Maserati 250F

In the November Motor Sport there was an advertisement which read as follows:—

“250F Maserati. Built up from original parts using engine number 2522 and a new chassis frame. Car is in perfect condition and duty free in UK £57,000.”

This naturally aroused interest as Maserati 2522 was built by the factory in Modena in March 1956 and was one of the works team cars. Stirling Moss won the Richmond Trophy at Goodwood in it, and then won the 1956 Monaco GP with it. In the Belgian GP it was driven by Moss and Perdisa and finished 3rd. In 1957 it was sold to the Scuderia Centro-Sud run by Signor Dei and Harry Schell finished 2nd in the Pau GP with it. In 1960 Gino Munaron drove it in the Buenos Aires City GP and finished 3rd and after that it disappeared amidst the vast collection of old Maserati cars and parts that gathered dust in the Centro-Sud workshops in Modena. Eventually Cameron Millar acquired most of this stuff and when he sorted it all out he re-assembled 2522 as best he could from what he had. It was rebuilt and sold and now resides in Holland, so the car in the advertisement could hardly be called 2522.

It later transpired that the writer of the advertisement had put the wrong engine number, and what he meant was 2520, but this would not have helped much for Maserati 2520 still exists and is owned by David Llewellyn, though it no longer has engine number 2520 in it. The car that is advertised is one that Cameron Millar built up from spare parts, using as a basis a chassis and body he had made in England. Engine, gearbox, suspensions, brakes etc. are all genuine Maserati 250F components and the cylinder head is stamped 2520, but that is all. It was sold to America on the understanding that it had no identity in the history of the 250F Maserati model, and indeed it does not and never will. The nearest it can be is a replica of a 1956 Maserati 250F and if it needs an identity it should be stamped CM REP I, indicating that it is a Cameron Millar Replica Number I.

This suggests that more replica 250F Maseratis are being built, and indeed this is true, for at least three more are known to be well under way. Millar is building a replica of a “Piccolo” 250F, the last model to be made, and to avoid any confusion in the future the chassis carries the number CM REP 2. Lots of bits and pieces for Maseratis are being made, to replace worn and broken parts, such as engine internals, brake parts, drive-shafts, gears and so on, which is all legitimate to keep the existing cars in action, but if these spares are going to form the nucleus for “new” cars then it makes a mockery of Maserati history, denigrates the interest and enthusiasm for old Grand Prix cars and borders on the fraudulent. — D. S. J.