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Maserati A6: The Italian Automaker’s First Road Car

Alfa Romeo is widely considered to have pioneered the grand tourer with the 6C 1750 Gran Turismo. The modern-day GT, however, can trace its roots back to the bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful Maserati A6.
Maserati A6 1500 Gran Turismo 32 photos
Photo: Maserati
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But first, let’s go back to the 19th century, when all seven of the Maserati brothers were born. Only six of them reached adulthood because Alfieri I died when he was one year old. In his honor, the Maseratis founded Officine Alfieri Maserati in 1914 at number 1A on Via de’ Pepoli, Bologna.

Alfieri II died in surgery back in 1932, yet three of the brothers kept the company going. Come 1937, these guys decided to sell their shares to industrialist Adolfo Orsi, the gentleman who bankrolled the upcoming car-making business. He moved the House of the Trident to Modena in 1939 at 322 Viale Ciro Menotti, yet the A6 story begins in earnest in 1941.

Inspired by the straight-six engine of the 6CM series of voiturettes, the remaining brothers decided to engineer a road-going car with a straight-six powerplant. WWII slowed things down, sure. But come March 1946, the very first prototype was ready. During this period, Carrozzeria Pininfarina was commissioned to design the coupe-bodied A6 1500 Gran Turismo that premiered at the Geneva International Motor Show in March 1947.

As the name implies, A stands for Alfieri, while 6 references the cylinders hiding under the hood. 1500 indicates the powertrain’s displacement. Maserati embraced the A6G moniker later on when the six-pot mill was enlarged to 2.0 liters. To whom it may concern, G stands for ghisa, the Italian word for cast iron. Later still, the A6G welcomed two acronyms: CM for Corsa Monoposto and CS for Corsa Sport. As if that wasn’t puzzling enough, the A6G added two suffixes: 53 that stands for 1953, and 54 for 1954.

Maserati A6 1500 Gran Turismo by Pininfarina
Photo: Maserati
Let us return to March 1947 at the Geneva Motor Show and the one-off show car that was finished by Pininfarina one month prior. That example of the breed sports wild design elements that were toned down for the production car. In other words, the retractable headlights were scrapped in favor of round headlights. From the side view, the A6 1500 Gran Turismo clearly takes inspiration from the prepossessing Cisitalia 202.

Also penned by Pininfarina, the four-wheeled muse was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in 1951. The “8 Automobiles” automotive design exhibition also included a Mercedes-Benz SS, a James Young-bodied Bentley 4¼ Litre, a fantastic-looking teardrop coupe from Talbot-Lago with Figoni et Falaschi bodywork, a 1941 model year Lincoln Continental, a 1948 MG TC, a Cord 812, as well as a Willys-Overland M38 Jeep.

Tipping the scales at 950 kilograms (2,094 pounds) for the berlinetta, the A6 1500 Gran Turismo flaunts a tubular chassis with round-section tubes. The 1.5-liter engine features a single overhead camshaft, rockers that actuate the valves, and a lone carburetor of the Weber 36DCR variety. It produces 65 ponies at 4,700 revolutions per minute, and in combination with the four-speed manual transmission, it enables a top speed of 141 kilometers per hour (87.6 miles per hour). Accelerating to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) takes a borderline pedestrian 17.5 seconds.

Further gifted with independent front suspension, hydraulic brakes, and a Jaeger clock spruced up with the oh-so-desirable trident logo, the A6 1500 was discontinued in 1950 after only 61 units. Presented at the 1950 Turin Motor Show, the A6G 2000 originally had cast-iron blocks. The Italian automaker reverted to light alloy castings pretty much immediately.

Maserati A6 1500 Gran Turismo by Pininfarina
Photo: Maserati
With the optional three-carburetor setup, the inline-six lump cranks up in the ballpark of 100 horsepower. Available with Frua, Vignale, and Pininfarina coachwork, this line ended production in 1951 after only 16 units. Developed by Gioacchino They Named A Ferrari V12 Engine After MeColombo, the A6GCM deserves an honorable mention as well because Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1953 Italian Grand Prix in one. That open-top racing car, the interim A6SSG, paved the way for the highly successful Maserati 250F.

Presented at the Turin Motor Show in 1954, the extremely rare A6GCS/53 Berlinetta Pininfarina is the final 20th-century Maserati with Pininfarina coachwork. The Quattroporte V, GranTurismo, and GranCabrio would rekindle their relationship in the 2000s. Only four units were ever produced, all featuring double-overhead camshaft sixers that boast 170 ponies.

The final chapter in the A6 story is the A6G/54 from the 1954 Paris Motor Show. A total of 60 units were produced until 1956 with coachwork by Allemano, Frua, and Zagato. Initially rated at 150-odd metric horsepower, the A6G/54 added 10 horsepower in 1956 by adopting dual ignition.

The following year, the Italian automaker premiered its first mass-produced car, the 3500 series that we’ve covered in great detail only recently.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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