Maserati 8cm Monoposto Grand Prix Car

Three famous racing drivers have driven this first single seater from Maserati: Nuvolari, Taruffi and Sommer.

In 1933 Sommer bought two of these cars and raced one of them in Monaco, where he discovered that the chassis was too weak for the powerful engine. He sold both cars back to the factory, after which Tazio Nuvolari bought them. He had the chassis strengthened at the Belgian car factory Imperia and went on to win the Belgian Grand Prix that same year. Nuvolari then sold the car to the up-and-coming racing talent Piero Taruffi, who came third with the Maserati in the Coppa Acerbo. However, in 1935 Taruffi joined Bugatti. By that time the Maserati was no longer suitable for Grand Prix racing, following a change in the regulations, so he had the car converted to a two-seater. Taruffi took the car to South Africa to race and then managed to sell it to a local racing driver, who competed in the 1937 Rand Grand Prix and the 1938 South African Grand Prix. The Louwman Museum acquired the Maserati in 1988 and restored it to its original single-seater configuration.