The story of the Maserati 4CLT chassis 1600, driven twice by Juan Manuel
Fangio. The latest in the Exceptional Cars series tells the story of one
of the two cars bought by The Automovil Club Argentino (ACA). Painted in
the bright blue and yellow Argentine racing colours, 1600 was to play an
important role in the Argentine team's international expeditions to
Europe. Fangio won two races in the car, the most important being at Pau
in 1950, where he repeated his win in the ACA sister car a year earlier.
As well as a detailed chronicle of the car’s highs and lows, the text
includes profiles of the drivers who raced in 1600 and a personal
account of driving and running the car by a former owner who describes
the daunting task of re-creating a Maserati 4CLT engine from scratch.
Author Cristián Bertschi is a specialist in tracking the history of cars
of this era and describes 1600’s exploits race-by-race, including a
period after it ceased to be competitive in Grand Prix racing and was
fitted with a Ford V8 engine for local events in Argentina. 4CLT 1600’s
subsequent history reads like a detective story: how it was
re-discovered, put back to its original specification, restored and
rebuilt, and went on a journey from Argentina to the United States and
Japan before settling back in Europe, where it is now an established
competitor in historic racing. As well as a detailed chronicle of the
car’s highs and lows, the text includes profiles of the men who raced in
1600 and a personal account of driving and running it by a former owner
who describes the daunting task of re-creating a Maserati 4CLT engine
from scratch.
