1954 - 1957 Maserati A6G/54 2000 Zagato Coupe - Images, Specifications and Information

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One of the arrangements of the sale of Maserati to industrialist Omar Orsi in 1937 was that the Maserati brothers would continue to work for the company for another ten years. The brothers honoured the agreement and continued to work for the factory until 1947 when they left to start a new company of their own; OSCA. Orsi was on his own, but the Maseratis had left a newly designed straight six engine. Although it was planned to be used in motor racing, it would first find its way into Maserati's first Grand Tourer. Orsi understood very well that building just racing cars was not going to be enough to keep the company afloat, so he ordered his engineers to construct a road car. This would by no means be a mass production car, but rather a very exclusive sports car.

Dubbed A6, the new Maserati debuted at the 1947 Geneva Motorshow equipped with a Pinin Farina designed body. Under the skin a 1.5 litre, single overhead camshaft engine was mounted in conjunction with a 4-speed gearbox. Producing just 65 bhp, the new engine was not a very good performer. The chassis was a simple steel tubular frame with two side members and a number of cross members. Front suspension was by wishbones, coil springs and Houdaille shocks absorbers. At the rear a live axle was sprung and damped in a similar fashion. The poor performance, high price and bland styling did not make the A6 coupe a very big seller.

Orsi took the lessons learned to heart and introduced a second version of the A6 at the 1951 Paris Motorshow in three different guises. The displacement was increased to 2 litres, which hiked the power output to 100 bhp for the optional three-carburetor engine. Reminiscent of the great custom coach building tradition of the 1930s the new A6G was introduced with as a Frua Spider, a Vignale Coupe and a Pinin Farina Berlina. This latter coupe design would become the 'standard' body for the A6G, but it was not quite as elegant as the Pinin Farina designs of the years to come. For the same reasons as mentioned earlier and the introduction of the Ferrari 166 Inter, the 2 litre A6 was again not a sales success and only 16 examples were completed.

Maserati finally got it right in 1954 when a third evolution of the six cylinder road car was introduced. Commonly referred to as the A6G/54, it was equipped with a completely revised engine, which now featured twin camshafts and plugs. This engine was directly derived from the Maserati single seater and sports racers and produced a more competitive 150 bhp. Another great help was the availability of much better looking bodies from Frua and Zagato. Especially the lightweight Zagato bodies were a big hit. Production lasted for three years and 63 cars with a wide variety of body styles. It was replaced by the 3500 GT, which was more or less a production car, ending a decade of custom Maserati Grand Tourers.

Zagato provided numerous coupe bodies for the twin-cam A6G, but surprisingly only one of these (s/n 2121) sported the company's trademark double-bubble roof. There are two other chassis that have a similar roof treatment today, but it is not uncertain if that's original. The original double-bubble A6G was driven in the Mille Miglia when new, but failed to finish. After its competition career it was sold to the United States where it served as a loaner for a bodyshop for a few years. Its owner Sal DiNatale, an Italian living in California, had it shipped back to Italy in the 1960s as he planned to return to his native country. Awaiting his return he had the car stored in a garage and protected by a two feet high brick wall.

DiNatale never returned to Italy and the car was not seen in public for three decades. It was then that one of America's most prominent Zagato enthusiasts, David Sydorick, set out to find A6G s/n 2121. After many fruitless attempts to locate DiNatale, two gentleman called him to ask if they could see his collection. They were particularly interested in seeing his Zagato A6G s/n 2179. Sydorick invited them over and once there one introduced himself as Sal DiNatale. After showing them his 'regular' Zagato coupe, Sydorick carefully inquired if the rumors about 2121 were correct. DiNatale confirmed the story, but it took another year of convincing before he agreed to sell his Maserati to Sydorick.

Immediately after the deal was done, the happy new owner jumped on the first plane to Italy to collect he Maserati himself. The car was located in the infamous city of Corleone on Sicily, which also explains why it was so carefully stored. He reached the garage very late, but lit by a small bulb he could confirm he found the proverbial 'pot of gold'. The next day the entire village had gathered to see who bought 'the car in the garage' and DiNatale's son-in-law set out to take down the wall. The tires were inflated and 2121 was rolled out onto the street to see daylight for the first time in decades. The following morning the car was on a plane back to California.

Even though the car was complete, it required a thorough restoration. Three and a half years of hard work brought it back to life right in time for the 2002 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Sydorick and his restorers' hard work payed off as the Maserati won best in class. In the following years, Sydorick showed the long lost A6G at various events with much success. The striking Maserati is pictured here at the 2006 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este where it received the Targa Argento for best in class.