A6CGS Monofaro

1950 Maserati A6GCS 2000 Race Car by Fantuzzi

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 4, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The A6GCS was among the final models designed by the Ernesto Maserati before the family company was taken over by the Orsi family. The A6 1500 was a road car that went on sale in 1947. Meanwhile, the sporting derivative, the GCS was also launched that year.

The A6 1500 gave way to the A6G 2000 in 1950, which is why this GCS is equipped with a 2.0-liter inline-six. It wears open-wheel coachwork by Fantuzzi and is one of 14 or 15 to have been built.

It was delivered new in Brazil, where it won its class at a race at Interlagos in 1951. It remained in South America until being discovered in the early 1970s as a project and taken to the U.K., where nothing of note happened to it. It would be restored in San Francisco, remaining with its owner there for over 20 years before being purchased by the current owner in 2004.

No estimate is provided, but this is stated to be one of eight surviving examples. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,088,500.

Ferrari 196 SP

1962 Ferrari 196 SP by Fantuzzi

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2019

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

In any era of racing, manufacturers aren’t all that concerned with maintaining a chassis as “factory correct” as the intent is to win races. So race cars – be it in 1959 or 2019 – often go through rounds of development, which can include bodywork modifications and engine changes. By the time they retire from racing, they can be completely different from when they started.

And that’s what we have here. This chassis started life in 1962 as a 248 SP and later became a 268 SP after an engine change. At the end of 1962, the engine was swapped again to the current 2.0-liter V6 capable of 210 horsepower. The body is by Fantuzzi, and the competition history for this chassis (0806) includes:

  • 1962 12 Hours of Sebring – 13th, 3rd in class (as 248 SP with Buck Fulp and Peter Ryan)
  • 1962 1000km of Nurburgring – DNF (as 268 SP with Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez)
  • 1963 Nassau Speed Week – various results (as 196 SP with Bob Grossman)

In 1972, the car was sold by Luigi Chinetti to French collector Pierre Bardinon, who sent the car to Fantuzzi for revised rear bodywork. It later spent time in the Maranello Rosso collection before being restored by its American owners in the early 2000s. It’s a pretty fantastic 1960s Ferrari sports prototype that should break the bank. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Ferrari 268 SP

1962 Ferrari 268 SP by Fantuzzi

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 19-20, 2016

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Here’s a car you aren’t likely to get another shot at purchasing. With only two examples produced (of this chassis/engine combo), the 268 SP hails from an era of dramatic change in the racing world. Right about 1960, there was a drastic shift in thought: if we mount the engine behind the driver, maybe these things will handle better.

So Ferrari, and their sports prototype cars, adopted this new philosophy. The SP line of cars debuted in 1961 and only six of this lineage would be built. Only two of them were fitted with this 265 horsepower, 2.6-liter V-8. The awesome body by Fantuzzi is similar to other Ferrari racers of the day, namely the 250 TR 61.

This, car #3 or chassis #0798, has a factory competition history consisting of:

  • 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans – 19th, DNF (with Giancarlo Baghetti and Ludovico Scarfiotti)

After Le Mans, the car came to America to race as part of Luigi Chinetti’s NART team. As part of this team, its competition history includes:

  • 1962 Bahamas Speed Weeks, Nassau Trophy Race – 8th (with Lorenzo Bandini)
  • 1963 12 Hours of Sebring – 34th (with John Fulp and Harry Heuer)
  • 1963 Bahamas Speed Weeks, Nassau Trophy Race – 5th (with Fulp)

It ran a few more races through 1966 and then sat until 1969 when it went to a collector in France. It was restored during his ownership and the current owner acquired the car approximately 20 years ago. It’s a fairly famous car that has been shown at the most exclusive events worldwide. With only six built – and being one of only two built with this engine – this Ferrari is one those seriously collectible 1960s racers. Huge money is one the table here. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2021, $7,705,000.

Ferrari 250 N.A.R.T. Spider

1961 Ferrari 250 GT N.A.R.T. Spider by Fantuzzi

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 15-16, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

The Ferrari 250 GT is, perhaps, the most celebrated model line in the history of Ferrari. This striking 250 began life as a 1961 250 GTE. In 1965, Luigi Chinetti, founder of the North American Racing Team (N.A.R.T.) and Ferrari’s American importer for many years, decided to replace the normal Pininfarina body with this wild design by Fantuzzi.

Chinetti displayed the car at auto shows in New York, San Francisco, and Miami in 1965, generating good buzz for the brand. The engine is a 3.0-liter V-12 that’s had a little work done and it makes 300 horsepower.

Chinetti sold the car and the next owner had it for 33 years. It’s been recently serviced and has covered only 29,000 miles in its life. It’s one-of-a-kind and, from the right angles, quite gorgeous. It will likely sell for between $1,200,000-$1,600,000. You can read more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $1,017,500.

Maserati 450S Prototype

1956 Maserati 450S Prototype by Fantuzzi

Offered by RM Auctions | Monaco | May 10, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

The Maserati 450S was an evolution of the Maserati 350S. The chassis was lengthened to house the new monster V-8. The car was a racing success in the latter half of the 50s and would give way to the legendary Birdcage Maseratis.

The engine is a 5.7-liter V-8 making a whopping 520 horsepower. Good Lord. This thing must fly. The car you see here is the prototype version of the 450S. It’s the first one – and it was originally a 350S. It’s competition history as a 350S includes:

  • 1956 Mille Miglia – DNF (with Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson)

The car was more or less totaled in that race when Moss lost his brakes and blasted through a barrier and into a tree. So Maserati turned this into a test mule for the forthcoming 450S. This car’s race history as a 450S, you’ll have to read on RM’s site. This car has had three owner’s since it left Maserati and has been meticulously restored. It will fetch between $5,500,000-$7,500,000. Click here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $4,816,350.

Maserati 250S

1957 Maserati 250S by Fantuzzi

Offered by RM Auctions | London, U.K. | September 8-9, 2013

1957 Maserati 250S by Fantuzzi

In 1955, Maserati moved to replace its A6GS sports racing cars with a new car called the 200S, later the 200SI. In 1957, they upgraded the 200SI with a bigger engine and re-christened it the 250S. Only four were built. This is one of them.

The engine is a 2.5-liter twin cam straight-four making 253 horsepower. They were enlarged versions of the 2.0-liter from the 200SI and they were very quick cars – faster than the Ferrari V12s they competed against early on. But the program was cancelled when Maserati gave up racing after 1957. The sleek body is by Fantuzzi.

This is the only 250S that was actually born with a 2.5-liter engine (the other three all had 2.0-liter engines that were bored out to 2.5-liters). It went from the factory to the Jim Hall/Carroll Shelby distributorship in Dallas, Texas. Jim Hall raced it in some SCCA events in the South in 1958. Carroll Shelby drove it too.

This car is in almost entirely original condition – which is remarkable because it appears to be exquisite. It’s been used in some historic events and they engine had a massive overhaul in 2010, but the body has never been restored. It is race ready and should sell for between $3,900,000-$4,600,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM in London.

Update: Sold $3,340,000.

S/N: 2432.

Maserati A6GCS/53

1953 Maserati A6GCS/53 Spyder by Fantuzzi

Offered by RM Auctions | Monterey, California | August 16-17, 2013

1953 Maserati A6GCS53 Spyder by Fantuzzi

In the early 1950s, Maserati was winning races in Formula Two. They thought, “if we can win races at this level, why can’t we go sports car racing too?” Their single-seater was based off of their A6 road car – and so is this.

The World Sportscar Championship was what they were after with the clunky-sounding A6GCS/53. The engine is a version of the 2.0-liter straight-six used in the Formula Two racer – it makes 170 horsepower. Most bodies for the A6GCS were built by Fantuzzi using aluminium. You have to admit, this is one good-looking race car.

This car was sold new to an American Maserati distributor and while he never raced it, Juan Manuel Fangio drove this car on a publicity photo shoot. This car did a lot of amateur road racing in its day although the biggest race of its career was:

  • 1954 12 Hours of Sebring – 33rd, DNF (with Don McKnought and William Eager)

The car has had many owners and was acquired by the current one in 2006. The restoration is as old as 1999 and it is eligible for just about every historic racing even in the world. Only 58 A6GCS/53 were built and only 52 had Fantuzzi coachwork. This one should sell for $2,450,000-$2,950,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM.

Update: Did not sell (high bid of $2,200,000)

S/N: 2053

Maserati 150 GT Spider

1957 Maserati 150 GT Spider

Offered by Gooding & Company | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 18-19, 2013

Photo – Gooding & Company

This is one of the best looking Maserati road car convertibles I’ve ever seen. Part of the reason for this is that this is the only one like it I’ve ever seen as it was the only one ever made. It began life as a A6GCS, Maserati’s 2.0-liter race car built from 1953 through 1955. It was a Maserati team car and after the 1954 season, it returned to the factory where the chassis was used for the prototype 300S, with the 3.0-liter six. The 300S went into production and Maserati then turned to the 150S race car, which used a 1.5-liter four.

With production of the race-bred 150S well under way, Maserati turned to developing a road car variant. They pulled this chassis back in, stripped it of the 300S bits and strapped the 1.4-liter four in from the 150S, a transmission from the A6GCS (in current form this car makes about 195 horsepower and weighs less than 2,000 lbs). Then they shipped the car to Fantuzzi, who constructed this incredible convertible body.

Due to things that seem obvious now – the price being “prohibitive” (it was a one-off, of course it was expensive) and it being a poor handler/performer on the road (again, it was a prototype and was never properly tuned – parts were just thrown on it and bodied to show off to the public) – Maserati shelved it and production never started. Instead, the company started development of the legendary 3500 GT.

This car was forgotten about and sold to a dealer in the U.K. in 1960 who kept it until the 1980s when it was sold to a German collector, who owned it until 2007. The new owner found the car with red paint and a relatively unknown history that was, at best, confusing. He did some research and discovered just what this car was. It was then properly restored and repainted to this lovely cream color. And now Gooding & Company estimate that this car will bring somewhere between $3,000,000-$4,000,000. Quite a find. For more information check out Gooding’s site.

Update: Sold $3,080,000.