VIN: the works / Ricardo Grandio Maserati A6 GCS Series 2 chassis 2078
History of chassis 2078
Chassis 2078 was a Series 2 Maserati A6 GCS with Spyder coachwork by Fiandri & Malagoli. It was built up as a works car for the 1954 season, during which it was allocated to Luigi Musso who drove it to seven under two-litre class wins.
The first of these victories came at the Giro di Sicilia, a 1088km single lap of Sicily on April 4th. On that occasion, Musso was navigated by O. Donatelli and 2078 finished fourth overall.
The car’s next outing was at the Mille Miglia which was round three of the 1954 World Sportscar Championship. Musso and his navigator, Augusto Zocco, completed the 1000 mile loop from Brescia, down to Rome and back again, in twelve hours flat. 2078 finished third overall and, remarkably, was just nine seconds behind the works Ferrari 500 Mondial of Vittorio Marzotto that took the runner up spot.
From mid-May to Mid-August, Musso and 2078 racked up half-a-dozen class wins in Italian road races to include the Napoli GP, Targa Florio, Giro dell’Umbria, Circuito di Caserta, Giro delle Calabria and Circuito di Senigallia.
Perhaps the finest of these performances was at the Targa Florio where Musso finished second overall behind outright winner, Piero Taruffi, in a Lancia D24.
Thanks to his stellar form behind the wheel of the little red Maserati, Musso was crowned the 1954 under two-litre Italian champion.
His final outing in 2078 came at the penultimate World Sportscar Championship event of the year: the Dundrod Tourist Trophy in Northern Ireland. Co-driven by Sergio Mantovani, Musso finished the 1050km event in fifth overall to secure yet another class win.
During February 1955, Maserati sold chassis 2078 to amateur racing driver, Ricardo Grandio in Buenos Aires.
Grandio’s first outing with the car was at the Buenos Aires 1000km World Sportscar Championship race on January 23rd 1955 where he was co-driven by Jose Faraoni. Now painted black with a broad white centre stripe, 2078 appeared under a Equipo Presidente Peron entry and finished third overall (first in the under three-litre category).
Grandio picked up several more good results during the rest of 1955 to include fifth overall and first in class at the Independenzia GP.
In 1956, 2078 was raced on just a handful of occasions. Afterwards, the Maserati was sold to local garage proprietor, Alberto Gomez.
The car then went through the hands of a couple more Argentine owners before being repatriated back to Italy in 1984. It has since been restored to 1954 trim.
Notable History
Officine Alfieri Maserati
04/04/1954 IND Giro di Sicilia (L. Musso / O. Donatelli) 4th oa, 1st S2.0 class (#336)
02/05/1954 WSC Mille Miglia (L. Musso / A. Zocca) 3rd oa, 2nd S2.0 class (#500)
16/05/1954 IND Napoli GP, Posillipo (L. Musso) 1st oa (#??)
30/05/1954 IND Targa Florio (L. Musso) 2nd oa, 1st S2.0 class (#60)
06/06/1954 IND Giro dell'Umbria (L. Musso) 2nd oa, 2nd S1.1+ class (#1621)
13/06/1954 IND Circuito di Caserta (L. Musso) 1st oa, 1st S1.1+ class (#??)
20/06/1954 IND Imola GP (L. Musso) 3rd oa, 3rd S2.0 class (#??)
04/07/1954 IND Cidonio GP, L’Aquila (L. Musso) ran (#??)
25/07/1954 IND Messina 10 Hours (L. Musso / G. Musso) DNF (#??)
02/08/1954 IND Giro delle Calabria (L. Musso) 3rd oa, 1st S2.0 class (#??)
08/08/1954 IND Circuito di Senigallia 2.0 Race (L. Musso) 1st oa, 1st S2.0 class (#??)
11/09/1954 WSC Dundrod Tourist Trophy (L.Musso / S. Mantovani) 5th oa, 1st S2.0 class (#57)
02/1955 sold to Ricardo Grandio, Buenos Aires
Re-painted Black & White
23/01/1955 WSC Buenos Aires 1000km (R. Grandio / J. Faraoni) 3rd oa, 1st S3.0 class (#30)
13/03/1955 ARG Buenos Aires (R. Grandio) ran (#??)
17/04/1955 ARG Buenos Aires (R. Grandio) 3rd oa, 1st 2.0 class (#??)
10/07/1955 IND Independenzia GP (R. Grandio) 5th oa, 1st 2.0 class (#??)
14/08/1955 ARG El Bosque, La Plata (R. Grandio) DNF (#??)
28/08/1955 ARG Buenos Aires (R. Grandio) 4th oa, 1st 2.0 class (#??)
04/12/1955 IND Kilometro Lanzado-Autopista Ezeiza (R. Grandio) 3rd oa (#??)
29/01/1956 WSC Buenos Aires 1000km (R. Grandio / A. Rodriguez-Larreta) DNF (#23)
06/06/1956 ARG Argentine 500 mile, Rafaele (R. Grandio) 3rd oa (#??)
Sold to Alberto Gomez, Buenos Aires
Early 1980s repatriated to Italy
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Maserati - https://maserati.com
