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This car is dedicated to Juan Manuel Fangio!
A remarkable man and racing driver.
In 1947 Maserati started experimenting with a 4CLs and a feature from this experimental car was brought to the new 4CLT/48. T denotes the new innovation, a Tubular Chasis and 48 denotes 1948.
The new car produced 260BHP, an increase in 40BHP from the previous model, brought by the introduction of a Twin-Supercharger. The 4CLT/48 was sometimes refered to as the Sanremo, after winning at the circuit on its debut. Alberto Ascari's victory at the 1948 Sanremo Grand Prix was followed by wins for Reg Parnell andLuigi Villoresi. The car took six wins in 1948 and was also notable for being the car that Juan Manuel Fangio raced in his early European racing career.
The race winning form continued into 1949 with victories at 9 of the first 15 races of the season including Toulo de Graffenried winning at the 1949 British Grand Prix but the rest of the season saw a resurgence from the Ferrari and Talbot-Lago teams.
In 1950 the World Championship was launched and the hugely upgraded Alfa Romeo 158 and relaunched the factory team. In reaction to this Maserati fitted bigger superchargers to their car, bringing the pre-war design up to 280BHP and shed some weight but the performance was not there. The season's only Formula One wins came in non-Championship events. whilst The Milano team modified a 4CLT for use in 1950 and 1951, but without success.
In 1951, Prince Bira relaunched his own team and modified his 4CLT/48 to accept a naturally aspirated OSCA V12 engine. This engine developed around 300 bhp and won the Goodwood race early in the season, but in its only World Championship appearance, at the 1951 Spanish Grand Prix, it retired on the first lap.
The 4CLT/48's best Grand Prix result was achieved by Louis Chiron at the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix, surviving the first lap incident, the Monegasque driver brought his car home 3rd.
Specifications
Maserati 4CLT /48 was produced from 1948 to 1951.
Production: 18 units produced + 2 Maserati 4CLT/50
Designer: Ernesto Maserati
Suspension front: independent
Suspension rear: rigid axle
Supercharger 2
1491cc L 4 S
260hp/7000rpm , 287Nm
Transmissin: Maserati 4-speed manual
Wheelbase: 2,500 mm (98.4 in)
Length: 151.57 in. (3,850 mm)
Width: 55.12 in (1,400 mm)
Height: 39.37 in. (1,000 mm)
Juan Manuel Fangio
Fangio impressed the European racing scene the second he stepped foot in the Old World in 1949. In his first season with the Maserati 4CLT/48, he won the San Remo, Pau and Roussillon Gran Prix. In 1950, he won the Gran Prix of Pau again, with a Maserati 4CLT/50.
But it was at San Remo where Fangio truly proved his worth as both a driver and mechanic. A big end went the day before the event. That night he removed the sump, found the bad bearing, and polished the crankshaft with a piece of emery cloth. This alone took him two hours. Then he installed a new bearing and fixed it so it wouldn’t spin. Finally, “I told the mechanics to put the sump on while I went to bed. And the next day I won the race.”
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