Today’s featured 1939 Maserati 4CL chassis #1564 is one of 14 4CL siblings of chassis #1566 that I looked at a couple of weeks ago.

Like chassis #1566 today’s car appears to have taken part in the greatest ever race for 1.5 litre Voiturettes the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix.

It appears most likely that Carlo Felice Trossi qualified #1564 10th on the grid over two seconds slower than Giovanni Rocco in the 8th placed #1566.

The only results that I can find for the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix show that Carlo retired with an engine problem without completing a lap.

The rest of the #1564’s period history is not known within the confines of the internet, although it is believed to have been driven by Maserati team mates Franco Cortese and Luigi Villoresi.

In the 1960’s #1564 was resident in the UK and in 1992 it fetched nearly $300,000 at auction in Monaco. If you know any further details about #1564 please do not hesitate to chip in below.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton who took these photographs at Sonoma Historics and Niello Concours at Serrano.

Thanks for joining me on this “Not So Felice Carlo” Edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I be looking at a Bugatti. Don’t for get to come back now !