Tucked away in a pretty corner of Northern Italy is the 'Museo dell'Automobile
Luigi Bonfanti'. Different from most other car museums in not having a
permanent collection, the museum founded in 1993 by Luigi Bonfanti has
thematic displays, each lasting a few months.
From October 2000 to March 2001 the chosen
theme was Maserati, a few pictures of which can be seen below (more cars
were featured as are shown here)
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< Maserati 250F
Used by Fangio to win the 1957 Formula 1 world championship (both drivers and constructors), 33 examples were built from 1954 to 1958. |
| Maserati 6 CM >
Built to compete in the 1.5-litre class, 11 examples were produced from 1936 to 1939. |
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< Maserati Chassis
The origin of the name 'Birdcage' can be easily seen, the chassis consisting of an intricate mesh of small diameter tube. |
| Maserati Tipo 63 Birdcage >
A new rear engined car built using the already established 'birdcage' type chassis, it used a 3-litre V12 engine. Four were built in 1961/62. |
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< Record breaking boat
Built by Timossi and powered by a Maserati 150S engine (1484cc four-cylinder with 150bhp) in 1954 it took to world water speed record for boats up to 350kg, at 170km/h. |
| Maserati Motorbikes >
Two bikes, a Tipo 160 4T and a 125L/T2 were shown, both from the 1950's. |
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< Maserati A6 G2000
Spider
Adopting the twin-cam 2-litre six from the race cars for the road, several A6G2000 cars were built, including 65 of these Spiders with bodies by Frua. A6 page |
| Maserati A6 G54 Berlinetta >
Again using the 1985cc twin-cam straight six engine, 20 of these GT cars were built with bodies by Zagato from 1954 to 1957. A6 page |
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< Maserati 3500GT
Maseratis first big step into true production road cars, the 3500GT combined mechanicals derived from their race cars with a body designed by Touring Superleggera. 3500GT page |
| Maserati 3500GT Spider >
The prototype of the 3500GT Spider, built by Vignale according to a design by Michelotti. Production cars differed in many small details. 3500GT page |
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< The road cars
The display includes all the main production cars from Maserati such as the Bora, Indy, Ghibli, Merak, Mexico, Mistral etc... |
| Maserati Quattroporte >
From 1963 to 1971 Maserati built this large, four-door luxury saloon which at its release was the fastest four-door saloon in the world. Quattroporte page |
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< Maserati Biturbo
Launched in 1981 the Biturbo was the first new Maserati to be developed under the new management and was the mainstay of the marque for many years. Biturbo page |
| Maserati Boomerang >
Designed by Giugiaro and shown at the Turin Motorshow of 1972, the Boomerang was a one-off concept car based on the mechanicals of the Bora. Bora page |
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Links
The official Museo dell'Automobile Luigi Bonfanti website.
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