One to Buy: ex-works 1956 Maserati 300 S (SOLD)
In a similar fashion to the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR which was a sports racing version of the W196 Formula 1 car, Maserati’s 300 S was heavily derived from the fabled 250F.
Built around a tubular spaceframe chassis with double wishbone suspension up front and a de Dion axle out back, the 300 S was powered by an all-alloy three-litre straight six with dual overhead camshafts, dry-sump lubrication and a bank of three twin-choke Weber carburettors.
With a peak output of between 260bhp and 280bhp (depending on the year of manufacture), these circa 750kg cars were a formidable proposition during one of Sports car racing’s most competitive eras.
Thanks to its pared down coachwork fashioned in aluminium by Carrozzeria Fantuzzi, the 300 S also ranks among the most beautiful racing cars ever produced.
Chassis 3069, currently on offer at the Fiskens showroom in central London, was built during the most successful year for the 300 S: 1956. That season, works examples of the model won two of the five World Sportscar Championship events: the Buenos Aires 1000km and Nurburgring 1000km. Ultimately, Maserati were pipped to title glory by their bitter rivals over at Ferrari.
Of the 26 examples of the 300 S built between 1955 and 1958, chassis 3069 is among the most famous.
Having been ordered by an Italian customer who failed to take delivery, 3069 subsequently made its competitive debut mid-way through 1957. It did so with a victorious appearance as a works car for Juan Manuel Fangio at the Grand Prix of Portugal which took place at the Monsanto street circuit.
The car was then purchased by Fangio’s manager and exported to South America where the four-time F1 World Champion won back-to-back races in Brazil.
Chassis 3069 continued to race in South America until the early 1970s. In later years it was discovered in complete condition by automotive super sleuth, Colin Crabbe, who purchased it from Brazil and sold it the same day to John Pearson.
Today, this most significant Maserati sports racing car is offered in wonderful condition and would make an ideal entry to practically any of the most desirable events on the calendar.
Reprinted below is Fiskens’ description for this sensational 1950s Sports racing Maserati:
Long-nose 300S, chassis 3069, delivered by the factory to Fangio’s manager Marcello Giambertone and raced under the Scuderia Madunina banner.
Victory with Fangio at the 1957 Grand Prix of Portugal, before export to South America and three more Fangio wins at São Paolo and Rio de Janeiro
Extensive South American competition through 1972, followed by UK repatriation and restoration in the early 1980s, with later owners including Parisian collector Michel Seydoux, Lord Laidlaw and the current accomplished racer
Modern appearances at Nürburgring and Spa, in the Ferrari/Maserati Historic Challenge and four Mille Miglia – immensely eligible for all the best events
Quite simply “Fangio’s 300S” – piloted by one of the most deeply revered heroes of Formula One to four victories in the year of his fifth and final World Championship, 1957.
3069’s outstanding period history gives her special meaning prized by successive owners. One of just 26 produced, this 300S was first marked sold to Italian Armando Zampiero, but the fates intervened after delivery was not taken. Instead 3069 was entered by Maserati for Fangio in the Grand Prix of Portugal, under the Scuderia Madunina banner.
3069 was then delivered to Fangio’s racing manager Marcello Giambertone and was one of a pair exported to South America for his competition group Organprix. There, in the December of his greatest year, Argentina’s hero conjured three more victories in this 300S, in two races at the Grand Prix Interlagos at São Paolo, then in the Grand Prix of Rio de Janeiro.
The 300S was Maserati’s front-line big-capacity sports-racing car for two seasons of the World Sports Car Championship, and the sports counterpart of the immortal 250F single-seater. Its three-litre twin-cam straight six was substantially the same but longer stroke. It shared 250F running gear, with front wishbones and coil springs, forward-facing de Dion back axle, and rear-mounted transverse gearbox. With coachwork by Fantuzzi, it was utterly beautiful.
Period drivers loved the 300S, the outstanding characteristic being its balance and beautiful handling. In the hands of the right drivers, these qualities could get the 300S around the circuit quicker than many larger-displacement competitors. The 300S was a personal favourite of the late Sir Stirling Moss, who took one to a famous victory in the 1956 1000 km of Nürburgring, with Piero Taruffi, Harry Schell, and Jean Behra.
Described by 300S authority Walter Bäumer as the longest working 300S of all, 3069 competed in South America until 1972, in the hands of a variety of South American businessmen, playboys and adventurers. Rediscovered by car-hunter Colin Crabbe at fortune’s ebb, she was repatriated to the United Kingdom and first restored in the early 1980s, with additional works in later years.
A chain of distinguished owner-drivers followed, including Count Vittorio Zanon de Valgiurata, noted Parisian collector Michel Seydoux, Lord Laidlaw, and the current accomplished racer, who has kept her for over twenty years. In his hands, 3069 has been campaigned with great success, appearing at the Nürburgring and Spa, in the Ferrari/Maserati historic challenge, the Mille Miglia twice, and many more.
