Maserati 8CM

The Maserati 8CM was a single-seat racing car that Maserati built from 1933 to 1935. Its powerful straight-eight engine of 2,991.4 cc, supercharged with a Roots blower and fed by a Weber 55AS1 carburettor, produced between 220 and 240 CV, and large 400 mm brake drums were fitted. These features strained the light, flexible chassis, which came from the 4CM 1100, and Giuseppe Campari complained about the handling, but at the time Maserati was concentrating on developing powerful engines rather than on overall balance. The car became more competitive after Tazio Nuvolari asked for the front of the chassis to be stiffened, and in 1934, under the new International Formula, the chassis length near the cockpit was set to 850 mm and the weight was cut from 785 kg to 750 kg. Entered by private drivers, the 8CM then achieved good results. Its top speed was between 220 and 250 km/h.