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1947/50 Maserati A6 1500 GT 3C Pinin Farina 

All photography work is copyrighted by the author, please don't download and publish these pictures in the internet without my permission! 

Larger high quality pictures is available only for donators up on request! Vasileios Papaidis 2017 © All Rights Reserved

​History of the car

 

Before the war, Maserati had raced 4, 6 and 8 cylinder engines, but focused on a new 6-cylinder design called A6TR or 'Testa Riportata' for the post war era. This used a detachable cylinder head and laid out a foundation for the immediate post-war Maseratis. Ernesto Maserati and Alberto Massimino worked on the new design which borrowed much from the pre-war cars. For reliability and tractability, an SOHC valvetrain was chosen over the DOHC from the prewar 6CM. The engine was made to honor Alfieri Maserati, one of the original Maserati founders.

 

The first A6 1500 prototype was completed in March of 1946 and was photographed by Franco Zagari. It featured Spider Corsa bodywork and was used by Ernesto Maserati for testing. At the same time Carrozzeria Pinin Farina was commissioned to produce a Coupe body which laid the shape for Maserati's first road car. Eventually the design was refined to be very similar to the Cisitalia 202 also bodied by Pinin Farina.

The first Pinin Farina 1500 appeared on the stand at the 1947 Geneva Motor Show. Painted in grey, the car was well received. At the time, the car's aluminum 1.5-litre engine produced only 65 bhp which was ample for the roads of Italy. Most cars were fitted with a single Weber 36 DCR, but a few were fitted with a triple carburetor setup and even more were retrofitted with it.

 

Pinin Farina created almost all the Coupe bodies with only a few deviations. One car was built as a Cabriolet and another was rebodied in 1959 by the specialists at Zagato. All cars were supported by a simple steel tube frame suspended by a live axle at the rear and an independent setup up front. Most were fitted with Ridge wheel splines with steel wheels or wire wheels as an option.

 

Some cars were built to competizione specification which included the three-carb intake setup and a 'berlinetta a due posti' interior setup with only two front seats. These were raced in many Italian events such as the 1951 Coppa Inter-Europa where five examples were present. Other variants included an 'extra lusso' specification which included, among other things, a larger front gril.This was introduced by Pinin Farina at the 1947 Paris Motor Show.

Before the experience, at Villa Di Lorenzo inside the classic car Collection, touching the Maserati A6 1500 GT 3C Pinin Farina,1 of only 61 ever build in all versions. The car was put into low volume production, and most received Pininfarina coachwork. For production Pininfarina toned down the prototype's design, switching to conventional headlamps; soon after a second side window was added. Later cars received a different 2+2 fastback body style and this is one of them!

The A6 1500 grand tourer was Maserati's first production road car. Development was started in 1941 by the Maserati brothers, but it was halted as priority shifted to wartime production, and was completed after the war. 

                                                    Vasileios Papaidis

Maserati A6 1500 GT 3C Pinin Farina 2+2 Fastback
Maserati A6 1500 GT 3C Pinin Farina 2+2 Berlinetta

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