There is a tension central to the appeal of classic sports cars that pits their history and provenance against the frequent reality that time and competition affect the originality of a car. This 1956 Maserati A6G/54 Zagato Berlinetta is a fine example of how that tension can weave a fascinating history and create something utterly desirable.
One of just 20 Maserati A6G/2000 chassis sent to Zagato in the spring of 1956 to be bodied by the legendary coachbuilder, it is powered by a 160 hp 2.0-liter inline six. And almost as soon as it was made, it was wrecked at the legendary Mille Miglia.
In such a hurry was Luigi Fornasari to race it, the company didn’t have time to paint the aluminum body, and just two weeks after completion, he put the car on its roof on the rainy roads of Ravenna. Fortunately, the driver and co-driver suffered only minor injuries, but the car had to be sent back to Zagato for repairs.
The company decided to take the opportunity to rework certain details, shrinking the radiator opening, lowering the headlights, and adding a strip of alloy trim from the fender to the door handle, making it a completely unique example.
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Back on the road by 1957, it was competing again in hill climb events that were easier to enter than circuit races, but more dangerous, too. By the fall of that year, it was back with Zagato again for more repairs.
While there, it was taken out for a shakedown by none other than Gianni Zagato, who crashed the car at high speeds. In order to convince Maserati to pay for the repairs, the coachbuilder decided to use the car as a design study for the upcoming 3500 GT model.
However, that wasn’t the end of the car’s racing career, nor of its design changes. By 1984, the car was red, had covered headlights, and other changes. By 2000, owner John Bookout decided that it was time to get back to its 1958 spec, just like it was after its first accident, and before Zagato crashed it.
Bookout and subsequent owners hired some of the best craftspeople available to get it back to that specification, but the story reveals the tension between the number of famous hands that touched the car and the unoriginality of it.
This model is a beautiful encapsulation of its time. A gorgeous look at Zagato design in the mid-century, a fascinating representation of motorsports in the ’50s, and a ledger of legendary workers whose efforts have combined to create this 1956 Maserati A6G/54 Zagato Berlinetta that is going up for auction at Monterey. Being sold by Broad Arrow Auctions at its August 17-18 sale, it is expected to go for between $3.25 and $3.75 million.
