Maserati 200S

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Maserati 200S at the Essen Motor Show 2013

The Maserati 200S , also Maserati 200 Sport , was a sports car prototype that was developed by Maserati in 1955 .

Development history and technology

Maserati began developing a 4-cylinder in- line engine as early as 1953 . There were two externally identical variants that differed in their displacement and bore-to-stroke ratio . The 1.5-liter variant was used in the 150S , the 2 -liter variant in the 200S.

Maserati did not have its own chassis and body concept for the 200S. The first 200S was a converted A6GCS , whose six-cylinder engine was replaced by the 2-liter 4-cylinder engine. The installation of a De-Dion rear axle was rejected. Since the driving characteristics of the car were not satisfactory after the first test drives, the following vehicles were built on 150S chassis. The first four chassis were made by Maserati, others were made by Gilco Design . The Spider bodies came from Fantuzzi and Celestino Fandri . 1957 followed the 200S by the 200SI .

Racing history

The 200S made its racing debut at the 1955 Imola Grand Prix , with Franco Bordoni-Bisleri at the wheel . Bordoni was unable to finish the race that his team-mate Cesare Perdisa won on a Maserati A6GCS due to a technical defect. The first finish came at the 1955 Venezuela Grand Prix with Luigi Villoresi and Roberto Mieres finishing sixth overall (the race was won by Juan Manuel Fangio in the factory Maserati 300S ).

Giuseppe Musso celebrated the first victory in the spring of 1956 at the Trofeo Vigorelli . This was followed by the success of Maserati test driver Luigi Bellucci at the Gran Premio di Napoli and second overall place for Perdisa and Stirling Moss in the 1000 km race from Monza behind the factory - Ferrari 500TR Touring by Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn .

The 200S have a long racing history. Between 1955 and 1966 there were 277 races with 19 overall and 31 class wins. The last use was the start of Pietro Termini at the Coppa Cittá di Enna in 1966 , which the Italian finished tenth overall.

literature

  • Maurizio Tabucchi: Maserati, All Grand Prix, Sports and GT vehicles from 1926 until today . Heel, Königswinter 2004, ISBN 3-89880-211-6
  • Anthony Pritchard: Maserati - the racing history . Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2008, ISBN 978-3-7688-2513-9

Web links

Commons : Maserati 200S  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1955 Imola Grand Prix
  2. ↑ 1955 Venezuela Grand Prix
  3. ↑ Met Vigorelli in 1956
  4. ^ Grand Prix of Naples 1956