Tag Archives: Bertocchi

The Man In Green – Maserati 5000GT Allemano #103.036

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In 1958 the Shah of Iran was impressed with a test drive in a Maserati 3500GT Coupé and upon learning of some 450S race cars, made obsolete by the change in sports car regulations to a maximum engine 3 litre / 183 cui engine capacity, loitering in the Maserati factory asked for one of the new Coupé’s to be fitted with an obsolete 4.5 litre race car engine.

Maserati 5000GT, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Maserati were happy to oblige this royal request which got the limited production of the 5000GT Tipo 103 under way. After the Shah’s car was completed in 1959 with Carrozeria Touring bodywork a second car was built with similar bodywork and a motor sourced out of a race car and taken to the 1959 Turin Show where it was sold to South African millionaire Basil Read, owner of the Kyalami race track.

Maserati 5000GT, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Before being sold journalist Hans Tanner was taken for a test drive with Maserati’s test driver Gurrino Bertocchi in the second car and reported that after easily taking a sweeping bend on an autostrada at 158mph the car hit 172mph, not bad for a road car in 2014, absolutely sensational for a road car in 1959 !

Maserati 5000GT, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The 5000GT available only with 4 or 5 speed manual gearbox sold for twice as much as a regular 3500GT.

Maserati 5000GT, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Today’s featured car chassis #103.036, was built in 1962 with one of the 22, most common for the type, Allemano bodies styled by Giovanni Michelotti.

Maserati 5000GT, Goodwood Festival of Speed

#103.036 was originally painted green and supplied to Stuttgart based Maserati dealers Merz & Pabst in 1962, not 1959 as indicated by the display board at Goodwood Festival of Speed where these photo’s were taken.

Maserati 5000GT, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Merz and Pabst sold the car to an interesting chap born James Lablache Stewart who took his mothers maiden name when he took up acting to become Stewart Granger.

Maserati 5000GT, Goodwood Festival of Speed

After making films including A Southern Maid (1933) and The Man in Grey (1943) in the UK Stewart moved to the States to make films including The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) and North to Alaska (1960) before returning to Europe to make numerous of continental productions that included films a trilogy of westerns based on stories by the German author Karl May.

During this time in Europe spanning the 1960’s Granger, who famously declared himself not to be an an actor’s actor, once said he earned and lost US$ 1.5 million.

My thanks to 3500GT and alfieri107 of tipo107.com who kindly responded to my request for details about today’s featured car on the Ferrari Chat forum.

Thanks for joining me on this “The Man In Green” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Amilcar racer. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Twice Mille Miglia Class Winner – Maserati 4CS #1126

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In 1931 Maserati built a prototype supercharged 4 cylinder 2 seat racer to compete in the Mille Miglia 1,100 cc / 67.1 cui class called the 4CTR (cilindi testa riportata) with twin overhead camshafts and a detachable cylinder head.

01 Maserati 4CS_2364sc

The supercharged motor produced nearly 100 hp / per litre and was fitted to a modified Maserati 26M single seater chassis and a two seat body. Giuseppe Tuffanelli and Guerino Bertocchi drove the car on the Mille Miglia to victory in the 1100cc class finishing 22nd overall.

Based on this success Maserati built a series of 5 4CS models and they won the 1100cc class at the Mille Miglia in 1932, ’34, ’35 and ’36.

02 Maserati 4CS_2365sc

So far as I know chassis #1126 seen here was the square nosed #15 car driven by Ettore Bianco and Guerino Bertocchi to class victory and 7th overall on the 1935 Mille Miglia.

Owner Ettore Bianco then drove #1126 to victory at the Circuito Varese in July 1935 and a second in class in the 1935 Coppa Ciano.

03 Maserati 4CS_2366sc

For 1936 Ettore teamed up with M. Boccali for the Mille Miglia in which they finished 6th overall and 1st in class one spot behind the 4CS, fitted with a 1500cc 91.5 cui version of the 4 cylinder motor, driven by Omobono Tenni and Ettore’s 1935 team mate Guerino Bertocchi which took 1500 cc honours.

Later in 1936 #1126 was sold to Ignazio Radice Fosatti who recorded a second in class run on the Coppa Mercanti run on the Stelvio hillclimb before going to Monza for an attempt at the 1100cc 12 hour distance record. Unfortunately Ignazio was killed in the 9th hour of the attempt after hitting a dog that strayed onto the track.

04 Maserati 4CS_2367sc

Scuderia Ambrosiana bought the wrecked car and had it repaired for Giovanni Lurani & Luigi Villoresi to drive in the 1937 Mille Miglia from it retired. Later in the year Luigi recorded a 7th overall and class win on the Colle del Moncenisio in France before the car headed East to new owners in Singapore.

Joshua Lee was the unfortunate owner of #1126 in 1942 when it was confiscated by the Japanese Army and he was murdered.

05 Maserati 4CS_2368sc

The last in period race for #1126 is recorded as the 1950 Johore Grand Prix with the car now registered in the entry list as an LA Special, with 3.5 Litre Jaguar SS 100 motor, by Lim Peng Han who did not finish the race after an accident.

The car then made it’s way to the UK via the United States where it was briefly fitted with a Do Soto V8 motor as part of an uncompleted project. Ken Painter bought #1126 in 1969 and by 1985 had completed it’s restoration.

Adam Painter is seen driving #1126 in these photo’s taken at Prescott where the car was listed as having a supercharged 1500cc motor.

Thanks for joining me on this “Twice Mille Miglia Class Winner” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a slippery bodied Bugatti. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Early Years – Maserati 26M

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Despite setting up a workshop in December 1914 it was not until 1926 that the first car to bear the Maserati name came into being and from what I understand the original Tipo 26 was actually a rebadged 2 litre / 122 cui 8 cylinder Diatta fitted with a 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui 8 cylinder motor all of which had been designed by Alfieri Maserati starting in 1925.

Maserati 26M_1423sc

It appears that both Diata and Alfieri had been banned from the sport in 1924 after Alferi changed a motor for a an enlarged one in a 1924 Barcelona hillclimb event. Diata were later cleared of any wrong doing, but after a poor showing in the 1925 Italian Grand Prix they decided their future lay else where.

Alfieri drove the original Tipo 26 to victory in the 1926 Targa Florio with riding mechanic Guerino Bertocchi and the Tipo 26 were manufactured mainly for use in competition up until 1932 with a variety of different straight 8 cylinder motors up to 2.8 litres 170 cui.

The car featured today is a 1931 26M, 14 type 26M’s were produced from 1930 to 1932 with 2.5 litre / 152 cui 8 cylinder motors all two seaters, some of which were built as open wheel racers and some with cycle wings and lights required for endurance races, like the Targa Florio, were known as 26M Sports.

Today’s featured car is fitted with a motor just under 2.8 litre / 170 cui which suggests that is not an original size as the original 2.8 litre 8C 2800 motors were actually 12 cc .7 cui over the 2.8 / 170 cui size.

No further history is known about this particular car seen at Goodwood Revival a couple of years ago, if you know any of it’s history please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Thanks for joining me on this Early Years edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow, don’t forget to come back now !

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