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ON THE LAWN: Maserati Wins Best in Show at Goodwood Concours

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A sensational Maserati A6 CGS Berlinetta was named ‘best in show’ at the Goodwood Festival of Speed’s Cartier ‘style-et-luxe’ concours d’elegance.

The event, which was held on the Cartier lawn, celebrated its 20th running at the Festival of Speed and celebrated the best in exquisite automotive design throughout the history of the motor industry.

The Maserati, which is owned by Egon Zweimuller Jr, took victory in the coachbuilt Maserati-only Class 3: ‘The height of fashion’, and later beat off competition from the other class winners to claim the overall spoils.

The judging panel was chaired by Mail on Sunday editor Geordie Greig and also featured Olympic gold medallists Sir Chris Hoy and Sally Gunnell, actor Rowan Atkinson, Apple design chief Sir Jonathan Ive and renowned handbag designer Anya Hindmarch plus other notable names from the worlds of sport, the arts and design.

Class 1: ‘Vintage Voiturettes’ was won by Keith Bowley’s 1925 Amilcar CGS while victory in Class 2: ‘Blown Away’, which was held just for Mercedes 500Ks, went to Winfried Ritter’s Cab A model.

A 1960 Lincoln Continental, owned by the La Salle Collection, triumphed in Class 4: ‘Affairs of Status’, while Class 5: ‘Mid-engined masterpieces’ went to Stephen Keen’s 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400S.

Bill Shepherd’s 1966 Ford Mustang Mustero won Class 6: ‘Horses for Courses’ which celebrated American cars powered by small-block V8 engines, while victory in Class 7: ‘Best foot forward’, marking front-engined British sportscars of the 1990s, was won by Graham Abbott’s 1997 TVR Cerbera Speed 12.

 

ON THE TRACK: Sir Stirling Moss OBE to Reunite with Maserati 250F at Silverstone Classic

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Photo: Maurice Rowe

Racing legend Sir Stirling Moss OBE will be back behind the wheel of one of his favourite grand prix cars to lead both record F1 and Maserati centenary parades at this summer’s Silverstone Classic (25-27 July).

The world’s biggest ever F1 parade will mark 50 grands prix at Silverstone – a major milestone that will be reached in July. Maserati is the award-winning event’s official ‘Celebration Marque’ for 2014 and will be celebrating its first 100 years with a special cavalcade of its finest road and competition cars.

Both special commemorative parades will take place on the full Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit on ‘Super Sunday’ 27 July and, appropriately, both will be fronted by Moss driving a Maserati 250F.

Hailed as one of the greatest grand prix cars ever created, the 250F was pivotal in Moss’ early F1 career. He raced one to his maiden grand prix podium at the superfast Spa-Francorchamps circuit in 1954, and in 1956 won at both Monaco and Monza when competing for the Maserati factory team.

“It will be very, very special to lead both the wonderful parades in a 250F,” enthused Moss, now aged 84. “The Maserati is probably the most beautiful looking and user-friendly Formula One car ever built; it’s delightful to drive and a real collector’s item. It was also very important to me. Not many people know this, but my father went to see Mercedes in 1953 to ask Alfred Neubauer [the team’s legendary F1 team manager] to give me a drive. He said that he’d been impressed by my driving in crappy cars but wanted to see me in something that could win. So we bought the Maserati. My first race was the Swiss Grand Prix at the tricky Bremgarten circuit and, in the wet, I put the Maserati on pole in front of [Juan-Manuel] Fangio, [Alberto] Ascari and all the Mercedes! As I said, it was a fantastic car to drive.”

The Maserati 250F that Moss will be driving at Silverstone is the chassis originally raced by Roy Salvadori back in the fifties and is one of just 26 ever produced. In total, the 250F won eight grands prix and was instrumental not only in establishing Moss as one of Britain’s top sporting stars but also in the great Fangio winning world championship titles in both 1954 and 1957.

“It’s always wonderful when things fall into place so perfectly,” enthused Event Director, Nick Wigley. “To have Sir Stirling Moss – the only British driver ever to win a grand prix in a Maserati – leading both parades in a magical 250F is just the best possible scenario. Even in our wildest dreams, we couldn’t have hoped for a finer sight.”

Full details on tickets (which must be purchased in advance) to see Sir Stirling Moss leading both anniversary parades can be found on the official www.silverstoneclassic.com website.

AT THE CONCOURS: Maserati Gets Best of Show and Other Awards at Villa d’Este

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Tuesday, 27th May 2014 – The 2014 edition of the ‘Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este’ competition could not have gone better for Maserati, especially in this year of celebrations marking the centenary of the company’s foundation.

Indeed, Maseratis earned the highest plaudits from the judges and public alike, collecting the Best of Show prize as well as other prestigious awards including the “Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes”.

The surprise winner of the jury’s Best of Show trophy, sweeping aside a host of prestigious rivals, was the dark blue 1956 Maserati 450 S, owned by Swiss entrepreneur and collector Albert Spiess. In 1956 and 1957, the Modena car manufacturer built just ten of these 2-seater racing cars, fitted with a 4.5-litre 400 HP engine and a body by Fantuzzi. This car, chassis number 4502, left for the United States in October 1956, purchased by Tony Parravano. It went on to compete in a number of races, meanwhile changing ownership several times before coming into the possession of the present day Swiss owner. At Villa d’Este the 450 S also triumphed in its own racing category, “For the track – racing for glory”, reserved, as the name suggests, for racing models from the 1950s and ’60s.

In the special centenary category “Maserati – the first century”, which saw six Maserati cars from different eras in the running, the V4 Sport from 1929 (chassis 4002) outshone its “sister” models, taking the jury’s top award. It is a truly rare and unique automobile, owned by Lawrence Auriana (USA). Only two were ever made, but one was converted into a V5 that was subsequently destroyed during a race. The V4 features a 16-cylinder V engine comprising two Tipo 26B inline-8 blocks, for a total cylinder capacity of 3,961 cc, delivering 305 HP. On 28th September 1929 Baconin Borzacchini set a world record in the V4 on the road circuit at Cremona (only partially asphalted), notching up an average speed of 246.069 km/h over a distance of 10 km. In 1934 the car displayed at Villa d’Este was rebodied as a Spyder by Zagato at the behest of the new owner, who also had it repainted in two shades of green. The V4 enjoyed more success than the other equally prestigious Maseratis present, namely: Maserati A6G/54 Berlinetta Allemano 1956 Jonathan Segal US; Maserati A6G/2000 Berlinetta Zagato 1956 Claudio Scalise AR; Maserati 150 GT Prototype Spider Fantuzzi 1957 Andreas Mohringer AT; Maserati Quattroporte 1st Series Saloon Frua 1965 Ermanno Keller IT; Maserati A6GCS Berlinetta Pininfarina 1953 Matteo Panini IT.

On Saturday the jury awarded the A6GCS Berlinetta the Auto & Design Trophy for the most thrilling style. Pininfarina made only four chassis mounted with a 6-cylinder 2-litre engine; it was this design that provided the Maserati Style Centre inspiration for creating the Alfieri concept car, unveiled at this year’s Geneva Motor Show. In a hypothetical passing of the baton, it was precisely the Maserati Alfieri that earned important recognition from the public at the parade held at Villa Erba, as it scooped the Design Award for Concept Cars & Prototypes, heralded as the most exciting prototype of the 2014 edition. The concept car designed to celebrate Maserati’s 100th Anniversary is an exciting but also functional prototype whose name pays tribute to Alfieri Maserati who, with the help of his brothers, promoted and founded “Officine Alfieri Maserati” in Bologna in Via Piepoli back in 1914.

The Maserati Alfieri was designed at the Maserati Style Centre in Turin by a group of designers coordinated by Marco Tencone, elaborating on a project by Lorenzo Ramaciotti, now Head of Global Design FCA.  The Alfieri was driven into the exhibition area at Villa Erba by Harald Wester, CEO Maserati, who collected the award in person.

Also at Villa Erba, Maserati set up its own exhibition space to celebrate the marque’s 100th anniversary. On show, the new Ghibli plus the GranCabrio MC, alongside other vintage masterpieces of engineering, including a 1934 4C and a 3500 GT Spyder.

Lastly, also taking part in the “Six Days in the Sixties” class of the motorcycles category of the Concorso d’Eleganza, was a 1961 Maserati T 4 Regolarità 156 cc single-cylinder motorcycle, presented by the Bologna Historical Registry of Maserati Motorbikes.

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