Maserati 200SI

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maserati 200SI
Rear view of a 200SI; The locks for the trunk are clearly visible

The Maserati 200SI was a sports car prototype developed by Maserati in 1957 .

Development history and technology

The 200SI was the racing version of the Maserati 200S used from 1957 . The type designation SI was the short form of Sport Internationale . In 1957, new technical regulations came into force for international sports car races, which were also used in the races of the sports car world championship that year . The 200S were sports cars with a 2-liter, 4-cylinder in- line engine . The new regulations demanded closer proximity to road traffic again; with only a few changes, racing cars had to be able to be used as road vehicles. The 200SI therefore had an alibi top that was removed before racing, windshield wipers and a trunk that had to fit a suitcase.

New chassis were built for the 200SI; Gilco Design took over the production . The Spyder bodies all came from Fantuzzi .

Racing history

The 200SI was driven by both the Maserati factory team and private teams. In April 1957, Giorgio Scarlatti was third in the Giro di Sicilia, behind Olivier Gendebien in the Ferrari 250 GT and team-mate Piero Taruffi in the 300S . The first win for this Maserati model came two weeks later in the US , where Jim Kimberly won a national sports car race. Franco Bordoni-Bisleri celebrated his first success in Europe in June 1957 at the Grand Prix des Frontières .

Although the 200SI won a few races, including Nino Vaccarella won the 1959 Pergusa Grand Prix and Willy Daetwyler 1957 in the overall standings of the European Hill Climbing Championship , the 200SI is one of Maserati's rather moderately successful cars. Above all, there was a lack of countable successes in the major sports car races, such as the Targa Florio , the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans , or the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring .

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 200SI  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Giro di Sicilia 1957
  2. ↑ 1957 Grand Prix des Frontières
  3. ^ Grand Prix of Pergusa 1959