Maserati Mille Miglia 1955: Trident missile

Italian racing cars from the 1950s don’t come much more ‘quintessential’ than this spectacular Maserati A6GCS/53, one of the 48 Spider variants of the model built between 1953 and 1955. 

As aficionados will know, the ‘A6’ designation refers to marque co-founder Alfieri and the car’s six-cylinder engine which, in this case, was a version of the Gioacchino Colombo-designed 2-litre unit uprated to produce around 170bhp through the use of an aluminium block and pistons and twin overhead camshafts.

Fitted into a race-orientated ladder chassis made by Gilco of Milan (which also built frames for Ferrari) it created a package that considerably upped the ante over Maserati’s immediate post-war racers which, although successful in their period, were by then being outclassed.

534 started) and all of the major sports car makers were keener than ever to win or, at the very least, make the podium.

As a result Sbraci found himself pitted against top drivers including Umberto Maglioli, Juan Manuel Fangio, Karl Kling, Paul Frére and, of course, Stirling Moss in the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (who went on to win in record-breaking time).

It’s all the more remarkable, then, that Sbraci brought the Maserati home in 12th place overall and third in class, completing the gruelling course of ‘1000 Roman miles’ in 12 hours, 24 minutes and 31 seconds (the car’s history file contains evocative images of it starting and finishing the 1955 event).

Sbraci moved the Maserati on to a second owner soon afterwards, but it saw little use until changing hands twice more in the early 1960s, the fourth owner being an American student enjoying a gap year in Italy.

He raced the car at four events in the country during 1965 before taking it home to America where it was further campaigned prior to being sold to Dr Fred Simeone, the renowned Pennsylvania neurosurgeon and competition car collector (who died in June this year, age 86).

During the current, 21-year ownership, the car has been fully restored and once again finished in its 1955 Mille Miglia livery. It is arguably the best example of its type.

Already a regular at the Pebble Beach Concours where it has been widely praised (most recently appearing in 2018), the car is a shoo-in for many other of the greatest historic events around the world – including, of course, the Mille Miglia retrospective.

But the person who gets it back on that start ramp will need to have deep pockets. And, unlike in 1965, we suspect gap year students need not apply.

1954 Maserati A6GCS/53

On sale with Fiskens, Queens Gate Place
Mews, London SW7, £POA. 020 7584 3503; fiskens.com