After a singularly determined restoration, this Maserati A6GCS by Frua won Best of Show at the 2023 Concours of Elegance. James Elliottdrives a super-rare 1950s deity
Photography Barry Hayden
The clues are in the name: ‘A’ is namechecking Alfieri Maserati – the founding brother who died in 1932; ‘6’ refers to a sophisticated race-bred inline six-cylinder engine, ‘G’ means ghisa (cast iron) for the block material, and ‘CS’ denotes Corsa Sport, which is part of what makes this car really special. More than really special, actually; for many it is the pinnacle of the early Orsi years of Maserati, Modena’s gorgeous, peppy, two-seater sports racer built to trump anything from down the road in Maranello.
The A6 designation had appeared in 1947, equipped with a 1.5-litre engine possibly most notable for not being a monobloc. Among the variants was the first A6GCS, a lightweight single-seater with a 120bhp 2.0-litre engine that was very successful in Italian racing. From 1951 to 1953, Fantuzzi built a dozen monoposto A6GCM racers developed by Maserati newboy Gioacchino Colombo, the former Ferrari man who had settled in Modena after his second spell at Alfa Romeo.
These were the stepping stones to a major change to the formula in 1953, hence the A6GCS/53 designation. The original had been updated in time for the 1953 Mille Miglia, where it took a class win, but, having been devised to compete in the 1953 World Sports Car Championship, the second-series A6GCS used a lightweight Gilco tubular chassis built around Gioacchino Colombo’s high-revving 170bhp aluminium F2 motor, itself derived from that A6GCM Monoposto’s. All in, the little flyer weighed around 750kg and epitomised a golden era in dual-purpose cars that blended road and track capability with looks in a way that increasingly sophisticated engineering and aerodynamics were soon to prohibit.
Like most Maseratis, the A6 series came in a kaleidoscope of specs and was clothed by all the leading coachbuilders, including Pinin Farina, Allemano and Vignale, with wilder options by the likes of Fantuzzi. The core of the 50 or so A6GCS/53s was their engine, a 1985cc dual-overhead-cam, twin-plug dry-sump motor fed by a trio of Weber 40 DCO3 carburettors, but their bodywork tended to be sensational, too. They were clothed primarily by Pinin Farina, Vignale, Fantuzzi, even Fiandri, plus latterly three of these Frua Spyders – of which only two are known to survive.
They were the brainchild of Rome main dealer Guglielmo ‘Mimmo’ Dei, who in 1954 ordere
