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'El Maestro, nee Five-times world champion Juan
Manuel Fangio at the controls of his Maserati 250F. (Image source:
f1fanatic.co.uk)
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Y'all know that proverbial sayin' said here
repeatedly in Nofendersville, right? As in Ah, Time sure does Fly By! As can it
really be already seven years since I've been to my last Italiano car show outing? SHEISA! Which I scribbled 'bout
'Wayback in 'Twenty-oh-Seven the following;
Which was preceded by the year's prior most enjoyable
outing, albeit not overly great location, along with having had to ride home
from the show in a BITCHIN' De Tomaso Pantera GT5! Which I'd also scribbled
'bout in;
And thus, as I searched my mental data banks
for Maserati memories, I'm a bit embarrassed to acknowledge that two of my
initial Flashbacks were for another Italian marque which probably doesn't get a
lot 'O respect either, as the two vehicles I'd remembered were Alfa Romeo's
instead; YIKES!
Hence, it seems a bit farcical to think I
could adequately portray Maserati's storied Centenary history in a single
blog-post, as the Italian auto manufacturer under the ultimate control of Fiat
the past two-decades plus, is rightly this year's honoured marque at the Rolex Monterey
Motorsports Reunion in beautiful Monterey, CA.
As history denotes, the Maserati Automobili
concern was incorporated on December 1st, 1914 in Bologna, reportedly having
been formed by Maserati brothers Alfieri, Ettore and Ernesto, albeit
there were seven brothers in total; Aye Karumba!
With Carlo, the eldest dying in 1909, while
Mario was the artist behind the Marque's revered Trident emblem, as Bindo seems
relatively unknown, whilst Alfieri
I died at the age of one.
Apparently Maserati's initial foray into auto
racing commenced 'Wayback in 1926 when Alfieri was at the controls of one of their earliest
models en route to winning that year's Targa Florio! Yet sadly, Alfieri died in 1932
whilst the other brother's continued on with the company's business of motoring.
And whilst I'm not overly familiar with the
4CL or 4CLT's history, nevertheless I know about them vaguely due to their
association with Grand Prix racing beginning in the late 1930's and continuing
thru the early 1950's when today's modern Formula 1 championship began, as the
name Reg Parnell comes quickly to mind after having done a few stories on the
inaugural F1 championship race, the British Grand Prix, circa 1950.
And I also recall scribblin' briefly about
the Maserati's success here Stateside in arguably our most historic race, thy
Indianapolis 500 where Wilbur Shaw won twice
in-a-row (1939-40) aboard the Boyle Maserati 8CTF, a year prior to the outbreak
of World War II. As Shaw came tantalizingly close to an unheard of Hat-trick,
while Shaw and Maserati became the first to win the race Back-to-back.
Maserati's zenith in motor racing was
unquestionably El Maestro, nee the legendous' Juan Manuel Fangio's clinching of
the 1957 Formula 1 world championship in the stunningly beautiful 250F racecar,
which for Mwah, is the most alluring front engine F1 racer of all-time!
As there's a pretty good detailed report of this striking racecar regaled
in; Maserati250F
While I seem to recall having seen the ex-Dan
Gurney and Stirling Moss white Birdcage Tipo 61's in action at what forever
will be fondly known as the Hystericals' during a few of my visits during the
late 1990's. As Maserati had essentially quit racing after Fangio's then record
fifth title...
Meanwhile, on the production side, I'm really
not very well acquainted with Maserati's linage, albeit have always had a
quirky admiration for the much heckled Biturbo, whilst I still remember
foolishly trying to play chase with a co-worker's mid-engine Bora.
As we left for a leisurely lunch at Arnie's
in Downtown Mukilteo, with a much, much younger Tomaso at the wheel of his gold
1978 280Z, with Randal, "Thy Moniker King" ridin' Shotgun. I unwisely
accelerated to 85mph on the Freeway as the black Bora simply walked away from
us, becoming just a spec in the distance as I decided to wisely decelerate for
the fast approaching sweeper's of said Freeway instead! While also having noted
previously spotting a OSCA at a past Concourse Seattle event...
Unfortunately, the Maserati brothers were
forced to sell their company to the Italian Industrialist Adolfo Orsi in 1937, having
fall en into financial difficulties, albeit remaining involved in the
engineering side during a further ten years contract before being able to
break-away from underneath Orsi's grasp.
Next they formed OSCA, which I'd always
thought was derived from their first names initials, (all these years) but
having finally looked I-T up, now know that it stood for Officine
Specializzate Costruzioni Automobili - Fratelli Maserati SpA instead; OOPS!
Although OSCA, as it was known for short was indeed formed by the Maserati
brothers Ernesto,
Ettore and Bindo - and survived for two decades before being
disbanded, , as I was also unawares that Sir Stirling Moss and co-driver Bill
Lyon had won the Sebring 12 Hours aboard an OSCA in 1954.
Falling on hard times, (again) first the
Italian government saved the company from Orsi's demise, who ultimately sold
out to Citroen in 1968, with the French auto manufacturer pumping new life (and
models) into the brand before being struck by the OPEC Oil Embargo of 1973...
From there, control transferred into
Alejandro De Tomaso's hands, later coming into partnership with the then Lee Iacocca
led Chrysler concern, which resulted in the much distained Chrysler TC by Maserati,
before Italian arch nemesis Ferrari took control of the car company in the
early 1990's, which today is now part of the Maserati-Alfa Romeo-Abarth
concern, under the Fiat-Chrysler umbrella.
Hence, it's nice to notice that the Maserati
marque is being given its due around the world, having found the following
story upon Zed Internetz about how a Belgian museum is paying homage with the
following Centennial celebration.
While I also recall hearing about IndyCar Piloto 'TK "Follow-your
Schnoz" Kanaan having taken
delivery of one of the concern's latest ultra BAD ARSE Supercars, the MC12 several years ago, having now
rediscovered that it was on a 2008 episode of Supercars Exposed
hosted by Formula 'Duh (D) DriftMeister Tanner Faust.
As these supercars, derived from the Ferrari Enzo (road car) were
fairly successful in recent Sports Car
racing, specifically the FIA's GT1 category, as I found this video of one said
vehicle being put thru its paces at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
VIDEO: MC12 GT1 at Spa
And thus, if Y'all
are anywheres' near the California coast of what undoubtedly will become Car
Krazy Central, in the confines of Monterey's fabulous Laguna Seca raceway, or
its neighboring Carmel, then you'll certainly want to check out this year's
Hystericals'...