1957 Maserati 200Si by Fantuzzi in Monterey, California

Chassis No. 2415

Maserati's heritage is deeply rooted in motorsport, with their mechanical prowess and technical expertise immediately proven when one of the first Maseratis built, driven by Alfieri Maserati himself, won the 1926 Targa Florio. It was during the post-war years though, that the company's racing efforts became internationally known, often at the sharp end with their legendary sports racing cars. This was a time in motor racing, when one could acquire the most potent and internationally successful racing cars from the most prominent manufacturers, by writing a big enough check. It was also a time just before racing cars were banned from road use, later becoming a track-only racing tool. It was the end of an era in which one could literally affix a license plate on one of these incredible racing machines, drive to the racing circuit and compete at the highest level, before returning home! This era marked the very pinnacle of sports car racing, culminating in the very last 1957 Mille Miglia race. The recent Michael Mann blockbuster movie Ferrari depicts this romantic yet grueling era of motor racing in perfect Hollywood fashion; the drivers were well-dressed playboys and daredevils, many World War II veterans, and the cars were the most advanced machinery one could image, featuring exquisite, timeless styling and pure, raw beauty. This very car-1957 Maserati 200Si chassis number 2415-formed part of this legendary era of motor racing competing in the very last Mille Miglia race. As one of very few cars to compete at the highest level it is also one of even fewer cars that have survived with their original components such as bodywork, chassis, and engine intact.

Thoroughly researched by international Maserati historian Walter B�umer, his ten page report is on file and documents Maserati 200Si chassis number 2415 from day one. The new sports racing Maserati was ordered on 2 February 1957, by S.A.R.C., the Italian oil company owned by Sig. Fernando "Nando" Pagliarini. Pagliarini, a well-to-do oil man and gentleman racer from Parma, had started competing in 1952 at the Mille Miglia in a little Fiat 500, but soon recognized Maserati's phenomenal competition cars were the way to success. He acquired a Maserati A6GCS in 1953 with which he tried his luck in the Mille Miglia that year, and later a Maserati 150S which he took on the grueling Brescia-Rome-Brescia race in 1956, although he didn't finish.

Nando Pagliarini would take delivery of the brand-new Maserati 200Si chassis number 2415 on 23 March 1957. Finished in "Italian Racing Red," the new Maserati was one of just about 19 200Si (Sport Internazionale) examples made introduced to conform to international sports car racing rules, featuring the fully-developed chassis as opposed to the earlier models based on the 150S chassis. The light aluminum bodywork was handcrafted by Carrozzeria Fantuzzi with a sleek, aerodynamic shape, arguably one of the best sports car designs ever made. The potent, dry-sump light-alloy 2.0-liter four-cylinder competition engine featured dual overhead camshafts, massive Weber carburetors, and was located low and far back in the competition chassis for excellent weight distribution.

2415 would debut on the Italian racing scene with Pagliarini at the wheel on 28 April 1957, at the Bologna-San Luca Hillclimb, where Pagliarini successfully brought the potent 200Si home to a 5th in Class/5th Overall finish. The real test of 2415 and Pagliarini's racing capabilities would take place the following month at the 1957 Mille Miglia. Run on the 11th and 12th of May, the 24th and very last edition of the grueling Mille Miglia race was the 3rd round of the World Sportscar Championship, with competition at the very highest international level. Sporting start number 504 (reflecting a hardy 05:04 am start time) Pagliarini at the wheel of 2415 would compete against the very best drivers and teams in the world, and spectacular archival photos on file show Pagliarini at scrutineering in Brescia, proudly getting 2415 ready for the race, in addition to many photos and actual video footage of the 1957 Maserati 200Si sporting number 504 racing through Italy, from Brescia to Rome and back. Pagliarini and 2415 would finish the heroic race with an impressive result of 6th in Class and 23rd Overall, and bring home the Maserati sports racer safely, despite a tap to the nose, which didn't prevent him from finishing the race. Impressive indeed, as of the 310 cars starting the 1957 Mille Miglia, just 172 would finish the race. The Maserati Works team at the 1957 Mille Miglia employed legendary racers Moss, Behra, Herrmann and Scarlatti, yet the team's hopes of success had vanished early, with Behra out, having crashed his 450S even before the race started, Moss forced to retire due to a broken brake pedal, and Herrmann facing problems even before one of the first checkpoints. The 1957 Mille Miglia was won by Piero Taruffi in his Works Ferrari, but the win was overshadowed by the tragic accident just 70 kilometers from the Brescia finish, where race-leading Spanish factory driver Alfonso de Portago's front tire exploded, resulting in him losing control of the car and tragically crashing fatally, causing one of motorsport history's most horrific accidents. Three days after the conclusion of the event, the Italian government banned all motor racing on public roads, and thereby ending the original Mille Miglia race forever, and writing the last chapter of a now legendary era in motorsports history.

Following the Mille Miglia, Nando Pagliarini would continue competing with 2415 at various Italian sports car races and hillclimbs. Three scrapbook binders of original period newspaper clippings and old photographs accompanying the sale of 2415 show Pagliarini racing the 200Si to much success, without any serious mishaps compromising the cars originality today. He would enter the 1957 Mont Ventoux, Aosta-Gran San Bernardo, Pontedecimo-Giovi, and Trieste-Opicina hillclimbs, and in 1958 run the Bologna-San Luca Hillclimb in May, and then score an overall win at the Castell' Arquato-Vernasca Hillclimb in June. The following month, a class win was achieved at the July 1958 Compiano-Vetto d'Enta race, and again in October 1958, Paliarini would bring 2415 home to a 4th overall finish at the Camionati Sociali di Velocita race. Later in 1958, Pagliarini would consign 2415 to Maserati, for them to handle the sale of the desirable and still competitive sports racing car to its next owner. Nando Pagliarini would go on to race important Ferraris in Italian sports racing events, including a 250 Tour de France, 250 SWB, and later a 250 GTO, but his 1957 Mille Miglia finish against fierce international competition stands out as one of his finest accomplishments.

In 1959, Maserati 200Si chassis number 2415 was sold to American Tommy Meehan, owner of the renowned exotic car dealership Autohouse in Seattle, Washington. According to Walter B�umer's detailed history report on 2415, Meehan had sent his friends Tom Carstons, Harry Eirely and renowned U.S. racer and car dealer Pete Lovely to Italy with a wish for them to find him a sports racing Maserati. The trend-setting successful American trio visited the Maserati factory where they tested a 1500 O.S.C.A. but didn't buy it, and were then shown Pagliarini's 200Si by Maserati that was there on consignment. A deal was struck with the Maserati factory for 2415, and Pete Lovely imported the car to the U.S. for Meehan later in 1959.

Meehan would start campaigning 2415 in the spring of 1960, after new pistons were ordered from Maserati and fitted due to the powerful racing engin...for more information please contact the seller.