Maserati 200S and 200SI – Classic Sports Racing Cars
Sparkling performance made sports-racer a little jewel

With the introduction of the GranTurismo, Maserati has two different models sharing the same engine, the familiar 4.2-liter V8 power unit sourced from Ferrari and built to Maserati’s own specifications. Indeed, the engine has been sufficiently reliable for it to have changed little since it was introduced in the 4200GT, in 2001. By contrast, back in the mid-1950s the picture at Maserati was almost the exact opposite; several cars shared a near-identical chassis, with different engines being their defining feature.

One of those cars was the 200S sports-racing car. This was the successor to the Tipo 150S, a small sports racer with a four-cylinder 1,484 cc engine. With the exception of a few ‘voiturette’ racers back in the 1920s and 1930s, this was the smallest engine built by Maserati, yet the car was still capable of speeds approaching 150mph. The racing engine made 140bhp, approaching the magic ‘100bhp per liter’ benchmark; in a car which weighed under 1,400 lbs, it was hardly surprising that performance was distinctly rapid.

At the same time, Maserati worked on the 200S, which used an identical chassis. The engine was virtually identical, too – in fact, the cylinder block casting was exactly the same. The increase in capacity to 1,993 cc was achieved by increasing both bore and stroke of the double overhead cam engine; breathing through two Weber 45 DCO3 carburettors, peak power was an impressive 190bhp at 7,200rpm. Since the 200S weighed only 67 lbs more than its predecessor, top speed was over 160mph.

The first example of the 200S was built by coachbuilder Fiandri, using a modified chassis from the A6GCS racer. It had a ‘live’ rear axle and leaf springs; early testing revealed that the additional power of the engine was too much for the brakes from the 150S, so modifications were made to the hydraulic drum brakes as further models were constructed. Two or three further cars were built by Fiandri, while the remaining 24 examples were constructed by Medardo Fantuzzi – mostly with de Dion rear axles in place of the ‘live’ axle used on the early cars.

In 1957, its final year of production, the car was designated the 200SI. This did not mark any particular change in the car, but rather it was an indication that the car met the requirements of the Sport Internazionale classification – a category which aimed to make sport-racing cars much closer to road going machines than dedicated racers; indeed, one of the requirements of the category was a space large enough to contain a suitcase!

The 200S and 200I took several honors, including second place in the 1956 Supercortemaggiore Grand Prix. In this 1,000 km race, held using both the banked track and road circuit at Monza, Stirling Moss and Cesare Perdisa came second, less than half a minute behind the winning car. Victories came in the Bari GP, in a race at Castelfusano, near Rome, and at Caracas, in Venezuela. The 200I took victory on its final appearance, at the 1957 Sicily GP. The car was so versatile it was used for everything from hill-climb events to the Mille Miglia.

It also proved a useful test bed, with the Maserati factory sometimes entering three supposedly similar cars in a race, but with differing aerodynamics and suspension arrangements. In fact, the cylinder head of the 4.5-liter V8 engine, fitted to the mighty 450S, was a development of that used for the 200S and 200SI.  And the 200SI continues today as a favourite of vintage racers.  A number of North America’s better known vintage racing enthusiasts compete with 200SIs and the agile little car can still outperform others with far more power.  To see 200SIs in the thick of competition, and often taking class victories from better-known Ferraris, attend any Shell Historic Challenge event; the genius of Maserati shines through.