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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Maserati Spider That Won Villa d’Este
One of three Frua-bodied specials, restoration of Italian beauty was finished just in time for prestigious event.
Wouter Melissen  | http://www.ultimatecarpage.com  |  Posted June 28, 2010   Tivoli (IT)
The Maserati Frua Spider won the important Italian concours by public vote for its beautiful restoration and rare beauty. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
The much coveted Coppa d'Oro was won at the 2010 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este in April by a Maserati A6GCS/53 Frua Spider, which received the “Best in Show by Public Referendum” prize for both its stunning beauty and the fabulous restoration that had literally been completed days before the event.

Originally completed in 1956, this particular A6 was a little more special than most other Maserati road cars built in that period. It was one of only a handful of examples built on the competition A6GCS chassis, which featured a slightly lower-mounted engine. At least seven were commissioned by Maserati's dealer in Rome Guglielmo Dei, four of which were clothed by Pinin Farina and the other three by Frua with Spider bodies.

The winning Maserati is one of just three that received coachbuilt bodies by Pietra Frua. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
The current owner, legendary Maserati collector John F. Bookout, acquired the car in 2002, and the recent restoration in Italy was supervised by Maserati authority Adolfo Orsi and took well over a year. Unfortunately, the proud owner could not accept the Coppa d'Oro in person as he was left stranded on the wrong side of the Atlantic due to the volcanic ash clouds.

We did make it out to Northern Italy and have captured every detail of the lovely machine, including an 18-shot gallery of detailed photographs.

Towards the end of the 1940s, Maserati tentatively started producing road cars for the first time. It was no coincidence that this break with tradition came shortly after the Maserati brothers had left the company.

Named after its creator Alfieri Maserati and its six cylinder engine, the new range of Maseratis was dubbed the A6. In addition to the road-going model, versions were also available for sports (A6GCS) and single-seat (A6GCM) racing. All of the A6 road cars were built to custom order and finished off at one of Italy's many fine carrozzerias.

Frua took a year to build the Maserati spider, completing it in 1956. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
Some were more custom than others and combined the competition chassis and engines with luxurious bodies. Clothed by the likes of Frua and Pinin Farina, these A6s were usually commissioned by Maserati's dealer in Rome, Guglielmo Dei.

Apart from the obvious performance advantages, there was another reason that coach builders liked working with the A6GCS platform: thanks to the dry-sump lubrication of the engine, the rolling chassis was quite a bit lower than that of the “standard” road car. Other than that, there were few things that separated the two specifications.

The chassis itself was a wholly conventional steel ladder frame with double wishbone and coil springs at the front and a live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs. Houdaille hydraulic shock absorbers were used on all four corners, which also featured hydraulic drum brakes.

In its original guise, the A6 engine displaced 1.5 liters, used a single camshaft and was cast in iron. For the competition cars, it quickly grew in size to two liters and by 1953 featured twin camshafts and an aluminum construction. Breathing through three Weber twin-choke carburettors, the competition engines produced in excess of 170 horsepower.

The 2-liter engine was upgraded with four camshafts and triple Weber carburetors to produce 170 horsepower. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
A year later, a similar engine was also found its way to the A6G road-car line but in slightly milder, 150 horsepower trim. Not all of the A6GCS-based road cars featured the most potent version of the engine, combining the dry-sump bottom half of the engine with the milder road-car head.

Of Guglielmo Dei's A6GCS specials, the four cars clothed by Pinin Farina are the most famous. These featured exceptionally beautiful and highly efficient Berlinetta bodies, and some of them were even raced. The current GranTurism' road car is very much inspired by the four Pinin Farina Berlinettas.

An additional three examples were sent to Pietro Frua, who also clothed many of the standard production cars. He fitted the competition chassis with what is now referred to as the second-series Spider body, even though all three were distinctly different. The first one featured the full competition engine while the later two originally used the slightly more civilized top-end. Unlike the Pinin Farina examples, the three Frua Spiders were never raced.

The addition of the twin-plug, DOHC and all aluminum engine to the A6G production car effectively killed the demand for Guglielmo Dei's spectacular road-going specials. The handful of Maseratis that he had built still stand as some of the finest and most desirable constructed in period.

The lavish resporation of the Frua Spider took a year to complete by a U.S. Maserati expert. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
The four Pinin Farina Berlinettas remain as some of the most beautiful cars ever constructed. The importance of the slightly lesser-known Frua Spiders is underlined by the fact that all three are part of premier collections. The one that received the Coppa d'Oro was the third one built, with chassis 2110.

Originally fitted with the milder A6G top half, chassis 2110 was the third and last A6GCS chassis delivered to Pietra Frua. Although it arrived at Frua early in 1955, it was not completed until the fall of 1956. It was finished in cream-white with a black stripe down the middle. An owner was not found until the late 1950s. when it was shipped to the United States. At that time, it was probably refinished in black with a cream-white stripe.

Since first arriving in North America, it only changed hands a few times. During the mid-1990s chassis, 2110 was involved in a heavy road accident. The Frua Spider was subsequently restored and sold to John F. Bookout. At one point the car also received a full competition spec head.

Recently, a cosmetic restoration under supervision of Maserati authority Adolfo Orsi was executed in the United States, with the work was completed just in time for the 2010 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.

Read more articles like this at Ultimatecarpage.com.

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Wouter Melissen

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