Maserati Tipo V4

The Maserati Tipo V4 was a racing car that Maserati built from 1929, followed by a V5 version, and the two cars were built between 1929 and 1932. Its engine was made by placing two straight-eight units of the type used in the Tipo 26 B side by side to create a V16 of 3,961 cc, supercharged with two Roots blowers and giving between 280 and 305 CV. The chassis of the Tipo 26 B was lengthened to a wheelbase of 2,750 mm. With low weight and great power the car was hard to handle, and its fuel and tyre consumption were high. Alfieri Maserati set a lap speed of 198.7 km/h at Monza in September 1929, and in the same month Baconin Borzacchini set a class world record at Cremona, covering 10 km at an average of 246.069 km/h. The first car was later rebodied as a Zagato spider and has been fully restored. A second chassis built in 1931 with an enlarged 5 litre engine became the V5, which raced from 1932 and was destroyed at the 1934 Tripoli Grand Prix.