Vehicle Description
Chassis No. 2155
Engine No. 2155
In the pantheon of coachbuilt, post-war sports cars, the Tipo
A6G/2000 more commonly known as the A6G/54 sits in rarified air.
Alongside Allemano and Frua, the famous Carrozzeria Zagato provided
bodywork for this outstanding Maserati chassis with approximately
20 bespoke closed-roof Berlinettas produced by the Milanese design
house during the three years of A6G/54 production. With a
free-flowing, elegant Zagato design, this A6G/54 was clothed in
lightweight aluminum bodywork, with the silhouette showcasing a
purposeful form, its racing intentions, and, for this example
alone, the trademark Zagato "double-bubble roof." Hand-built with
custom coachwork, minute details vary on each A6G/54 providing a
unique opportunity to trace the lineage of a particular chassis
number through historical photographs and documentation.
Of course, no post-war Italian GT is simply about its looks, no
matter how alluring they may be. At the heart of Maserati's GT
Berlinetta was a 2.0-liter, dual overhead camshaft inline-six
cylinder engine derived from Maserati's A6GCS and A6GCM competition
cars. Three Weber DCO/3 carburetors fed the 1,986 cc engine and
with twin-spark ignition debuting in 1956, an increase in
horsepower to an impressive 160 hp. Naturally, a lightweight and
aerodynamic Italian GT with a race-bred engine would be designed
with all the componentry to support it with coil-sprung independent
front suspension with Houdaille lever-arm type shock absorbers,
hydraulic drum brakes, and Borrani wire wheels at all four
corners.
Understood to be the 17th of only 20 Berlinettas built by Zagato,
chassis number 2155, according to Walter B�umer's seminal work,
Maserati A6G 2000 Zagato, was delivered to the coachbuilder on 15
April 1956. Completed as a 3rd Series Berlinetta, it was returned
to the Maserati factory a month later, on the 15th of May. Built
for Luigi Fornasari to compete in the 1956 Mille Miglia, it was
delivered to Fornasari just days in advance of the start of the
famous and treacherous Italian road race. The owner of chassis
number 2150, Fornasari was intimately familiar with the A6G/2000
series of cars. B�umer recounts that Fornasari ran the car
unpainted, featuring all the raw hallmarks of its hand-formed
aluminum body, with a temporary rear window registration (BO59891)
from the Maserati factory either due to the narrow timeline before
its first race, or possibly that chassis number 2155 was loaned to
him by the factory. Along with his co-driver Gianfranco Roghi,
Fornasari left the starting line in Brescia with start number 311.
Hopes for a well-placed finish were dashed on the rain-slickened
roads of Ravenna with an accident that resulted in the brand-new
Maserati landing on its roof and a subsequent DNF. With all aboard
being spared serious injury, the Maserati was returned to Zagato to
be repaired, this time painted in Silver Metallic with a smaller
radiator opening, lowered headlights, a unique strip of alloy trim
running from the back of the front fenders to the door handle-the
only known A6G/54 Berlinetta from Zagato to receive this treatment
and a detail that would remain with the car until today. A period
photo included in the car's history file shows Fornasari's son
standing in front of the repaired Maserati with its unique
double-bubble roof profile in full view.
Later that year in June the car was sold to Roberto Federici based
in Rome. Less than a month later the car was purchased and
registered by Gianfranco Peduzzi. By September 1957 the Maserati
began competing again, this time in smaller road races and
hillclimbs. On most weekends throughout the racing season the
European Alps hosted numerous hillclimb contests and, with lower
entry and maintenance costs, they proved extremely popular even if
they were inherently more dangerous than traditional circuit
racing. B�umer's book indicates that the Aosta-Gran San Bernardo
Hillclimb was its return to racing on 1 September with start number
48 and entry by Giacomo Moioli of Verona, who commonly raced under
the pseudonym "Noris." Moioli was at the wheel once again later
that month at the Pontedecimo-Giovi Hillclimb with start number
306, finishing fourth in class, while its final race of 1957 saw
Natale Gotelli entered to pilot 2155 at the Trieste-Opicina
Hillclimb on 6 October 1957 but was classified with a likely DNS.
The report also contains correspondence between Zagato and Maserati
on behalf of Peduzzi regarding specific engine technical details,
likey surrounding a fresh engine break-in.
Upon completion of the repairs and while at Zagato, the car was
taken for a shake-down by none other than Gianni Zagato, who was
involved in a high-speed accident while performing his tests.
Subsequent correspondence between Zagato and Maserati beginning in
November of 1957 reveals the repairs done to the car and some
back-and-forth over the specifics and costs. Zagato smartly
capitalized on the situation by utilizing chassis number 2155 as a
design study for Maserati's upcoming 3500 GT. Period color
photographs on file show the new design, revised from previous
iterations and proudly on display. By the summer of 1958, the car
was racing again with Natale Gotelli at the helm at both the
Bolzano-Mendoa and Trento-Bondone hillclimbs. In 1959 the Maserati
was entered in two circuit races at Monza, both the Gran Premio
Lotteria on 28 June, finishing 11th in the GT class, and in the
Coppa Intereuropa on the 13th of September where it did not finish.
A fine third in the GT class at the Pontedecimo-Giovi hillclimb
rounded out the season and its racing career.
Over the next decade, the file records a successive chain of
Italian owners before the car was acquired by Enrico Bertotto
likely in the late-1960s. By 1977, a letter from Zagato to Maserati
recounts an inquiry by the current owner to restore it to the
original state with a request to Maserati for assistance in the
matter. In 1984 photographs document a restoration with a color
change to red with covered headlights and over the next decade, and
until the turn of the century it appeared at concours, exhibitions,
and in print in this configuration. Sold in Paris in the year 2000
to well regarded Maserati collector John Bookout of Houston, Texas,
the car was sent to Modena for a return to its 1958 configuration.
During the restoration a number of Modenese specialists
participated including Carrozzeria Autosport, Carrozzeria
Cremonini, Officina Giuseppe Candini, and Interni Auto Maieli,
handing the bodywork, paint, mechanicals, and upholstery
respectively. By 2005 the restored A6G Zagato was displayed at the
prestigious Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. Remarkably, after its
restoration and while still in Europe, Gianni Zagato was reunited
with the car, likely seeing it for the first time since 1958!
In 2008 Bookout parted ways with the car, passing it to a collector
also based in Texas. As documented by over 140 pages of invoices
and receipts, the car was entrusted to the experts at Paul Russell
and Company of Essex, Massachusetts to further refine both the
cosmetics and mechanicals. Beginning in January 2009, work began at
Paul Russell to prepare the car for the Pebble Beach Concours
d'Elegance and its highly discriminating judges. Over the next
eight months the craftsmen at Paul Russell's shop delved into all
areas of the Maserati, with particular focus on the mechanicals and
detail items unique to the car as well as cosmetic finishes that
are critical for concours judging. The fastidiousness of their work
was evident in a well-earned Zagato class award. In addition to
Villa d'Este and Pebble Beach this Zagato Berl...for more
information please contact the seller.
