1928 Maserati Tipo 26B M 8C 2800 Grand Prix Monoposto

The Maserati Tipo 26B is considered to be one of the, and possibly the, oldest running Maserati in the world. It first appeared as a works factory car in 1928 at the Targa Florio, driven by the Marquis Diego de Sterlich, a personal benefactor of the Maserati factory. For 1930 it returned as a factory team car fitted with a 2.5-liter engine. At the Grand Prix of Rome, Luigi Archangeli scored his first major victory and at Monza finished second. In 1931 Rene Dreyfus drove the car although struggled with reliability in the first two races in Tunis and Tripoli. Dreyfus claimed pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix, setting fastest lap in qualifying. For the 1932 season Dreyfus was again at the wheel, coming in first in the Reale Premio di Roma and second at the Grand Prix de Marseille and Nimes. The car was used sparingly for the 1933 season and its final races were at Monaco and Montlhery. When war broke out in Europe, the car was hidden in an Algerian cave before reappearing in 1945 in Morocco. It was eventually stored in an aircraft hangar in France until discovered by an American collector. Television personality Alainde Cadanet owned it in the 1980s before its current owner acquired it in 2000.