Maserati Tipo 26R

The Maserati Tipo 26 R is a two-seat racing car that Maserati built in 1928 and that made its racing debut on 10 June 1928 at the Reale Premio di Roma. The short-lived 1928 Grand Prix formula admitted cars weighing between 550 and 750 kg dry whatever the engine size, so Alfieri Maserati took the block of the Tipo 26 B and fitted smaller connecting rods with roller bearings, which gave the R in the name. By legend the idea came when Bartolomeo Costantini left his Bugatti Type 35 at the Maserati works overnight and Ernesto Maserati was able to examine its engine. The car had a narrow, short-wheelbase chassis and two bodies were tried, a truncated Kamm-type one and a streamlined one. Its supercharged straight-eight of 1,690.7 cc gave 140 CV and a top speed of 200 km/h. Only two were built, one experimental and one for Count Aymo Maggi, and they finished fifth and sixth in the Italian Grand Prix of September 1928.