The Maserati Tipo 26M was a model of

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

race car Race, RACE or The Race may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

produced by Italian manufacturer

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, for a total of 13 units, between 1930 and 1932. Before the Tipo 26M, the original Tipo 26 from 1926 had evolved into versions such as 26B, 26C and 26R. Based on these, the Tipo 26M was designed in 1930 as mostly single-seaters (''M'' meaning ''

monoposto An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, Sports car racing, sports cars, Stock car racing, stock cars, and Touring car racing, touring car ...

'') and also referred to as ''8C 2500'' (8 cylinder, 2500 cc). Six of the 26M were made into Tipo 26M Sport for long endurance purposes. The ''26M Grand Sport'' by

Carrozzeria Castagna Carrozzeria Castagna is an Italian coachbuilder, coachbuilding company based in Milan, Italy. History Sources provide very different information about the company's origins. Some internet sources believe that it was founded in 1849 by Carlo Cast ...

and the ''Sport Tipo 1000 Miglia'' by

Ugo Zagato Ugo Zagato (25 June 1890, in Gavello – 31 October 1968) was an Italian automobile designer, known for establishing and running the Zagato coachbuilder, famous for its lightweight designs. He had five brothers and lost his father (1905), forc ...

were two-seater models for road use. Two four-seaters were later referred to as the company's first attempt at non-racing cars. The Tipo 26M dominated the 1930 Grand Prix season having its debut at VI Premio Reale di Roma (

Luigi Arcangeli Luigi Arcangeli (1902 - 23 May 1931) was an Italian motorcycle and car racer. Biography Arcangeli was born at Forlì in 1894. A factory rider for Sarolea, Sunbeam, Bianchi and Moto Guzzi, he turned to four wheels in the wake of his friend Tazi ...

won, 25 May 1930), IV Coppa Ciano (

Luigi Fagioli Luigi Cristiano Fagioli (; 9 June 1898 – 20 June 1952) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Grand Prix motor racing from 1928 to 1949, and Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Abruzzi Robber", Fagioli won the 1951 French Grand Prix w ...

won, 21 July 1930), VI Coppa Acerbo (

Achille Varzi Achille Varzi (8 August 1904 – 1 July 1948) was an Italian racing driver. He is remembered as the winner of the 1933 Monaco Grand Prix, as well as the winner of the first Formula One Grand Prix at the 1946 Turin Grand Prix, and as the chief ...

won,

Ernesto Maserati Ernesto Maserati (4 August 1898 – 1 December 1975) was an Italian automotive engineer and racer, with Maserati of Modena since its inception in Bologna on 14 December 1914, together with his brothers Alfieri Maserati (leader), Ettore Maserati, B ...

second, 17 August 1930), III Gran Premio di Monza (Varzi won, Arcangeli second, 7 September 1930) and the VII Gran Premio de España (Varzi won,

Aymo Maggi Aymo Maggi (30 July 1903 – 23 October 1961) was an Italian racing car driver from Brescia and co-organiser of the first Mille Miglia automobile race in 1927. He was an active member of the Fascist Party since 1921, partecipating and leading the ...

second, 5 October 1930). In the first half of the

1931 Grand Prix season The 1931 Grand Prix season was a watershed year, with the advent of the AIACR European Championship. After several years of Grand Prix racing in the doldrums with little technical development, 1931 saw new models come from all three main manufac ...

it lost to the

Alfa Romeo 8C The Alfa Romeo 8C was a range of Alfa Romeo road, Auto racing, race and sports cars of the 1930s. The 8C designates 8 cylinders, and originally a straight-8, straight 8-cylinder engine. The Vittorio Jano designed 8C was Alfa Romeo's primary raci ...

and Bugatti T51. The engine was a

straight-eight The straight-eight engine or inline-eight engine (often abbreviated as I8) is an eight-cylinder internal combustion engine with all eight cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase. The type has been produced in side-valve, I ...

with a displacement of 2495.4 cc. The bore and stroke are 65 and 94 mm, respectively. The horsepower delivered was at 5600 rpm, while the

compression ratio The compression ratio is the ratio between the maximum and minimum volume during the compression stage of the power cycle in a piston or Wankel engine. A fundamental specification for such engines, it can be measured in two different ways. Th ...

was 5.5:1. A bored out engine with carburetors from Edoardo Weber of

, became the 8C 2800. Thanks to a bore, this engine's displacement is 2811.9 cc; maximum power is . The 8C 2800 won at the IV Gran Premio di Monza (

, 6 September 1931) and I Mountains Championship at Brooklands (

Tim Birkin Sir Henry Ralph Stanley Birkin, 3rd Baronet (26 July 1896 – 22 June 1933), known as Tim Birkin, was a British racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s. Background and family Birkin was born into a wealthy Nottingham family in ...

, 17 October 1931). Other drivers of 26M this year were

Clemente Biondetti Clemente Biondetti (18 October 1898 – 24 February 1955) was an Italian auto racing driver. Born into a working-class family, Biondetti raced motorcycles before turning to automobiles where he had greater success. Biography Born in Buddusò, S ...

, Luigi Parenti,

George Eyston Captain George Edward Thomas Eyston MC OBE (28 June 1897 – 11 June 1979) was a British engineer, inventor, and racing driver best known for breaking the land speed record three times between 1937 and 1939. Early life George Eyston was edu ...

Pietro Ghersi Pietro Ghersi (24 January 1899 – 1 August 1972) was an Italian motorcycle racer and, from 1927, also a racecar driver. He was born in Genoa. With his brother Mario Ghersi and Luigi Arcangeli he biked in the 1926 Isle of Man TT and 1930 Isle o ...

, Umberto Klinger and

René Dreyfus René Albert Dreyfus (6 May 1905 – 16 August 1993) was a French racing driver active during the 1930s and 1940s. Early life Dreyfus was born and raised in Nice to a Jewish family. He showed an early interest in automobiles, learning to d ...

. Later victories were with

's 26M, III Mountains Championship (

Whitney Straight Air Commodore Whitney Willard Straight, (6 November 1912 – 5 April 1979) was a British racing driver, aviator, businessman, and a member of the prominent Whitney family. Early life Born in New York City, Whitney Straight was the son of Maj ...

, 21 October 1933) and as an ''8C'' at

Circuit d'Albi The Circuit d'Albi is a motorsport race track located in the French town of Le Sequestre near Albi, about northeast of Toulouse. Built to replace the nearby ''Circuit Les Planques'' public road circuit, Albi has 70 years of history in moto ...

GP (

Buddy Featherstonhaugh Rupert Edward Lee "Buddy" Featherstonhaugh ( ; 4 October 1909 – 12 July 1976) was an English jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. Musical career Born in Paris in 1909, the son of an English marine architect and his Scottish wife. His grandfath ...

, 22 July 1934).

Technical Data

References

{{Maserati Tipo 26M Grand Prix cars