Maserati A6G

Maserati
A6G 2000 with Pininfarina body
A6G
Production period:	1950-1954
Class :	Sports car
Body versions :	Coupé , convertible
Engines:	Otto engine : 2.0 liters (73 kW)
Length:	4100 mm
Width:	1560 mm
Height:	1350 mm
Wheelbase :	2550 mm
Empty weight :	1100 kg
Previous model	Maserati A6
successor	Maserati A6G / 54

The Maserati A6G was a street sports car that the Italian car manufacturer Maserati produced in small series from 1950 to 1954. It was alternatively known as the Maserati 2000 GT . The A6G was a further development of the Maserati A6 presented in 1947 . Compared to its predecessor, it had a larger, more powerful engine and independent bodies that were supplied by different body construction companies. The A6G was only produced in very small numbers. The revised version A6G54 , which was launched in 1954, was more successful .

History of origin

The Maserati company, founded in 1914, was mainly involved in automobile racing until the Second World War . Under the direction of Alfieri Maserati , many successful competition vehicles were created in the 1920s and 1930s, some of which Maserati brought to the start at the factory at motorsport events, but also sold to private customers. In individual cases, since the 1930s, Maserati also derived roadworthy sports cars from these competition models. These cars were individual pieces that were created on customer request; There was no series production of street sports cars until 1945. It was not until 1947 that Maserati sold the A6 (alternative designation: 1500 GT), the first street legal sports car. The car had Pininfarina bodies and was powered by a 1.5 liter engine. When designing the engine, Maserati had abandoned some features that had been common in its own racing engines for years in the interests of stability and ease of maintenance. This affected the engine output, which was only 65 hp (48 kW). The resulting poor performance, which remained below the level of the first Ferrari road vehicles, prevented the A6 from being successful. Its top speed was only 146 to 153 km / h, depending on the body and gear ratio. By 1950 Maserati had sold a total of 59 copies of the A6. In order to survive in the market, Maserati needed a more powerful car. A higher engine power should also enable heavier and more luxurious bodies, which could justify the high sales price of the Maserati. The result of these considerations was the A6G, which was also sold as the Maserati 2000 GT. It had a bigger engine with a 30 percent higher performance. Nevertheless, this model was even less successful than the original A6: from 1950 to 1953, only 16 copies of the A6G were made.

Engine and power transmission

Engine of the A6G 2000 GT

The Maserati A6G had an in-line six-cylinder engine with a displacement of 1954 cc. The engine was derived from the engine of the A6GCS racing car , which had appeared in 1947 and was based on the design of the A6.

For the A6GCS, Maserati had increased the displacement of the A6 engine initially to 1978 and later to 1988 cc. Unlike the 1.5 liter A6 engine, the block here was made of cast iron; this was indicated by the “G” in the model name (for ghisa , German: gray cast iron ). The mixture preparation was done by three Weber carburettors . The other design features remained unchanged for the A6GS, in particular the racing version only had one overhead camshaft and two valves per cylinder.

For the new street model A6G, Maserati used the engine of the A6GCS. The displacement was reduced slightly to 1954 cm³ (bore: 72 mm, stroke: 80 mm), the compression sank to a ratio of 7.8: 1. Many, but not all, of the engines in the series had cast-iron engine blocks; on some copies of the A6G, the block was made of aluminum regardless of the model name. Three Weber carburettors (type 36DO4 or 40DCO) were installed as standard. The engine output of the A6G was 100 hp (74 kW), which occurred at 5500 revolutions per minute. The power transmission took over a manual four-speed gearbox.

landing gear

The chassis of the Maserati A6G corresponded in every detail to that of the predecessor A6. It was considered extremely easy. The basis was a frame made of welded steel tubes, which was reinforced by cross bracing. The front wheels were suspended individually ; there were coil springs and wishbones at the front. At the rear, Maserati installed a rigid axle with leaf springs that came from Fiat's large-scale production .

Superstructures

There was no standard body for the A6G. The bodywork companies Pininfarina , Frua and Vignale manufactured different bodies for the A6G chassis.

Pininfarina

Maserati A6G with Coupé body from Pininfarina

Pininfarina dressed nine A6G chassis as hatchback coupes. The superstructures were very similar in profile to the Lancia Aurelia B20 Coupé , the design of which is usually attributed to the Ghia designer Mario Felice Boano . Pininfarina's Maserati bodies differed from one another in details. Among other things, this applied to the design of the front section. Some models had large, wide radiator grilles, while others had a narrow but high radiator grille. There were also differences in the car flanks. Sometimes they ran from the front to the rear in an uninterrupted line, other models had a slight kink in the area of ​​the doors. Pininfarina's designs for the A6G were "not considered a masterpiece"; in particular the ornaments and the massive grill, which made the car appear heavy, were criticized. In some cases, the Pininfarina cars were retrospectively perceived as inelegant or "clumsy".

Frua

Pietro Frua dressed a total of six A6G models from 1950. Five received a Spyder body, one was designed as a coupé. The Frua models were sold exclusively through the Roman Maserati dealer Mimmo Dei .

Spyder: First series

An early Maserati A6G Frua Spyder with "Monofaro" (1951)

The first three Frua-Sypder (chassis numbers 2015, 2017 and 2018) were still based on A6-1500 GT chassis, which were equipped with the engine of the A6 2000 GT. Nevertheless, they are assigned to the A6G series. In these three examples, the wheelbase was shortened by 10 cm; the cars were pure two-seaters. The body of these models was made of aluminum. They had a split windshield and a two-part bumper with a third headlight ("Monofaro") in the middle. This design feature was reminiscent of the similarly designed Maserati A6 GCS racing car . The dashboard was also taken from the 1500 GT. The first convertible (chassis number 2015) was taken over by the film director Elo Pannacciò , the second (2017) went to a customer from Rome, and the third car (2018), after Frua exhibited it at the 1951 Turin Motor Show, was sold to the Cuban General Motors importer Amadeo Barletta sold. All three Spyders from the first series still exist. They have now been restored and are shown at exhibitions from time to time.

Spyder: Second series

From the summer, two more Spyder were built, which differed in details from the first three vehicles. They had the full chassis of the A6G 2000 GT and were designed as 2 + 2-seater. The body of these versions consisted largely of sheet steel, only the doors and hoods were still made of aluminum. There were some stylistic changes. The windshield was now one-piece. The centrally positioned additional headlights were omitted. It was replaced by two small additional lights that were set into smaller ventilation openings to the left and right of the radiator grille. These two vehicles were sold to customers in Rome and New York , at least one of them still exists.

Gran Sport Coupe

Unique piece: Maserati A6G 2000 GT Gran Sport from Frua

In the winter of 1951/52, Frua manufactured a 2 + 2-seater coupé with hatchback, which was designated as the A6G 2000 Gran Sport (chassis number 2028), on behalf of Mimmo Deis . The roof section sloped down to the rear bumper. Compared to the Pininfarina Coupé, the closed Frua body was considered more balanced; its lines have been described as clean and simple. The design of the front section corresponded to the second series of Frua-Spyder. The car was exhibited at the Turin Salon in 1952 and then sold to the California entrepreneur Tony Parravano. In 1955 it was temporarily returned to Italy before being sold again to an American customer in 1962.

Vignale

Turin-based Carrozzeria Vignale built a single coupe on an early 2000 GT chassis (number 2031) in the fall of 1950. The initiator of the project was again Mimmo Dei. The body design came from Giovanni Michelotti . The car was a hatchback coupé with an "elegant, aerodynamic profile" that made the GT 2000 look lighter than Pininfarina's coupés when viewed from the side. Vignale also built similarly profiled bodies for Ferrari, especially for the 195 . The front section of the Maserati, on the other hand, was “heavily loaded with chrome ornaments”. The radiator cowling was clearly formed. There was a horizontal decorative strip above the bumper. Between him and the bumper, there were four vertical struts that looked like teeth on each side of the grille. The car was painted in two colors in its original form. The lower half of the car was painted a dark blue, while the upper part of the body was painted yellow. Vignales Coupé was presented at the 1951 Paris Motor Show. After the exhibition, the Frenchman Marcel Schwob d'Hérincourt took over the car, who together with Frédéric Albertini used it in individual motor sport events such as the Tour de France for automobiles in 1952 . The car was later parked in the USA before it was taken over and restored by an Italian collector in the 1990s.

Performance

The mileage depended on the respective structure. A maximum speed of 160 km / h is specified for the Frua-Spyder. A contemporary driving report on the Vignale Coupé spoke of a top speed of 190 km / h.

production

From 1950 to 1953, only 16 copies of the A6G were made. They were distributed over the chassis numbers 2013 to 2031.

The low level of production can be explained on the one hand by severe labor disputes at the beginning of the 1950s, as a result of which Maserati owner Adolfo Orsi laid off several hundred employees and thus caused the production facilities to come to a standstill. On the other hand, the still poor performance spoke against the A6G. The wealthy clientele, who could afford the high purchase price for an A6G, expected a sportiness from it that corresponded to the reputation of the successful Maserati racing cars. The A6G did not live up to these expectations. Ferrari's contemporary cars were significantly stronger and faster. The Ferrari 195 Inter from 1950 developed around 135 PS (99 kW), later export versions of the 212 came up to 170 PS (125 kW). In addition, some of the A6G superstructures looked cumbersome and did not cause a stir.

literature

• Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2012. ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 .
• Gianni Cancellieri et al. (Ed.): Maserati. Catalog raisonné 1926–2003 . Automobilia, Milan 2003. ISBN 88-7960-151-2
• Gianni Cancellieri: Maserati. All the cars. Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone 2015, ISBN 978-88-7911-609-1
• Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car. Zsolnay, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3 .
• Anthony Pritchard: Maserati. The history of racing , Delius Klasing, Bielefeld, 1st edition 2003, ISBN 978-3-7688-2513-9
• David Sparrow, Iain Ayre: Maserati Heritage . Osprey Classic Marques. Auckland 1995. ISBN 1-85532-441-5 .
• Tabucchi, Maurizio: Maserati. All Grand Prix, Sports and GT vehicles from 1926 until today. Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2004. ISBN 3-89880-211-6

Web links

Commons : Maserati A6G  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gianni Cancellieri: Maserati. All the cars. Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone 2015, ISBN 978-88-7911-609-1 , p. 79.
2. ^ ^{A b c d} Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2012. ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 , p. 23.
3. ^ ^{A b} Gianni Cancellieri: Maserati. All the cars. Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone 2015, ISBN 978-88-7911-609-1 , p. 86.
4. ^ ^{A b} Gianni Cancellieri: Maserati. All the cars. Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone 2015, ISBN 978-88-7911-609-1 .
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car . Zsolnay, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3 , p. 11.
6. ^ Gianni Cancellieri: Maserati. All the cars. Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone 2015, ISBN 978-88-7911-609-1 , p. 91.
7. ^ Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2012. ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 , p. 23 with images of various Pininfarina bodies on p. 18.
8. ↑ ^{a b c} Detailed description of the Frua models on the A6G chassis on the website www.pietro-frua.de (accessed on April 16, 2018).
9. ^ Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2012. ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 , p. 23 with images of various Pininfarina bodies on p. 20.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d} Gianni Cancellieri: Maserati. All the cars. Giorgio Nada Editore, Vimodrone 2015, ISBN 978-88-7911-609-1 , p. 87.
11. ^ ^{A b c} Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2012. ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 , p. 24.
12. ↑ Description of the Maserati A6G 2000 GT Gran Sport with various images from different years on the website www.pietro-frua.de (accessed on April 17, 2018).
13. ↑ The Maserati A6G 2000 GT Vignale Coupé on the website www.coachbuild.com (accessed April 17, 2018).
14. ↑ Overview of the chassis numbers on the website www.barchetta.cc (accessed on April 19, 2018).
15. ↑ Matthias Braun, Ernst Fischer, Manfred Steinert, Alexander Franc Storz: Ferrari road and racing cars since 1946 . 1st edition Stuttgart 2006 (Motorbuch Verlag). ISBN 978-3-613-02651-3 , p. 31 f.