CarBrandLogos archive · Maserati · 1947

MaseratiMaserati A6

A racing constructor's first attempt at building cars for the road.

Photo: Rex Gray · CC BY-SA 2.0

The story

A defining chapter in Maserati history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Maserati A6, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Maserati emerged from the Second World War as a racing company with no road-car business at all and no obvious way to fund one. The A6, launched in 1947, was the response: a chassis designed around a straight-six — the A stands for Alfieri, the 6 for the cylinder count — sold as a rolling platform to Italy's coachbuilders.

Maserati Maserati A6 · Thesupermat · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

The engineering team reads like a roll call of the period. Ernesto Maserati laid out the car, Alberto Massimino worked on the chassis, and Gioacchino Colombo, the man behind Ferrari's first V12, contributed to the twin-cam cylinder head of the later engines. Capacity started at 1.5 litres and grew to 2.0.

1947 Maserati A6 fl · Herranderssvensson · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

Because the bodies were commissioned individually, no two A6s are quite alike. Pinin Farina bodied the first coupés and set the pattern; Zagato, Frua, Vignale, Allemano and Bertone all took their turn, and the Zagato-bodied A6G/54 berlinettas in particular are now among the most valuable Italian cars of the period. Total production over nine years was tiny, in the low hundreds.

1947 Maserati A6 rr · Herranderssvensson · CC BY-SA 4.0

Legacy

There was a racing side too, the A6GCS sports cars, which ran with real success in Italian events. When the road-car line ended in 1956, its lessons went into the 3500 GT — the car with which Maserati finally built for the road in something like series quantity.

At a glance