1954 Maserati A6 GCS

Spyder
Chassis number: 2061
Engine number: 2061

There were a total of 52 examples of the A6GCS/53 created between 1953 to 1955. 48 were given Spyder bodies by Fantuzzi. 4 wore Berlinetta bodies by Pininfarina. The first example wore chassis number 2040.

This Maserati A6GCS is chassis number 2061 and originally raced in Europe by Cesar Perdisa. It was created in June of 1954 and featured left-hand drive configuration. It was given a Fantuzzi body in 1957 featuring a longer nose, headlight covers, and a headrest, similar to a 200 SI. It was purchased by Jack Reuter in 1968. The car was purchased in New York and upon taking possession, he drove it home to St. Louis. Under his care, the original engine was reunited with the car. The car was remain in his possession for the next 21 years.

It was purchased by its current owner in the late 80s or early 90s. In 1992 it competed in the Mille Miglia. In 2000 it was brought to the Monterey Historic Races. It returned to the Mille Miglia in 2001. In more recent times, it has been campaigned in the Shell Ferrari Historic Races.

by Dan Vaughan

Spyder by Frua
Chassis number: 2077

Maserati's postwar racing models significantly improved business for the company during the early 1950s. The first 6-cylinder model, the A6, was enlarged from 1500cc to 2-liters and given the name A6G, and then, in 1953, the engine was updated and tuned by Gioacchino Colombo, resulting in the more powerful 170 horsepower A6GCS, where the CS stood for Corsa Sport.

The famous Gioacchino Colombo, known for his work with Ferrari, joined Maserati in 1953. The Maserati A6GCS was produced from 1953 through 1955 with a total of 52 examples constructed - 48 were open spyders. The new car featured a new tubular chassis built by the engineering company Gilco in Milan.

The little 2-liter Barchetta won numerous races, including the 1953 Mille Miglia where it debuted, and where the Maserati cars finished first and second in class and third overall against brutal competition from the Mercedes and Ferrari teams. The A6GCS also had success at the Targa Florio and at Pescara as well as elsewhere in Italy, South America and the United Kingdom.

It was bodied by Carrozzeria Frua for the amateur Italian race driver Siro Sbraci. This car was built in 1954, and its first race was the 1955 Mille Miglia, where it finished in twelfth place and third in class. The car was imported into the United States and used for SCCS racing in the 1960s. After it retired, the car was purchased by Fred Simeone, who sold it to its current owner in 2001. The A6GCS has recently been restored to its condition and livery at the 1955 Mille Miglia.

Spyder
Chassis number: 2078
Engine number: 001

The Maserati A6 series of roadsters and berlienttas were built between 1947 and 1956.

This Series II A6GCS - A for Alfieri, 6 for six-cylinders, G for Ghisa or cast-iron block and CS denoting Corsa and Sports - competed as the Maserati works car for Luigi Musso for the entire 1954 season. Musso garnered six first-class wins and three overall wins during the season as well as second in class and third overall in that year's Mille Miglia. In 1955 the car was sold to Ricardo Grandio of Argentina and spent several years racing in South America. It returned to Italy in 1985 and in 1998 was acquired by its current owner, who has raced the car in historic events ever since.

Spyder
Chassis number: 2078
Engine number: 001

This Maserati is approximately the 25th of 52 total A6GCS examples built, and one of 41 barchettas bodied in a similar style by Fantuzzi and later Fiandri & Malagoli. It was completed in March of 1954 and was retained by the factory for Works competition. Its early racing history is not fully known as the exact chassis driven in each race was not often documented. It is believed to have been driven in various races by factory Grand Prix driver Luigi Musso. He placed 4th overall and 1st in Class at the Giro di Sicilia in April of 1954. About a month later he placed 3rd at the Mille Miglia, one of the six World Sportscar Championship rounds. At the Grand Prix Napoli in mid-May, he placed 1st overall followed by a 2nd overall finish and class win at the Targa Florio in late May.

It is believed that Musso drove two Works cars during 1954, and chassis 2078 may not have been raced until the later part of the 1954 season. The first outing for 2078 may have been at the 10 Hours of Messina in July of 1954, where brothers Luigi and Giuseppe Musso shared the car. This was followed by a class win at the Giro Calabria, and then a 1st in Class finish at the Circuit of Senigallia in August. It raced in September at the RAC Tourist Trophy held at Dundrod, one of the 1954 World Sportscar Championship rounds. Luigi Musso and Sergio Mantovani would finish 5th overall and 1st in the Sports 2000 Class earning Maserati two championship points that helped put Maserati above Porsche in that year's final championship standings.

It is believed it raced a week later at the Bologna-Passo della Raticosa hill climb driven by Cesare Perdisa to First in Class and 2nd Overall.

Maserati sold 2078 in February of 1955 to Ricardo Grandio of Argentina. It raced the Buenos Aires 1000 KM three times, winning its class and finishing 3rd overall in early 1955. Under the banner of the Equipo Presidente Peron, 2078 once again contributed points to Maserati's World Sportsar Championship bid, as the Buenos Aires race was the first round of the 1955 championship season.

In April of 1955, it finished in 3rd place at the Autodromo di Buenos Aires. A pair of third place finished followed at the Kilometro Lanzado-Autopista Ezeiza in December 1955, and the 500 Millas de Rafaela in June 1956.

After the 1958 Buenos Aires 1000 KM, it was sold to Alberto Gomez and then to his friend, Enzo Tasco. It is believed Tasco acquired the car without an engine. He later found an original A6GCS engine and installed it into 2078. It is believed to have been raced from 1964 to 1967 and during this time suffered front-end damage during practice at the Autodromo. It was subsequently sold to Guillermo Vago, when then sold it to Jorge Macome, who treated the car to a costly restoration. After the work was completed, he drove it in local street races.

Vago re-acquired the Maserati in late 1972, and a few years later, resold the car to Lucio Bollaert, Mr. Bollaert offered the Maserati for sale around 1983, with the old engine disassembled but complete. In 1984, it was purchased from Bollaert by Paolo Dabbeni of Brescia. It was entered in the 1986 Mille Miglia but mechanical failure forced an early retirement. By 1987 it had been purchased by Gianni Vitali, who ran the Maserati for six consecutive years in the Mille Miglia from 1987 to 1992 and once more in 1995. In 1996 it received its FIVA identity card.

In February 1998 the Maserati was sold by Vitali to the current American owner. Since then it has competed in the Monterey Historics five times, the Wine Country Classic three times, the Colorado Grand twice, and the Mille Miglia once, among many other events.

Crosthwaite & Gardiner produced a limited run of reproduction A6GCS engines using the old engine from 2078 as a template. Currently, 2078 is powered by one of these Crosthwaite & Gardiner units, which is numbered 001. The old 2078 engine, stamped as engine number 2078, remains with the vehicle.

by Dan Vaughan

The Maserati A6 Series was produced between 1947 and 1956 in various configurations including racing sports cars, single seaters, and grand tourers. The 1.5-liter straight-six engine was based on the pre-war Maserati 6CM and first appeared in the A6 Sport or Tipo 6CS/46.

The A6 GCS two-seater used a 2.0-liter straight six engine delivering 120 horsepower. The 'G' represented Ghisa, inexpensive cast iron block and the 'CS' was in reference to Corsa & Sports. The Maserati brothers had sold their company to the Orsi family in 1937, but Ernesto's project survived with the A6 1500 assuming its road-car form, and the A6GCS and A6GCM respectively performing sports and grand prix racing duties. Instead of following the original plan, the engine was made of aluminum.

In 1952, engineer Gioacchino Colombo was hired by Maserati and tasked with fine-tuning the A6GCS. Colombo worked on the engine, gave it twin-plug ignition, larger valves, and dual cam actuation. He replaced the first-series sports chassis with a monoposto chassis, which was widened to accommodate two seats. Nearly all examples wore barchetta coachwork designed by Fantuzzi. Over the following two years, 52 examples of the A6GCS/53 were built. An additional four berlinettas and one spider were designed by Aldo Brovarone at Pinin Farina for Guglielmo Dei who had acquired six chassis. Additionally, Vignale also made one spider and Frua made three Spider bodies.

At the 1953 Targa Florio, the A6GCS/53 finished in 2nd and 3rd place, following by a 2nd at the 12 Hours of Pescara, and winning several races at circuits like Caserta, Avellino, and the Giro dell' Umbria.

The A6GCS/53 was eventually replaced by the four-cylinder engined 200S. During its racing career, the A6GCS/53 was raced by many of the era's most famous drivers, Juan Manuel Fangio, Roy Salvadori, and Marquis de Portago.

by Dan Vaughan

Even though the company was not in financial difficulty, the Maserati brothers sold their shares of the company to the Orsi family from Modena in 1937. The headquarters were moved from Bologna to Modena. When they sold the company, the brothers had agreed to stay with Maserati for another ten years performing duties as chief engineers. In 1948, after their ten-year agreement was satisfied, they left the company and formed OSCA.

With the chief engineers gone, the company was positioned for failure, but the company did have a strong history and more importantly, they had a newly developed straight-six engine, courtesy of the Maserati brothers. The engine produced by Maserati brothers was nothing spectacular; the 1.5-liter power-plant produced 65 horsepower. It was, however, a good starting point and would prove to be very tunable in the years to come. The primary intention for the engine was competition, but Orsi understood that money needed to be made so that it could be spent. So Orsi commissioned a sports road car that could be produced for exclusive clientele.

In 1947 Maserati introduced the Maserati A6 with custom coachwork by Pinin Farina. Under the hood was the 1.5-liter single overhead camshaft engine matted to a four-speed gearbox. The steel tubular frame was suspended by a live rear axle and a front wishbone suspension. Even though Pinin Farina is noted for its elegant styling, its design of the A6 was not well received. Coupled with poor performance, the vehicle was not well received.

Modifications were performed on the engine resulting in an increase to 2 liters and 100 horsepower. Three updated versions of the A6 were displayed at the 1951 Paris Motorshow. The Berlina body styles were created by Pinin Farina and were the standard style; the Spider variants were created by Frua, and the Coupe was courtesy of Vignale. With all the mechanical improvements and body style options available, the two-liter A6 was poised for success. With only 16 examples created, the A6 proved it needed more work.

The famous Gioacchino Colombo, known for his work with Ferrari, joined Maserati in 1953. His first task was to modify the A6GCM to include a DOHC valve train, dual-spark ignition, and more. Horsepower rose to nearly 200. The success of Maserati in racing was heightened with the new engine and new drivers such as Fangio, Gonzalez, Marimon, Bonetto, and de Graffenried. Fangio had won the 1953 Italian Grand Prix driving a Ferrari.

The third iteration of the A6 occurred in 1954, dubbed the A6G/54. This was the same year for the introduction of the Maserati 250F, which, in the hands of the capable Fangio won the Argentine Grand Prix on its debut. The A6G/54 was outfitted with a competitive engine and wonderful styling from Frua and Zagato. Production lasted until 1954 with multiple types of body styles being created. One of the most memorable body styles was the 19 lightweight Zagato bodies which could often be seen at race tracks. All of the Zagato hand-formed body styles were unique, even the interior.

The Maserati A6GCS was produced from 1953 through 1955 with a total of 52 examples being constructed. Four where Berlinetta bodies by Pininfarina while 48 were in Spyder configuration and bodied by Fantuzi. The A6GCS was very important to Maserati and scored many victories for the marque. In 1953 the A6GCs won its class at the Mille Miglia in its inaugural debut.

The Maserati A6G/2000 was produced from 1954 through 1957 with 60 examples being created, all receiving custom bodywork from prestigious coachbuilders such as Zagato, Pinin Farina, Vignale, and others. Serafino Allemano constructed twenty-one examples of the A6G/2000. All of these cars were equipped with the DOHC engines. The A6G/2000 is sometimes referred to as the A6G/54. These second series cars used many mechanical components from its predecessor, such as its twin parallel tube design. The engine, however, had been modified which resulted in an increase in horsepower.

The A6G/54 was replaced by the 3500 GT. The A6 endured many growing pains but by the final iteration, the A6 variants were respectable and stylish machines. With the mechanical prowess of Colombo and the driving talent of Fangio and others, Maserati could continue to provide competition on the race track. While back at home, the A6 provided the bread-and-butter to continue racing and further development.

by Dan Vaughan