Lot 232: 1937 Maserati 4CM Monoposto

Of the six surviving Maserati brothers, all except Mario would go on to become motor engineers; and even Mario had a role to play in the marque�s foundation, designing its famous Trident badge, which is said to have been inspired by the statue of Neptune in Bologna, where the factory was situated at Pontevecchio. Societ� Anonima Officine Maserati was set up in December 1914 by Alfieri Maserati, specialising in the tuning and repair of Isotta-Fraschini motor cars. After the end of The Great War, Alfieri and his brother Ettore were recruited to manage Diatto�s racing programme, and when that company withdrew from active competition the pair, together with Ernesto Maserati, set up on their own.
The Maseratis were racing specialists � the first Maserati road car would not appear for several years � and their first product was a 1.5-litre supercharged straight eight intended for the formula that commenced in 1926. It would turn out to be an auspicious debut, for the new Tipo 26, crewed by Alfieri Maserati and mechanic Guerino Bertocchi, won its class in that year�s Targa Florio. As a low volume producer whose products were aimed at wealthy enthusiasts, Maserati was relatively unaffected by the Depression and production increased steadily if unspectacularly; of the ten Tipo 26s built up to 1928, four were used by the works and six sold to privateers.
The Formule Libre years of the early Thirties would see Maserati achieve its first Grand Prix victory, when Baconin Borzacchini won the Tripoli GP in 1930 at the wheels of the V16-engined �V4�, but within a few years the Bologna firm would find itself relegated from racing�s front rank by the might of the state-backed Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union teams. Maserati responded by concentrating its efforts on the voiturette class, which was not contested by the German manufacturers, enjoying considerable success in that category. First introduced in 1931, the 1,100cc Tipo 4CM was Maserati�s first racing voiturette. Built alongside the 4CS two-seater sports-racer, the 4CM monoposto was powered by a 1,088cc twin-overhead-camshaft supercharged �four� that produced 125bhp at 6,600rpm, an output sufficient to propel these compact little cars to a top speed of 130mph.
Delivered new in 1937 to Count Giovanni Lurani Cernuschi, better known in motor racing circles as �Johnny� Lurani, one of the founder members of Scuderia Ambrosiana together with Luigi Villoresi and Franco Cortese, chassis number �1128� is one of the very last Tipo 4CMs made. Manufactured in February 24th 1937 and supplied in 1,100cc specification, �1128� came with a spare cylinder block, pistons, connecting rods and supercharger enabling it to be converted to 1,500cc when required. Lurani was very successful with this car throughout the 1937 and 1938 seasons, winning the 1,100cc category at Turin, Milan, Genoa, Naples and Palermo, and taking the Italian National Championship. (A full list of this car�s race results can be found in the Adolfo Orsi archive).
�1128� was one of four Maseratis taken to South Africa in the winter of 1937/38 by Scuderia Ambrosiana. At Cape Town, the last stop on the itinerary, Lurani shared the 4CM with Villoresi, who took over the drive when in 6th place and had worked the unfancied 1�-litre car up to a fighting 3rd place at the finish. On its return the 4CM was rebuilt in Italy in preparation for the forthcoming season. Lurani ran the car in 1,500cc form at the Tripoli Grand Prix, where he set fastest lap and finished third, and in the Targa Florio where he retired, before converting it back to 1,100cc, for handicap reasons, for the London Grand Prix in June. Held at the Crystal Palace circuit, this event would prove to be a fateful one for the Count, who overturned his 4CM in practice, breaking a hip. The car was only superficially damaged but Lurani�s injury was severe enough to end his monoposto racing career. �I acted as a cushion for the car when it landed,� he was quoted as saying. With his single-seater career now over, Lurani advertised the 4CM in The Motor with an asking price of �795. The car was advertised as in 1,500cc form, with spares to convert the engine to 1,100cc, and guaranteed to exceed 140mph.
While Lurani was convalescing, the car was repaired and raced by W G �Bill� Everitt and Achile Varzi before being sold via BRDC secretary, Desmond Scannell to ex-racing motorcyclist and Isle of Man TT winner, C J P �Charlie� Dodson. Dodson raced the car at the 1939 British Empire Trophy race at Donington Park and once more that same year at the Nuffield Trophy race, running with the leaders on both occasions only to retire.
The car was not seen again until after the war, when it was spotted by Lurani at the Montlh�ry autodrome near Paris in 1948, now painted blue and raced by a French driver. In the early 1960s the car resurfaced once more in Marseilles. Lurani decided not to buy it and the battle-scarred but still complete 4CM was purchased by Swiss enthusiast Hermann Richenberger in February 1964. Richenberger consulted the Maserati archive, obtaining a copy of the original sales invoice to Lurani, which the car retains today. With professional assistance Mr Richenberger embarked on a painstaking and meticulous restoration to return the car to its former glory, retaining a maximum of original parts. At the completion of this 1,600-hour restoration the Maserati was exhibited on August 31st 1968 at the Expo de la C�te at Rolle on Lake Geneva and pictured in the Swiss Automobile Revue of September 19th that same year together with around 50 other collector�s cars from the area. The car was subsequently drained of all fluids and spent the next 38 years hanging on its owner�s wall like a great artist�s masterpiece - which is, of course, what it is - before being sold to the current owner at the Le Mans Classic auction in July 2006.
After such a lengthy period in quiet retirement, �1128� will almost certainly require a certain amount of re-commissioning before resuming its career on the racetrack, if that is what its fortunate new owner so chooses. Eligible for a wide variety of the most prestigious motor sporting events like the Grand Prix de Monaco Classic, this wonderful car represents a rare opportunity to acquire an historic Maserati monoposto with in-period Grand Prix history, driven by some of the greatest drivers of its era.