Maserati A6

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Maserati A6 were various cars made by Maserati of Italy, «A» for the Alfieri brothers (founders of Maserati) and «6» for the straight-six engine.

The 1.5-litre straight-six was named A6 TR (Testa Riportata), and was based on the pre-war Maserati 6CM; 65 bhp. It first appeared in the A6 Sport or Tipo 6CS/46, a barchetta prototype, developed by Ernesto Maserati and Alberto Massimino. This became the A6 1500 Pininfarina-designed two-door berlinetta, first shown at the 1947 Salon International de l'Auto in Geneva (59 made) and the spider shown at the 1948 Salone dell'automobile di Torino (2 made).

A 2-litre straight-six (120 bhp) was used in the A6 GCS two-seater racing car, «C» denoting Chisa, cast iron block, and «CS» denoting Corsa & Sports. It first raced at Modena 1947 by Luigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari, and won the 1948 Italian Championship by Giovanni Bracco. 16 cars were made 1947-1953.

The A6G were a series of two-door coupe and spyders by Zagato, Pininfarina, Pietro Frua, Bertone and Vignale. These had alloy engine blocks.

Maserati A6GCM were 2-litre barchetta racing cars (190 bhp), developed by Gioacchino Colombo, winning Italian Grand Prix by Juan Manuel Fangio.

To compete in the World Sportscar Championship, the A6GCS/53 was developed (170 bhp), barchettas bodied by Medardo Fantuzzi and Celestino Fiandri. It won the Italian Grand Prix in 1953 and 1954 by Sergio Mantovani and Luigi Musso. Four berlinettas were designed by Pininfarina, their final design of a Maserati, on a commission by Rome dealer Giuglielmo Dei who had acquired six chassis. 56 were made 1953-55.

The 1954 Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris showed the A6GCS/54, which came in berlinetta, barchetta and spider versions (150 bhp), with designs by Pietro Frua, Ghia and Carrozzeria Allemano. 60 were made.

[edit] External links

• maserati-alfieri.co.uk on the A6