Vehicle Description
- Officine Alfieri Maserati (Factory Team Car)
-Ex-Scuderina Madunina Team Car
-4 first overall finishes by 5-time F1 World Championship race
driver, Juan Manuel Fangio
-Actively and competitively raced from 1957 to 1972 having competed
longer and in more races than any other 300S
-Massive spare parts package including an extra complete original
300S engine, s/n 3071, five-speed transaxle
-Numerous other period original components valued well in excess of
one million dollars
-Complete, full documented history from new
1957 Maserati 300S "Long-Nose" Fantuzzi Spyder
Chassis Number 3069
Chassis Type Factory Race Team
Engine Number 3058
Cylinder Head Numero Interno 31
Engine Block Numero Interno 31
Engine Block Match Number 2
Transaxle Match Number 2
Completed December 20th, 1956
Certificate of Origin April 1957
Destination Officine Alfieri Maserati (Factory Team Car)
1st Owner Armando Zampiero, Venice, Italy (May 1957)
Maserati 300S Background:
As a result of the success of the A6 series of Sports Racing cars,
Maserati decided to up the scales with a vehicle that would compete
directly against the most current Sports Racing Ferraris. Using
their 250F Grand Prix car as a starting point, a new 3.5-liter,
240-260bhp, twin-cam six was developed. An extremely clever,
compact, rear-mounted transaxle was utilized as was a deDion rear
axle assembly which dramatically reduced un-sprung weight on the
rear wheels. Brakes were also developed from the 250F and as such
were a marvel of ingenuity. They also sat far inboard of the wheels
which greatly aided in their cooling.
Tooling up and production began over the Winter of 1954/55 with the
first batch of three cars all being completed for Briggs S.
Cunningham in February of 1955. The final examples and a batch of
spare engines would be built in the Spring of 1958 and one very
late, client car in the Spring of 1959 at which point Maserati was
emerging once again from bankruptcy and receivership with their new
Tipo 60 and Tipo 61 series of Birdcages just emerging.
Initial chassis production was done directly by Maserati but soon
shifted over to Gilberto Columbo's GILCO firm who was also
providing competed chassis for Ferrari and others. Coachwork was by
Fantuzzi and initially appeared in a gentle, but curvaceous
"short-nose" form, which by 1956 was found to be insufficient to
deal with a car capable of reaching speeds of nearly 180 miles per
hour. A new "long-nose" version was developed and most of the early
"short-nose" versions were updated accordingly.
All things being equal, the 300S was vastly superior to the
Ferraris of the day having better brakes, handling and overall top
speed. Had the money not run out and a string of bad luck that
plagued Maserati in the late 1950s, the 300S would have easily
achieved even more success. Today they are remembered and coveted
greatly for their overall beauty as well as incredible performance
and absolute ease of use.
Maserati internal records identify a total of 34 individual serial
numbers for their 300S series of vehicles but quite a few vehicles
were renumbered and many of the serial numbers were for spare
engines only and not completed cars. Of the 34 individual serial
numbers, only 26 complete cars were actually built, 17 or 18 of
these were built to client specifications and 8 or 9 to Works or
Factory Team specifications. The main difference between the two
focused on the type of frame and specifically to a double set of
longtitudinal frame stiffening tubes and larger wall,
round-outrigger frame rails for Factory Team cars and client cars
having oval outrigger frames rails and only single lontitudinal
stiffeners.
Today, 23, possibly 24 of the original 26 examples survive as
intact, running and driving vehicles. Four of the 26 completed
vehicles were renumbered by Maserati in period. This usually
occurred as a result of the fitting of a different engine, repairs
of a crashed car or a combination of both. Below is a table of the
Maserati assigned serial numbers in numerical sequence with
additional known details:
No Chassis Configuration Completion Date Notes Current Status
Original Owner
1 3035 Client Car - 4spd December 30th, 1957 Originally 3074
renumbered to 3035 Still Survives Antonio Mendez de Barros
2 3051 Client Car - 4spd February 17th, 1955 Still Survives Briggs
S. Cunningham
3 3052 Client Car - 4spd February 17th, 1955 Destroyed 1959 Briggs
S. Cunningham
4 3053 Client Car - 4spd February 17th, 1955 Still Survives Briggs
S. Cunningham
5 3054 Works Team - 4Spd March 4th, 1955 Still Survives Officine
Alfieri Maserati
6 3055 Works Team - 4Spd August 14th, 1956 Still Survives Officine
Alfieri Maserati
7 3056 Works Team - 4Spd June 20th, 1955 Renumbered to 3077 Still
Survives Officine Alfieri Maserati
8 3057 Client Car - 4spd June 21st,1955 Still Survives Benoit
Musy
9 3058 Client Car - 4spd October 11th, 1955 Still Survives Tony
Parravano
10 3059 Works Team - 4Spd October 11th, 1955 Still Survives
Officine Alfieri Maserati
11 3060 Client Car - 4spd October 31st, 1955 Still Survives
Maserati Corp. of America
12 3061 Client Car - 4spd November 28th, 1955 Still Survives Barron
Pottino
13 3062 Works Team - 4Spd August 14th, 1956 Still Survives Officine
Alfieri Maserati
14 3063 Client Car - 4spd March 22, 1956 Still Survives Fracno
Bordoni
15 3064 Client Car - 4spd March 28th, 1956 Destroyed 1956 Officine
Alfieri Maserati
16 3065 Works Team - 4Spd April 4th, 1956 Still Survives Officine
Alfieri Maserati
17 3066 Works Team - 4Spd April 9th, 1956 Renumbered to 3056 fitted
with 5spd Still Survives Officine Alfieri Maserati
18 3067 Client Car - 4spd May 25th, 1956 Still Survives Fernando de
Fronteira
19 3068 Client Car - 4spd July 23rd, 1956 Still Survives Officine
Alfieri Maserati
20 3069 Works Team - 4Spd December 20th, 1956 Still Survives
Officine Alfieri Maserati
21 3070 Client/Works? - 4spd February 23rd, 1957 Still Survives
Primo Pezzoli
22 3071 Client Car - 4spd February 25th, 1957 Still Survives
Officine Alfieri Maserati
23 3072 Works Team - 4Spd April 27th, 1957 Still Survives Officine
Alfieri Maserati
24 3073 Client Car - 4spd August 11th, 1957 Still Survives Jess E.
"Ebb" Rose
25 3074 (See 3035)
26 3075 Engine Only 1957
27 3076 Engine Only June 7th, 1957
28 3077 Engine Only January 16th, 1957
29 3078 Engine Only 1957
30 3079 Engine Only 1957
31 3080 Client Car - 4spd June 25th, 1958 Renumbered to 3083 fitted
with 5spd Still Survives Officine Alfieri Maserati
32 3081 Engine Only 1957
33 3082 Client Car - 4spd March 16th, 1959 Still Survives Angolan
Race Club (ARC)
34 3083 (See 3080)
Maserati 300S, Chassis No. 3069 Ownership History:
1956 Officine Alfieri Maserati Bologna, Italy
1957 Armando Zampiero Venice, Italy
1957 Marcello Giambertone Milan, Italy (Race Manager for Juan
Manuel Fangio)
1957 Silva Severino-Gomez Brazil
1959 Antonio Versa Brazil
1961 Silva Severino-Gomez Brazil
1962 Edoardo Celidonio Brazil
1965 Antonio Carlos Avallone Brazil
1970 Domingos Papaleo Sao Paulo, Brazil
1973 Adolfo Cilento Netto Sao Paulo, Brazil
1978 Colin Crabbe UK
1980 Mark A. Tippetts London, UK
1983 John Pierson UK
1983 Chris Drake/Jim Tesper Herts, UK
1984 Aristides Embiricos UK/Greece
1986 Count Vittorio Zanon Milan, ...for more information please
contact the seller.
