When 26 = Number One
The first Maserati winner right out of the box, Tipo 26

March 2007 saw the unveiling of the latest development of the current generation of Maseratis – the stunning GranTurismo, a beautiful coupe and a true grand tourer, combining the ability to take four people in stylish luxury with effortless performance. To provide a contrast with the new, we decided to take a look back to the very first car to bear the Maserati name – the Tipo 26.

By modern standards, the very first Maserati would be considered crude; after all, it had only 120bhp, leaf springs front and rear, drum brakes and a top speed of 120mph. But when you take into account that this car was built eighty years ago, it becomes clear that Maserati was leading the way in technical innovation from the very beginning, a trait that continues to this day.

The origins of that first Maserati are, however, shrouded in mystery. The Maserati brothers took over a project, run by a company named Diatto, to build a grand prix car; the brothers had first designed the car for Diatto in 1924. It seems that a change in the regulations for grand prix cars led Diatto to lose interest in the project; whether Maserati paid to take over the entire project, or whether Diatto simply handed the entire thing back to the Maserati brothers, is lost in the mists of time.

The engine was a masterpiece of engineering: 1.5-liter straight-eight, double overhead camshafts, supercharged, dry-sump lubrication – an out-and-out racing engine. Because gasoline was often of poor quality, it ran on a mix called Elcosina, a blend of ether, gas and ethyl alcohol.

The very first appearance of the Tipo 26, and the famous Trident badge which has since become synonymous with Maserati, came in the Targa Florio on 2nd May 1926. Held on a 70-mile course of public roads on the island of Sicily, five laps were a true test of any car, and riding mechanics were a necessity. Alfieri Maserati did the driving, with legendary test driver Guerrino Bertocchi alongside him; the duo finished ninth overall and claimed a class win – while the chassis may have been a proven design, it was a remarkable performance for a brand new engine.

Three cars were produced in 1926, and in 1927 improvements were made; the cylinder block of the engine was cast from aluminum rather than iron; and the fuel system was modified. A four-speed gearbox was used in place of the original three-speed. The chassis and suspension were left unchanged, a testament to the original design worked on by the brothers back in 1924.

A total of 11 chassis designated Tipo 26 were produced; the basic design was also used to spawn no fewer than five variants, beginning with the Tipo 26B, aimed squarely at road racing – the engine displacement was increased to 2 liters and 155bhp, and no spare wheels were carried. In 1928 two cars were designed specifically for the Mille Miglia, and so were described as Tipo 26MM. Combining the features of the two led to the Tipo 26B MM, while the Tipo 26R was produced in 1928 – the R indicating the use of roller bearings in the engine; the two cars built took fifth and sixth in the Italian Grand Prix that year.

The final iteration was the Tipo 26C, although it was also known as the 8C 1100. The engine was reduced in size to 1078cc, in order to make the car eligible to compete in Voiturette races; one of the four examples built claimed class victory in the 1931 Mille Miglia. It is worth pointing out that the Tipo 26M, first built in 1930, bore little in common with the earlier cars other than the suspension – it had a completely new engine and chassis design.

It is evident that even eighty years later, there are still parallels to those early years. For example, the continual striving to improve on what has gone before has led to the Quattroporte Sport GT and Executive GT, along with introduction of the option of an automatic gearbox earlier this year. Developing new models based on previous successes means that the GranTurismo is built on a modified Quattroporte chassis. One development which is good news for Maserati aficionados is that now, model names give a clear indication of the car’s intended role, rather than requiring the decoding of arcane model designations!