Chassis n°2071
Engine
- Delivered new in France
- 6th overall and first in class in the 1954 Tour de France Automobile
- Full transparent history, documented racing provenance
- One of the most authentic examples of the A6 GCS in existence
In 1947, the contract between the Maserati brothers and the Orsi family concerning the running of the company expired and management of Maserati became the sole responsibility of the latter. Before finally leaving the company bearing their name, the brothers Ernesto, Ettore and Bindo Maserati developed a new model, the "1500 Gran Turismo", Tipo A6 (for "Alfieri" and "6-cylinders").
This had an unusual Pinin Farina body with retractable headlights and a 1.5-litre OHC six-cylinder engine. The engineer Alberto Massimino had also been involved in the project, to ensure technical continuity after the founders of the marque left.
During this post-war period, there was a renewed involvement in racing, and the A6 engine served as a base for other versions used in competition cars. Thus, the A6G CS (G for "ghisa", cast iron block, and CS for "Corsa Sport") was fitted with a 2-litre version of the same engine, housed in a minimalist two-seater body with a single central headlight and cycle wings, designed by Medardo Fantuzzi.
This triple carburettor CS version was capable of 130 bhp at 6 000 bhp. This car was also tested with the twin-cam engine designed in 1951 by Massimino for the A6GCM (Corsa Monoposto), a Formula 2 single seater that ran in the World Championship from 1953.
Gilco was given the task of building the chassis. It had a fairly classical design with a triangular front axle and a rigid rear axle with leaf springs. This was well thought out and the car proved to be powerful and versatile.
It was in 1953 that the model found its perfect form. Having left Maserati for Stanguellini, Alberto Massimino left a space that was filled by Gioacchino Colombo, known for his work at Alfa Romeo, and the future designer of the V12 Ferrari engine that took his name.
Colombo perfected the development of the twin-cam, twin-ignition six-cylinder engine adapted for the sports version, and with its lightly modified suspension, this became the A6GCS/53. Marketed as the " Maserati Sport 2000 ", the car was capable of 170 bhp at 7 300 rpm. It received a totally new body, again designed by Fantuzzi, that abandoned the " cycle wings " in favour of a more enveloping form that was both aerodynamic and elegant.
In this configuration, the A6GCS/53 barchetta worked wonders. 52 examples were built (including 47 Fantuzzi barchettas), and this lightweight car became a ferocious and feared competitor in hillclimb and road race events, such as the Mille Miglia (class win in 1953 and third overall in 1954) and the Targa Florio.
This was a historically important model, both aesthetically and technically, laying the foundations for Maserati's revival in competition after the Second World War. It also gave rise to the future 200 S.
La Maserati A6 GCS #2071 we are honoured to present is well known by historians and marque experts including Walter Baümer, Adolfo Orsi and Richard Crump. They agree that this is one of the best and most authentic Maserati A6 GCS in existence, with continuous history from when it left the factory to the present day.
They also note that despite the long list of races that it has participated in since 1954, the car has never been involved in a serious accident. This description has been made from their archives and information.
#2071 left the factory on 13 May 1954 to be delivered to its first owner, Jean Estager, a gentleman driver who had taken part several times in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Tour de France. With close friend Louis Rosier, the celebrated semi-official driver for Maserati and Talbot, and amateur driver Maurice Michy, he belonged to the Equipe d'Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrant.
At the start of May 1954, when the factory informed him that his car was ready, he sent his mechanic and truck to take delivery of the Maserati, painted French blue, having settled the bill of three million French francs. However, on arriving at the factory, the mechanic found that the car was not yet fully assembled. Estager instructed him to help with the work outstanding in order to familiarise himself with the car. When #2071 was finally completed it was tested on the circuit at Modena. Following this development session, the engine was taken out for various adjustments to be made and re-installed. Adolfo Orsi mentions that the factory sheet for #2071 includes the following mention : " the engine is the one that was fitted to Musso's car for the Mille Miglia ". This engine, n°2043, had allowed Luigi Musso to finish 3rd in the legendary race in May 1954. Following a full rebuild, while Musso's car was at the factory for repair work, the engine, re-numbered once by the factory #2071, was fitted to chassis #2071. This information also appears in the excellent book " Italian Car Registry " written by John de Boer and Luigi Orsini.
#2071 was finally delivered to Estager's mechanic, registered 'BO34934', in the name of a certain Rinaldo Tinarelli de Milan, no doubt an intermediary to avoid customs duties between Italy and France. Incidentally, this transaction was carried out through the factory while the car remained in the hands and control of Estager.
Newly completed and finally running, the car was transported to Planfoy, a village near Saint-Etienne, to take part in its first hill-climb on 16 May, with Michy at the wheel. He finished 11th in the event won by Charles Pozzi in his Talbot Lago 4,5L. This was the first of multiple races that season. On 20 May at the Circuit d'Orléans it finished 3rd, driven by Michy, and a few days later, driven by Estager and Michy, in the Hyères 12 Hours, it failed to finish. The following week, Estager competed in the Grand Prix de Picardie under race number 21, and finished 3rd. On 18 July, #2071 lined up for the GP des Sables d'Olonne and won the race ahead of Georges Monneret in his A6 GCS. On 25 July, #2071 took part in the Portuguese GP in Lisbon. Michy was driving alongside three other A6 GCS factory cars. The Ferrari 750 Monza of Gonzales won the race and our A6 GCS was forced to retire with a mechanical problem.
On 12 September, Estager entered #2071 in the Tour de France Automobile with his mechanic, Jean Proto, as co-driver. Over the course of this race, covering 5000 km, they encountered many different mechanical issues all resolved by the mechanic. After an exhausting race, they finished in 6th place, giving Maserati a class win. The final race of the season was on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. On 25 September 1954, Estager entered #2071 for the Goodwood International in the 2-litre category, but the car never appeared. The car's last race in its blue livery was the Grand Prix Penya-Rhin in Barcelona, with Maurice Michy driving, on 23 October 1954 (race number 12) while Jean Estager raced for Ecurie Rosier in a Talbot Lago T26 GS. Such an excellent racing pedigree then took the car to South Africa where Estager drove it superbly.
Walter Baümer tells us that in 1955, #2071 was overhauled, re-liveried and fitted with a head-rest and long nose at the factory. It was then sold by the factory to Amelio Garavaglia of Milan on 20 June 1955. Five days later the car was registered MI274932. On 3 July 1955, its new owner entered #2071 in the 24.5km hill-climb at Bolzano-Mendola where it finished in 5th place overall out of 107 entrants. The event was won by Castellotti in a 2-litre Ferrari. Our car then participated in the Tour de Calabre on 21 August but didn't finish. Following the Treponti-Castelnuovo hillclimb in which it ran with number 146, the car competed at Monza on 19 March 1956, finishing 4th behind the winner, Giuseppe Musso, in another A6 GCS. Following these events, Garavaglia acquired a Maserati 150S and sold #2071 on 20 April 1956 to a fellow enthusiast from Milan, the driver Ambrogio Arosio. On 18 April 1956, Arosio entered the 1000 Miglia in #2071 but the car had to retire early on. On 24 June, Arosio finished 16th in a race at Monza. The car was still registered MI274932 and on 23 May 1957 it changed hands, selling to Alfonso Catella, and then again on 26 September of the same year to Luigi Monteverdi registered at the Automobile Club de Milan, through the intermediary Saigarage Servizi. #2071 appeared on the other side of the Atlantic in the Caracas GP in Venezuela for the last race of the season, part of the World Sportscar Championship. Azzuro Manzini, a dynamic Italian dealer, had rented the car after it had had a long nose and covered headlights fitted and been repainted white with red stripes. Manzini teamed up with Ottavio Guarducci, a regular Mille Miglia participant, and the car was entered as the Ecurie Madunina Venezuela. It took part in practice, as number 34, but finally did not appear for the race. This was an event that finished badly for Maserati, with most of their cars suffering accidents, allowing Ferrari to clinch first place in the Championship.
#2071 sold in Venezuela shortly afterwards. It was found a few years later for sale for the sum of USD 13,800. In 1961, a Californian acquired the car and exported it to the US. He kept it until 1977, parked outside at a coconut plantation in La Jolla. The car was trailered to Laguna Seca in totally unrestored condition (there is a photo of the car on the trailer showing the price), where it sold to Richard Crump, the celebrated marque expert and author of several books on Maserati. Crump sent the car to be restored in England before selling it in February 1985 to a German collector living in Germany. The new owner entered the Mille Miglia in 1986 and shared the drive with Stirling Moss, who still holds the average speed record at the most prestigious race in Italy, in his Mercedes 300 SLR in 1955.
In 1992, the car was acquired by a collector from Boston who drove it extensively in historic race events such as the Ferrari/ Maserati Challenge and the Mille Miglia between 1993 and 2008 and again in 2014. It then sold, through Gregor Fisken, to the current German collector, who happened to be the same collector who had owned it between 1985 and 1992 !
The history of this Maserati #2071 is remarkably well documented, having started its life in France and crossed the finish line of the Tour de France Automobile in 1954. It has continued to compete on the biggest circuits in Europe and on the other side of the Atlantic, without coming to harm. It has kept its original engine, after being restored to the highest standards. The car has spent time in the hands of one of the marque's great historians, and the current owner, who also owned it between 1985 and 1992, has now decided to part with it. This is a vehicle that clearly has a passport to the Mille Miglia and other historic race events around the world, Laguna Seca and Tour Auto to name just two.