...a real classic Maserati!

Numbers may tend to mislead?

A fully informed study needs to be patient and review everything before coming to any firm conclusions. What I have indicated above is not the last word on any of this. But it is a "most likely" description of a portion of what took place during a confused time that was not limited to post-war Maserati production and component use.

One car numbered "1555" was indeed a 4CL by 1939. Although seemingly born as a 4CM that used engine N. 1554, it was fitted with engine N. 1572 when it became a 4CL ... at least, by the time anybody seems to have begun keeping track. It is not impossible that there was very little of the original 4CM remaining in the 4CL? I've found no indication that any 4C engine carried the number "1555".

At the moment I wonder if there was one engine or two that were numbered "1555".
What seems clear:

There was at least one engine N. 1555 that was a 6C and formed the basis of the Sport 1500 car built for Angiolini. The number "1555" also became assigned conveniently to the special chassis built for Angiolini.

"Reconstruction" during the immediate postwar years in Italy resulted in many special cases of hybrid cars (and creative number use) that employed various combinations of prewar parts married with newly made components. "New components" included, on occasion, chassis and bodies. Even without knowing all the specific details it is clear that this car was less hybrid than some and more hybrid than others. The owner of the gearbox and rear end explained (May, 1999) that they would be most appropriate for a 4CLT. I did not agree but did not say so at the time. And, I did not take measurements of what was there. I was merely seeing cars & parts and collecting information. I'll try to see if I have any photos that can be shared.

Because Maserati clearly played a very loose game with chassis numbers during the race-car building years under Orsi, it is always risky to base one's thinking on a simplistic review of numbers alone.

In this case there are some potential confusions, as there are in many others. The 6CM N. 1556 reportedly existed in England some time ago with engine N. 6CM N. 1555. The same owner also reportedly had the chassis N. 1557 with engine N. 1556. I've not had direct confirmation of this from the actual owner. One of the cars may have moved on? Or both?

My listings are an amalgamation of information collected from many sources. Because numbers are only clues that do not always have the same meaning for everybody who reports them, and because not everyone bothers to check them carefully before reporting, I cannot always know the context of what has been reported. I do not know if the engine N. 1555 was sold perhaps from Italy to become united (or reunited?) with chassis N. 1556. It could also be that there are two engines numbered "1555". I can think of many other "could be" scenarios as well.

At the moment it seems most likely that:

1) There was a 4CM numbered "1555" that carried engine "1554" when built 1938 and used until 1939 when it became a 4CL with engine "1572". This car was last reported to be in Australia.

2) There was a 6CM numbered "1556" that carried engine "1555" and which perhaps carried that engine its whole life or perhaps lost it for a period of time? This car was last reported to be in England but perhaps went to Australia as well?

3) There was a sport 1500 car built 1947 for Angiolini using the chassis and engine numbers "1555" on a chassis built by "Caiani" (also reported as "Cavoni") with a body by Fantuzzi. It was given a certificate of origin by Maserati on 28 March 1947 and seems to have been a special built at least partially in-house. Numbered mechanical parts of what I presume to be this car were last reported to be with two different owners in Italy. The owners of the parts may not agree that this car was the source of the parts?

 

Walter,

I don't know why you want to think that this is a confused case. I've already acknowledged that there is potential for uncertainty. The most honest review will acknowledge that we do not know all the details. Some details have been reported by Luigi Orsini, Franco Zagari, Andrea Curami, Piero Vergnano, Richard Crump, Corrado Millanta and Rob de la Rive Box. We have some Maserati ledger information, not all of which is easy to interpret and not all of which tells the whole truth. We can make certain educated guesses based on those reports while knowing something of the car-building culture of the time and based also on what has turned up in more recent times. There could be errors in any part of this, beginning with what was reported by previous authors and historians, not all of whom are able to tell us how convinced they were of their own sources.

Lorenzo Boscarelli did some research on this car more than 25 years ago following the ACI paper trail and determined that the car no longer existed as a car. Although not infallible, I tend to believe his research. I've not followed it further but Lorenzo indicated the car's trail finished in Alessandria. I would have to check to confirm but it is not unlikely that he spoke with somebody involved to arrive at this conclusion.

The car was registered 2 April 1947 in Modena to Angiolini and then was sold in August to Giuseppe Varzoni of Pavia. The hand-writing on the ACI documents can be difficult to read! During Varzoni's legal ownership, it was raced by Felice Bonetto (photo appearing above with race #4) at Pescara and Ascari also sat in the car long enough to be photographed in it.

Failing to follow the letter of law, the car was not re-registered with its new owner until 13 December in Pavia. It is not unlikely that this Pavia registration was done merely in order to sell the car on once again. And it would be normal for the new Pavia registration to have been reported back to the Modena licensing authorities some time after the actual issuance of the Pavia plate so this probably explains your "January 1948" statement? In any case, it was recorded as sold again early in 1948 and was then re-registered in Alessandria.

If you would like to believe that an engine, gearbox and rear end, each marked "1555" have no significance or importance to the origins of this car, you are welcome to your opinion. I cannot be certain and would have to go have a more focused look at them all in order to venture a more informed opinion. I can say that a "low-torque" supercharged 4C engine might be made more suitable for the street (and unsupercharged racing) with a change in compression ratio and cam timing. But, since you are comparing 4 cylinder supercharged Maserati racing engines against a 6 cylinder non-supercharged engine (although perhaps born supercharged?), I'm not sure I see that there is any meaningful point that is made here? Maserati would have known what it would take to turn one of these engines into a normally aspirated engine that would perform well enough against the competition of the day. And, since the "sport" category was not limited to 1500cc in many cases, we cannot even be certain that the engine was not enlarged at times. Angiolini flipped the car during his second outing in the car and it was reportedly rebuilt by Tinarelli before it was sold to Varzoni.

It is unfortunate that the 1975 book Maserati Sports, Racing & GT Cars 1926-1975 by Richard Crump and Rob de la Rive Box placed this car (1555) and Barbieri's similar car (1543, also on a non-typical chassis that was reportedly quite different to that of "1555") under the heading "Tipo A6-1500" as neither car had anything really to do with the actual A6-1500. The layout makes some folks tend to believe that there was a real relationship when they shared very little. Unless it suits your agenda to believe they differed only slightly? To me, they all seem to be unique individuals. Even the A6.

 

Perhaps the only car to have a genuine claim on the "Tipo 6CS46" moniker? Even so, I tend to think of "1555" as being a similarly conceived and built car. Probably private monies driving some work at Maserati and some work outside of Maserati? It seems likely that the engines and/or paperwork identities were owned by privateers and that this is why the identities were as they were. Maserati had the authority to issue chassis numbers and certificates of origin and it probably was convenient to use a pre-existing number in the case of "1555". Unlike "1555", there was road-registration paperwork for 1543 already from the 1930's so there was no real need to create a new origin. In fact, there was a built-in depreciation that may have been desirable from a taxation standpoint?

John

 

Blue with blue seats: which car could this be?
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#073 after restoration at Lachiara, now in England.

 

The A6G 1500 is a gorgeous car and contemorary with the Cisitalia 202 but designwise and looking at the beuty of the design I venture to say that the Cisi is the prettier car.... What puts them apart is the profile and the "hips" above the rear wheels.. The Maser hasnt got that... Many Stab Farina designs of that period had a similar design... Another car with the Cisi/a6g/ design is the Fiat 1100S Pinin Farina... Extremely similar to the A6G in design and constuction but with shorter bonnet and also much rarer than both the Cisi and A6G...

But they were all well ahead of the aurelia ... and prettier too..

Nik

 

Further to earlier posts in this thread (441-448, 454, 497-500 and 503-527), Mr Sereix has kindly sent to me some additional photos of his father's car in action, apparently again during the second race at Montjuich on 6 March 1949.

Although these photos are really wonderful and very evocative, I cannot see any further clues that might clarify whether this is #051, #054 or both (after renumbering). Anyone else ?

Happy new year !

Don
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Walter,

After looking at all of the photos in prior posts, I just do not see any difference in the grill or the wipers. The wipers in these cars operate separately on each side and must be parked manually, so their position is not indicative.

Around 1951 we know that several of these cars were modified for competition, for example #083. It seems quite possible to me that the car in your post 642, which you identify as #054 in 1952, could be the Sereix car, which was obliged to return to Italy for licensing reasons in 1950. Removal of the bumpers and driving lights, and the addition of a hood scoop, bonnet straps and front indicator lights are easily done. Aside from color, I see no other differences in these cars, and there is one important similarity - small vents on each side of the grill, just above the bumper location, which are not to my knowledge present on any other A6 1500.

It seems that this question of whether they are the same car cannot be resolved without photos showing the rear of the car. Mr. Sereix states with certainty that his father's car had the 'bubble' rear window which I believe to be unique to the 1947 Geneva show car, believed to be #051. Unfortunately the rear window is not visible in photos said to depict #054. It seems possible to me that these could be the same car, renumbered, since the modifications required to remove the hidden headlights of #051 would have been extensive.

We need more photos !

Don

 

Wouldn't it also be calling the difference between these two models is with and without rear quarter window. In my opinion the Sereix car does not have that window.

 

truly a beautiful machine
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To the best of my knowledge, the only car in this early body style with the rear quarter window (i.e. two side windows) is #053. Definitely the Sereix car has only one side window.

To the best of my knowledge, the only car with the rear "bubble" window is #051.

I provided photos of the rear of #051 and #053 to the younger Mr. Sereix, similar to those in post 644. Mr. Sereix responded:
"In looking at pictures of the 1949 Maseratis you refer to, I notice that my father car had a distinctive direrence and that was the rear window. It was not flat and following the roof line but rather like a buble, very round. I know becouse since the car was a two seater, I had to travel in that flat area behind the seats several times some times on quite long trips."
"It is definitly like the first picture [i.e. #051]. For some reason the picture makes the car look longer than it was but the rear window absolutly was like that and not like the second."

I've looked hard at photos of the Sereix car, which are unfortunately all from the front or front quarter, yet I cannot say with any certainty whether the rear window is flat or the "bubble". But I believe what Mr. Sereix says - the difference between the two rear window styles is considerable, and there is nothing to be gained from saying it is one or the other.

As described in one of my earlier posts, the mystery cars for me are #051 and #054. I believe that the Sereix car was one or the other, and maybe they were both the same car given the scope of modifications between the 1947 Geneva show and the 1952 Ospedaletti race.

Don

 

God those are ugly Walter. Quite literally "butt ugly".

 

Apparently not familiar with how the rest of the automotive universe handled styling in the early days of envelope bodies, or the challenges of the early postwar years in Italy. The blue one (#053) was considered nice enough for "Evita" Peron. Admittedly the later body style starting with #056 is better proportioned.

 

# 068 by Bonhams at Paris, next 5 February:
http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=4850592&iSaleNo=19137&iSaleSectionNo=3

 

...more understanding of the era on your part would change your opinion. Compare your opinion to what was made in the US or Europe at that time.

 

Thanks, very interesting that this one has floated to the surface again.

The phrase "presented in original, unrestored and unmolested condition" has never been more abused.

 

Or even compare the A6 1500 to what Ferrari's coachbuilders were doing at the same time. No wonder Enzo switched to Pinin Farina. Thanks to Boudewijn for the terrific photo.

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OK let reconsider them ... still butt ugly. I love loads of vintage cars but not these two. Just my opinion though.