214 | GOODWOOD REVIVAL SALE
267
The ex-Austin Dobson, A.A. ‘Buster’ Baring
1937 mASERATI TIpO 6Cm SInGLE-SEAT RACInG VETTURETTA
Chassis no. 1547
By 1935 the Maserati 4CM 4-cylinder Voiturette - or in Italian
Vetturetta - racing car design had been out-moded by the new
British 6-cylinder ERAs. The Bologna-based factory team was taken
over by Luigi della Casa and Gino Rovere who ran it as the Scuderia
SubAlpina, while Rovere poured new funding into the Maserati firm.
In January 1936 Rovere became President of Maserati and provided
further financial support.
Ernesto Maserati also recognized the need for a more competitive
Vetturetta – to combat the growing threat within the 1500cc single-
seat racing category from the ERAs. He promptly produced his
6-cylinder Maserati 6CM design which featured a supercharged
twin-overhead camshaft engine with bore and stroke dimensions of
65mm x 75mm. The supercharger itself was increased from 115mm
as used on the 4CM to 130mm. The design broke new ground in
featuring independent front suspension instead of a beam axle. The
suspension system chosen comprised double wishbones and torsion
bars, as Voiturette authority David Venables wrote in his book ‘The
Racing Fifteen-Hundreds’ (Transport Bookman Publications, 1984):”
...becoming the first of a new generation of voiturettes which was to
leave the vintage image behind...”.