Le Grande Sfide: Ferrari


Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari

John Chowaniak
Le Grande Sfide Ferrari Maserati !

"Hello Enrico, I was in Italy last week and had a chance to visit the new exhibit at Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari, The Great Challenges of Ferrari & Maserati. What an amazing collection, see enclosed photos. Our family currently does not own a Maserati but in the past we have owned nine pre 1972 cars. My father's first was a 3500 GTI he purchased in 1974 followed by a Ghibli, Mexico, Vignale Spyder, 2 more 3500 GTs another Ghibli, Quattroporte and finally a Mistral. We are long time enthusiasts and enjoy researching the history and collecting vintage automobilia about Maserati. I recently had the pleasure of meeting Mr Cozza for the first time at the Maserati stand in Padova last Friday. I will send you a few more photos of this event later in the week. All the best, John Chowaniak from Chicago."

John Chowaniak
outside the Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari

Exhibition poster

The magnificent Casa Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena

Designed by the late Jan Kaplicky

The magnificent Tipo V5 recreation

The truly spectacular display area

The magnificently crafted brass radiator grille

Maserati Tipo V5 (IZETA 001 Replica) "When the Maserati V5 disappeared from the scene, two engines modified for marine use remained, mounted on a boat by the Cantieri Baglietto shipyard for Count Theo Rossi di Montelera in 1933. The owner who was in charge of the V5 replica construction, recalls that it was fate that made him sit by chance at the same table as Piero Taruffi at an event which took place about thirty years ago. He was just a boy then and was impressed by the story of the accident at the Tagiura corner, which had left Taruffi with chronic pain in one of his legs, and by the particular characteristics of the Maserati V5, whose two engines, turning in opposite directions to one another, generated unpredictable torque reaction. Perhaps due to this meeting with the protagonist in the distant past, the decision was made to build a replica of the V5. The 5002 engine was purchased frm a collector in Milan and was the basis for recreating the car in the 1934 Tripoli GP version, using copies of the original drawings, done before a disastrous fire destroyed the Maserati Drawings Archive. The job took six years' work, from 1999 to 2005, with the precious collaboration of Gianni Torelli and Ermanno Cozza. To avoid misunderstandings, today and in the future, the chassis is clearly marked "IZETA 001". The only original Maserati marking is the "5002" on the engine. Maserati has authorised the use of the Trident logo on the front, which has been kept in unpainted brass, as a tribute to the skill and art of the panel-beater who made it."

Maserati A6GCS Sport 2000 #2086 (formerly #2057)

Il Tridente della Maserati

Maserati Tipo A6GCS Sport 2000 #2086 "This A6GCS is an example of the fascinating evolution and the metamorphosis that some cars from the 1950's. particularly racing cars, have lived through, unaware that they would be called upon to answer for their past and even less aware that they would survive for more than fifty years of history. As shown by documents preserved in the Maserati Historical Archive and research carried out and updated over the years, this car was originally one of the four A6GCS "Berlinetta Mille Miglia", with bodywork built by Carrozzeria Pinin Farina, on the initiative of Commendatore Guglielmo Dei, who was the Maserati dealer in Rome. In January 1954, Maserati supplied the complete chassis ready for the bodywork. #2057 was presented at the Turin Motor Show in Aprin 1954 on the Pinin Farina stand. It was returned to Maserati for test drives and then delivered to its first owner, Pietro Palmieri from Rome, in May 1954. Palmieri was a gentleman driver who drove the Berlinetta in competitions; he entered it for the XXI Mille Miglia, yet he did not start, and ws classified seventh at the Giro dell'Umbria. The Pinin Farina bodywork, considered to a timeless stylistic icon, was designed by a very young Aldo Brovarone as his first task when just a newcomer with the Turin bodymaker. It was a successful solution of style although with a problem of extremely limited interior space and an unbearable temperature inside. The car returned to Maserati before 1955, its original bodywork was removed and replaced with a "Barchetta" two-seater body by Fiandri in Modena. It has the peculiarity of the front part which is longer than those by Fantuzzi. On that occasion, Maserati uprated the engine, indicating on the build sheet the wording: "Engine A6GCS MM". The chassis was renumbered 2096. In this new variant, the car took part in many competitions for Guglielmo Dei's Scuderia Centro Sud. It was driven by famous racing drivers including Luigi Musso. When its racing career was over, it was used by Dei's "High speed driver's school". Louis Chiron and Pieri Taruffi were the most famous instructors there. In July 1968, some years after Scuderia Centro Sud was disbanded, Guido and Franco Artom purchased the Maserati A6GCS #2086 directly from Guglielmo Dei, together with the Pinin Farina Berlinetta body and other racing cars from the Scuderia. The car has remained in the Artom Collection since then."

1957 Maserati 200 SI #2428

Maserati Tipo 250F

1958 Maserati Tipo 250F engine

1958 Maserati Tipo 350 S #3503

1956 Maserati Tipo 450 S Prototype #4501

1957 Tipo 450S engine

Maserati Tipo 450 S Prototype #4501 "The history of the car presented here, the first Tipo 53 (350 S) chassis 3501, began on April 28, 1956 when Maserati entered Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson for the Mille Miglia, race number 554. After spinning off the road at Antrodoco, the car was refitted out in Modena as a prototype for the new 450 S series, identified as 4501, and with the new V8 5000 cc engine. With the new configuration, it was presumably tested by Jean Behra at the Modena Aerautodromo, and on August 12, 1956 was entered in the Swedish GP. It recorded the third fastest time in the qualifications, but did not take part in the race due to insufficient testin and in particular due to the strong vibrations, later corrected with different balancing of the crankshaft. For the new configuration it was necessary to lengthen the wheelbase by 40 mm, bringing it to about 2,360 mm, and intermediate size compared to the 2,400 mm of the later 450 S. At the end of the season, Maserati kept the car and it was shelved while the "mass" production of the 450 S had begun. There are unconfirmed stories about the car having made its debut at the Buenos Aires race, January 1957, driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss. It ended as a DNF due to transmission troubles, when every Ferrari was struggling in the distance. Having been shelved at the factory, the car was then sold in 1965 (without the engine, as shown by the Certificate of Origin issued at the time) by Maserati to an American client who had a Corvette V8 327 cu in engine fitted. It was bought by the present owner in 1981 in California. He presented the car to Maserati, as found, and then restored it with the assistance of the former Maserati Racing Team staff. The engine that has been installed is the 4519, originally a marine version of 6.4 litre displacement. The aluminium bodywork and the chassis are original. After its original identity as 3501 and 4501, it today bears the identity '350 SI No 10' supplied by the Company when it was sold in 1965."

Maserati Tipo 420M/58 'Eldorado'

Maserati Tipo 420M/58 'Eldorado' "Purchased by its present owner during the praisworthy salvaging of the Museo Maserati, the Eldorado was in the condition in which it had returned from the attempted qualifications (that did not make it through) at Indianapolis in 1959. The bodywork highly modified compared to the previous year, was painted in red, but the 1958 original was found at Carrozzeria Campana in Modena. Alejandro De Tomaso, then owner of Maserati, commissioned them to carry out the restoration in 1990, yet it was never started. Chassis, mechanics, suspensions and wheels were still in their original conditions. The bodywork was brought back to the shape of the 1958 500 Miglia of Monza by Campana, characterised by the rear fin, added for the first test to improve stability on the straight. Also the Eldorado decorations were recreated. It was driven, with great care, by Sir Stirling Moss at the 1998 Goodwood Festival of Speed. It needed a complete overhaul to become really driveable, even because the tyres were still those of 1959. However, it was an original vehicle of great significance and importance that roared once again after forty or so years. Today it has been completely restored to its original operational and aesthetic conditions."

Maserati Tipo 63 V12 #63002 SWB

Maserati Tipo 63 V12

The magnificent display...

...at the Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari

Maserati A6G/54 Berlinetta Zagato #2189 (ex 2118)

Maserati A6G/54 Berlinetta Zagato #2189 "The car was sold in January 1956, through the Maserati dealer in Rome, Guglielmo Dei, to Giuseppe Musso, born in 1920 and elder brother of Luigi (1924-1958). Giuseppe was a good gentleman driver. The car was finished in ivory and light blue livery, as it is today. The original s/n was 2118 and the body had the simpler lines of the early Berlinetta Zagato. The early owners were all gentlemen drivers, who drove it in many national races. In Spring 1957, the Count Alberto Magi Diligenti crashed the body in the Coppa della Consuma hillclimb. The car was returned to Maserati where it received a new, updated, Zagato Berlinetta body, was upgraded in the chassis and engine, and was stamped 2189. The 2118 identification was wiped out from the factory registers. Other Italian owners used the car for racing, mostly hillclimbs, till 1960. In the 1990's, it changed hands many times through collections in Hong Kong, USA and Europe. It was auctioned by RM in Monterey, August 1999. In 2004-2005, it was submitted to a substantial cosmetic overhaul at Dino Cognolato's workshop. The current owner acquired the car in 2008 and had used it regularly for tours, rallies, events, and spirited track driving where it always surprises people with its agility, acceleration and fabulous noise."

Beautifully presented historical photographs and documents

Juan Manuel Fangio's steering wheel

Juan Manuel Fangio's steering wheel This is the steering wheel from the Tipo 250F monoposto with which Juan Manuel Fangio won the F.1 German Grand Prix after having performed the drive of his life at the expense of the Lancia/Ferraris of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins. A legendary victory. After the race, the steering wheel was removed and kept at the 'Casa del Tridente' as a prestigious trophy.