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Maserati open-top models were
the main attraction at two events
this summer that paid tribute to the Trident's
heritage that took place, within a
few days of each other on different continents.
The two events were the fourteenth edition of
the prestigious international event
"Vernasca Silver Flag", held in the
hills near Piacenza, Italy, and the
equally famous event "Le Belle
Macchine d'Italia" which took place
on the race track in Pocono, in
Pennsylvania. The renowned Italian
race and the spectacular reunion in
the United States were dedicated
this year to Maserati on the 70th
anniversary of the first of
Maserati's two wins at the
Indianapolis 500 and the 80th
anniversary of the first world
record set by Maserati.
A unique
and unparalleled passion on the part
of Maserati collectors in Europe and
in the United States was on display
on these two weekends. Younger
generations of collectors, clients
and friends of the marque have been
contaminated by such a passion,
which is precisely the winning
recipe of Maserati today: never let
its glorious past be covered by
dust, invest in it and take
inspiration from it to build the
future.
For a manufacturer who chose to gain
fame on the race track and has, over
the years, continued to produce only
high performance sports cars,
open-top models represent a
synthesis of passion, elegance and
total driver involvement. Driving a
Maserati convertible - spyder or
cabriolet - is both a way of
experiencing the excitement of
driving an open-air barchetta in the
guise of the drivers of the golden
days of racing, as well as being
able to slip along the streets of
the world's most fashionable
locations, and feel at one with the
power being transmitted to the road,
the sound of the engine blowing free
on the wind.
Absolute protagonist of the
Vernasca Silver Flag was the 8CM,
once owned by Tazio Nuvolari and now
property of the Donington Museum in
the United Kingdom. Among the other
extraordinary Maserati vehicles
featured, a special mention goes to
two single-seaters 4CM and two 250F,
the car that Juan Manuel Fangio
drove to clinch the Formula One
world championship for Maserati in
1957.
Taking the wheel of these
stunning classic cars were legends
such as Sir Stirling Moss, the
uncrowned motor racing king of the
1950s and 1960s responsible for
extraordinary victories at the helm
of Maserati vehicles, as well as the
legendary Maria Teresa de Filippis,
who in 1958 became the first woman
driver to compete in Formula One at
the wheel of a Maserati.
In Pocono, the focus of
everybody's attention was the
8-cylinder Maserati known as "Boyle
Special", which won the Indianapolis
500 in 1939 and 1940, courtesy of
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Museum, together with the evolution
of the 6-cylinder vehicle which, on
September 28th 1929, established the
flying 10 km land speed record,
Maserati's first world record.
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