quattroportes were built.
©Roger Harrison
Citoen SM
First fruit of the marriage between Maserati and Citroën was the big Citroën SM of 1970, a prestige GT car. Power came from a smaller V6 version of Maserati's long-lived quad-cam V8, which at 2.7-litres, came in just under the punitive French tax laws. The 170 bhp delivered through the front wheels was handled by Citroën's now well tried hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension, interconnected with the four wheel disc brakes and very high-geared power steering. Fast and refined with excellent handling the SM was a consummate long distance GT. Reliability problems and the onset of the oil crisis shortly after its launch accelerated the car's demise, and in 1975 production halted after 13, 290 units were made. Only 237 cars were sold in the UK.
©Roger Harrison
Citroen SM 'Opera' by Henri Chapron
The Maserati powered Citroën SM was France's only true prestige car in the early seventies and it was only natural that Henri Chapron, creator of some of the most elegant DS-based specials, should use it as a basis for a glamorous four door saloon, the Op&eacuet'ra. Built only to special order these vastly expensive cars were perhaps the world's most exclusive saloons. The Elysee Palace still has a special extra long wheelbase persidential drop head version for use on state occasions.
©Roger Harrison
Burkhard von Schenk’s Tipo 250F
Maserati had always built cars not only for their factory team but also for its privateer customers and between 1954 and 1958 some 34 cars were built. Developed from the A6GCM 2-litre 6-cyl engine, the 2.5-litre engine of the 250F was largely the work of Gioacchino Colombo and Vittorio Bellentani, who put in a great deal of work on the cylinder heads raising power output to some 240 bhp @ 7400 rpm. The 250F is unusual in that following the introduction of the new 2.5-litre formula it not only participated in the opening race of the new formula in 1954 but made its final appearance driven by privateer Bob Drake, in the final race for that formula at the United States GP of 1960. From its introduction in 1954 to its World Championship winning year in 1957 and on to that final race it remained the same basic design and can claim to have been victorious on its debut at the 1954 Argentine GP with Fangio at the wheel. Notable privateers who drove the 250F include Sergio Mantovani, Roberto Mieres, Prince Bira, Roy Salvadori, Horace Gould, Bruce Halford, Carlos Menditgeguy, Harry Schell, Francesco Godia-Sales, Onofre Marimon and the only female driver of a 250F Maria-Teresa de Filippis.
©Roger Harrison
The rare Quattroporte II
Attempting to recreate the success of the original 1963 four dour Maserati, this Quattroporte was conceived using the front drive V6 power train of the Citroén SM. It was luxuriously appointed and its discreet styling - by Marcello Gandini of Bertone - appealed to the quietly wealthy. Alas, the bankruptcy of Maserati and subsequent take-over by DeTomaso sealed its fate after only seven were built, mostly for export to the Middle East. This Quattroporte II is one of the prototypes being equipped with a digital instrument panel, a special interior and magnesium rims.
©Roger Harrison
The 'piccolo' OSCA Mt4
OSCA - Officini Specializzata Costruzione Automobili - was the company formed by the Maserati brothers in 1947, nine years after selling out their original firm to Adolfo Orsi. The Mt4 was one of the first models they produced. This car was built in 1954 and was fitted with an 1100cc 4-cylinder engine, producing 92 bhp. Entered as the 'works' car in the 1954 Le Mans 24 Hours (driven by Jaques Peron and Francesco Giardini) it was lying 7th overall and 1st in class after 23 hours when it left the track during a severe downpour. It competed in the Mille Miglia in 1954, 1956 and 1957, winning its class in 1956, driven by Attilio Brandi. In 1954 out of 15 races the car finished 1st overall on four accasions. In 1955 the car placed 4th overall in the Gran Premio di Pergusa.
Apart from its class win in the Mille Miglia in 1956 the car also finished 2nd in class in the Giro di Sicilia. Between 1957 and 1962 the OSCA was entered in similar events but without much more success. The car has been owned by the Fyshe family since 1997.
©Roger Harrison
The OSCA FS372
OSCA produced a series of twin overhead cam engined sports cars of up to 1600cc which acquitted themselves well in racing. One of just nine 372 models produced, this one was sold new in 1958 to Jon Gustav Fast in Sweden who raced it with impressive results including a 2nd overall at Chimay (Belgium) in 19588 in front of three Maseratis and a 3rd in the Nürburgring the same year.
Today only six 372 models are known to exist and only 2 with this genuine body by Morrelli at Ferrara.
©Roger Harrison
Pinin Farina's stunning Maserati A6GCS Berlinetta
There are some exotic cars that as soon as you see them you wish you had the funds and opportunity to own. One such car is the A6GCS Berlinetta designed by Pinin Farina of which alas only four were made during 1954. The concept of a coupe built on the A6GCS chassis was promoted by Guglielmo Dei, Maserati agent for Rome and sponsor of Scuderia Centro-Sud. The first of these, chassis #2056 was ordered in December 1953 by a Count Paolo Gravina of Catania who immediately entered it for the 'Giro di Sicilia'. The Count's car crashed into a wall, tragically killing his co-driver. The second car, chassis #2057, was presented at 1954 Turin Motor Show - its first owner, Roman Pietro Palmieri, entered the car for the Giro di Umbria. The third car, chassis #2059, was completed in September 1954 and was first owned by Florentine Count Alberto Magi Diligenti who entered it for the 1955 Mille Miglia. The last car, chassis #2060, is the car illustrated above.
©Roger Harrison
The Maserati MC12
©Roger Harrison
Pininfarina's Maserati Birdcage 75th |
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Goodwood Festival of Speed 2005
THE MASERATI BIRDCAGE 75th
MAKES ITS WORLD DRIVING DEBUT
The Maserati Birdcage 75th, a Pininfarina designed concept car based on the Maserati MC12 and built in collaboration with Motorola has made its official driving debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
©Malcom Hawksworth
Pininfarina's Maserati Birdcage 75th
 The gorgeous car, which received the "Best Concept" award at this year’s Geneva Motorshow and features in the "Ten coolest concept cars" classification by Forbes, took part in the Supercar hillclimb at the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed, in West Sussex, England, in front of 150,000 people.
Maserati’s CEO Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, 5th Gear TV presenter Tom Ford and Pink Floyd’s drummer Nick Mason took it in turn behind the wheel. Nick, who also owns a Maserati Birdcage Tipo 61, took a break from the rehearsals for the Live 8 concert due to take place in London and other cities next weekend to be at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Interviewed by Italian television RAI, he commented: "It’s a real honour to drive this amazing concept car which draws inspiration from a golden era for Maserati. The original Birdcage, the Tipo 61, was a perfectly balanced car, so ahead of its time. I can see the same spirit in the design and execution of the Birdcage 75th."
Designed to celebrate Pininfarina’s 75th anniversary, the Maserati Birdcage 75th returns to the tradition of extreme sports prototypes, which highlighted the Italian renaissance of car design, started in the Fifties and through the Sixties and early Seventies. The Birdcage 75th is a concept car where everything – style, performance, use and conception of the car – is extreme so as to get the maximum impact on the collective imagination. The car is a futuristic extension of the Maserati brand, and at the same time it serves to reinforce the Trident’s strong design heritage, and continues its grand tradition of advanced technology enveloped in sporting elegance.
The interior of Pininfarina's Maserati Birdcage 75th
Featuring Motorola Seamless Mobility technology, this car takes Internet connection and use one step further. The technologies integrated in this concept car fulfil a vision of seamless mobility and feature an iPen and a mobile router, using projection screens for man-machine communication.
Several classic Maserati were also present at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Among them were a 1948 Maserati 4CLT and a 1956 250F competing in the Classic Grand Prix Cars Category, a 1953 Maserati A6GCS in the Elegant Endurance Aerodynes Category and a 1974 Maserati Quattroporte II in the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours.
Pininfarina's Maserati Birdcage 75th takes to the Hill at Goodwood
Text and photos courtesy of Maserati
My sincere thanks to staunch member Roger Harrison for his report and photographs.
"Hi Henry,
A brief report on my visit to the Goodwood Festival on Speed last Friday:
I arrived early to discover Edwin Faulkner’s beautiful QP I in the “Best in the World – a Celebration of the Luxury Four Seater Saloon” display on his lordship’s cricket pitch. Edwin had been approached by Goodwood who were looking for a very good example of the Tipo, and Edwin’s car must be the best!
After chatting to Edwin for some time I made contact with Malcolm Hawksworth and Richard Taylor who like me had spotted a Biturbo Spyder for sale on a trade stand at a rather alarming £23,995! Strangely none of us were tempted!
A tour round the upper paddock revealed Burkhard von Schenk’s 250F, which subsequently over the weekend gained an award for “Fastest Front-Engined Single Seater (1950-1970)” at 59.55 seconds.
As is always the case at Goodwood, even on a Friday, the crowds made viewing, let alone photography, nearly impossible. You really need to get through the gate at 7am and straight to your chosen area of viewing. While Malcolm and Richard went off to see rally cars, I toured the Cartier Style et Luxe, where the crowding was less. A rare SM Opera was on view, together with a QP II, in the Super Rare Luxury Saloon 1970-1980 class.
In the Coachbuilt Bambino Sports Car 1945-55 class I found two OSCAs: an FS372 from 1958, and our President’s 1954 MT4.
In front of Goodwood House was an impressive aerial display of racing Hondas, dipping up and down on huge counterbalanced arms. When are we going to see some Masers up there?
The next paddock visited contained supercars, none more super than an MC12 and the MC12 “Birdcage” exercise. Later in the day we saw the MC12 Birdcage being ignominiously towed off the start line after it failed to go!
In the lower paddock we all admired a stunning A6GCS. For me the best looking Maser in the show. I’d not seen one before in silver – it suited the sleek shape very well.
Now Goodwood wouldn’t be Goodwood without its legendary bad weather, so right at the end of the day we all got doused by a thunderstorm, but it didn’t spoil an excellent day.
Did any other club members go and spot any other Maseratis?
Regards
Roger Harrison."
My sincere thanks also to member Malcolm Hawksworth for his contribution and photographs.
"Hi Henry,
I hope you are keeping well.
Sorry the weather rained you off last Friday, it seemed atrocious down your way, we only had rain at the end of the day, but boy did it come down!
Richard and I were pleased to meet up with Roger and spend the day wandering about like kids in a sweet shop!
A number of excellent Masers as you might expect I believe Alex Fysche’s OSCA was one of the two in the Cartier Style & Luxe display, although we didn’t connect with him. We did however meet with Edwin the very proud owner of the beautiful early QP down from the Isle of Man and on display in the “Best in the World” section……shouldn’t have been any other cars there!!
Sending a few piccies by separate e mails as I seem to have a problem with more than one attachment! Use them as you see fit. Watch out for the photo of the A6GCS with Roger and Richard each side!
I am sure you will recognize the various models although the SM Opera is quite a beasty!
Roger has other photos but I believe he is trying to put his computer back together
Best regards.
Malcolm." |
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