1956 Maserati A6G-54 Coupe

This Maserati was sold new to a first owner in San Diego, California. It is the last of the Zagato-bodied Maserati A6G series and represents the pinnacle of the evolution of this body design, one of the most beautiful of Zagato's creations. In its early days, this coupe was sparingly raced in the United States, where it became the Class E modified champion in 1961. When its race career was over, Frank Jay Hoke replaced its six-cylinder engine with a Buick V8. After several other owners, and decades of separation of chassis and motor, the car was eventually made whole again under the ownership of Dr. Stihl of Stuttgart, Germany, and has since been restored to its original configuration and colors.

The car has had 12 owners since new. The 2-liter engine has been dyno tested to produce 176 horsepower at 7,100 RPM.

Maserati introduced the A6G/54 in 1954 at the Paris Auto Show. It was an evolution of Maserati's first postwar sports car - the A6 series. The A6G/54 was fitted with many features found on the A6GCS including the brakes, steering, and suspension components. It had a lightweight tube-frame chassis that carried an all-aluminum twin-cam six-cylinder engine that Gioacchino Colombo had originally developed for racing. Maserati engineer Vittorio Bellentani modified the engine to make it more suitable for road-going applications by implementing wet-sump lubrication, chain-driven camshafts, and a revised valve train. It was given three Weber 40 DCO3 carburetors and was available with an optional twin-plug cylinder head.

Several body styles were available on the A6G/54 chassis. The coachwork created by Carrozzeria Zagato of Milan was of lightweight aluminum and often served dual purposes as a road car and for racing. Zagato Berlinettas were built in at least three distinct body styles during 1955 and 1956 with a total of 21 examples created.

In competition, the Zagato Berlinettas were very competitive in the two-liter GT category. They often competed in Italian hill climbs and major events such as the Mille Miglia.

This particular example is a late-production A6G/54 and the last Zagato Berlinetta built. It was ordered by Charles Rezzaghi for his dealership, Mille Miglia Motors Inc. of San Francisco. Carrozzeria Zagato received 2186 on September 4th of 1956 and the car returned to Modena painted red and trimmed in white with red piping. It had a larger, more rectangular grille, vertical air vents in the front quarter panel, curvaceous rear fenders, two separate hood scoops, aluminum bumperettes, and an oval instrument layout with Jaeger gauges. Approximately nine Zagato-bodied A6G/54s were produced in this general style.

This car was completed on October 31st of 1956. It was shipped to California along with two other A6G/54s. By 1959, the car came into the care of Frank Fraine, the proprietor of Trans World Motors in San Diego. It was raced in Pomona and later advertised for sale in the February 1959 issue of MotoRacing magazine. From there, it was acquired by Frank Jay Hoke from Tucson, Arizona.

In preparation for racing, the bumpers were removed and the bodywork was painted dark gray. It raced in events throughout the central United States and helped Hoke win the E-Modified Midwest Division in 1961.

After the car was retired from racing, Hoke replaced the Maserati's straight-six engine with a Buick V-8. The exterior was painted silver and reupholstered the interior in black vinyl. In this guise, it was advertised for sale in the November 18th, 1967 issues of Autoweek. Bob Baker of Scottsdale, Arizona became the car's next owner.

The car remained with Mr. Baker until May of 1986 when it was sold to Joe Alphabet of Los Angeles. Years later, Mr. Alphabet acquired an Allemano-bodied A6G/54, chassis 2175. He removed the engine from 2175 and installed it in 2186. 2175 was later sold without a motor.

While in Mr. Alphabet's care, the Maserati remained in un-restored condition with work progressing slowly. In 2001, while still unrestored, it was sold to Gary Roberts. It changed hands once more before being sold to Dr. Rüdiger Stihl of Stuttgart, Germany. Dr. Stihl had Herbie Allemann of Gersau, Switzerland, complete the restoration and, in June 2007, sold the car to Claudio Scalise of Argentina.

By this point in history, the Maserati's original engine (numbered 2186, internal no. 98) was owned by Roberto Gorni, who had purchased chassis 2175 from the United States. In 2008, Mr. Gorni and Mr. Scalise agreed to exchange their engines, thereby returning both 2186 and 2175 to their original configuration.

With the car's original engine, the Maserati was re-restored in Vigonza, Italy. In May of 2014, the car made its restoration debut at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, where it was displayed in a special class celebrating Maserati's 100th anniversary. In September of 2014, the car was shown at Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille in France and was awarded Best in Class in the Maserati GT category. Soon after, it was acquired by its current caretaker. Since then, it was shown only once, at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, in August 2016.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2017