The Maserati Tipo 26 was a model of

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

and was the first car built 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 ...

, for a total of 11 examples, between 1926 and 1932. The Tipo 26 originated from a Grand Prix car that

Alfieri Maserati Alfieri Maserati (23 September 1887 – 3 March 1932) was an Italian automotive engineer, known for establishing and leading the Maserati racing car manufacturer with the other Maserati Brothers. Maserati was born in Voghera. In 1903 he and his ...

had designed for

Diatto Diatto was an Italian manufacturing company founded in 1835 in Turin by Guglielmo Diatto (1804–1864) to make 'carriages for wealthy customers'. In 1874 Guglielmo’s sons, Giovanni and Battista Diatto, began building railway carriages for Comp ...

: when the collaboration between Maserati and Diatto ended, Alfieri took his design to the Bologna workshop that he had set up with his brothers in 1914. The design of the Tipo 26 consisted of a steel ladder-type frame supporting a supercharged inline-8 engine with a three-speed manual transmission and an aluminum two-seater bodywork made by

Medardo Fantuzzi Medardo Fantuzzi (1906–1986) was an Italian automotive engineer, known for his Carrozzeria Fantuzzi body workshop. Life Fantuzzi was born in Bologna in 1906 and died in Modena in 1986. Automotive engineer He and his brother, Gino Fantuzzi we ...

. The engine featured a crankshaft-driven

Roots supercharger The Roots-type blower is a positive displacement lobe pump which operates by pumping a fluid with a pair of meshing lobes resembling a set of stretched gears. Fluid is trapped in pockets surrounding the lobes and carried from the intake sid ...

, twin gear-driven

overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

s and

dry sump A dry-sump system is a method to manage the lubricating motor oil in four-stroke and large two-stroke piston driven internal combustion engines. The dry-sump system uses two or more oil pumps and a separate oil reservoir, as opposed to a conve ...

lubrication; to comply with the 1926 Grand Prix regulations the displacement was fixed to 1.5-litres. At its debut race in the 1926

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

, the Maserati Tipo 26, with Alfieri Maserati driving and a young

Guerino Bertocchi Guerino Bertocchi (October 29, 1907 – April 13, 1981) was an Italian mechanic and racing driver known for his lifelong association with Maserati. Bertocchi debuted as a mechanic and co-driver alongside Alfieri Maserati in the 1926 Targa Florio ...

riding mechanic A riding mechanic was a mechanic that rode along with a race car during races, and who was tasked with maintaining, monitoring, and repairing the car during the race. The various duties included manually pumping oil and fuel, checking tire wear, ...

, finished first in the Grand Prix class and ninth overall.

Tipo 26 MM

For the 1928

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

endurance race, two new chassis were fitted with roadster bodies featuring cycle wings,

running board A running board or footboard is a narrow step fitted under the side doors of a tram ( cable car, trolley, or streetcar in North America), car, or truck. It aids entry, especially into high vehicles, and is typical of vintage trams and cars, w ...

s, doors, headlights, a small windshield, a folding canvas top and two spare wheels mounted on the tail. Under the hood the engines were the same as found in the Tipo 26 Grand Prix. Those cars were known as Tipo 26 MM.

References

{{Maserati Tipo 26 Grand Prix cars