Maserati Tipo 26M

Last updated
Maserati Tipo 26M
Rene Dreyfus Nimes.jpg
Overview
Manufacturer Maserati
Also called8C 2500
Production1930-32
Assembly Bologna, Italy
Designer Alfieri Maserati
Body and chassis
Class Race car
Layout FR layout
Powertrain
Engine
  • 2.5 L I8
  • 2.8 L I8
Transmission 4 speed manual transmission
Dimensions
Wheelbase 2640 mm (103.9 in)
Curb weight 800 kg (1764 lb)
Chronology
Predecessor Maserati Tipo 26B
Successor Maserati 8C

The Maserati Tipo 26M was a model of Grand Prix race car produced by Italian manufacturer Maserati in Bologna, for a total of 13 units, between 1930 and 1932. [1] [2]

Before the Tipo 26M, the original Tipo 26 from 1926 had evolved into versions such as 26B, 26C and 26R. Based on these, the Tipo 26M was designed in 1930 as mostly single-seaters (M meaning monoposto ) and also referred to as 8C 2500 (8 cylinder, 2500 cc). [3] Six of the 26M were made into Tipo 26M Sport for long endurance purposes. The 26M Grand Sport by Carrozzeria Castagna and the Sport Tipo 1000 Miglia by Ugo Zagato were two-seater models for road use. Two four-seaters were later referred to as the company's first attempt at non-racing cars. [4]

The Tipo 26M dominated the 1930 Grand Prix season having its debut at VI Premio Reale di Roma (Luigi Arcangeli won, 25 May 1930), IV Coppa Ciano (Luigi Fagioli won, 21 July 1930), VI Coppa Acerbo (Achille Varzi won, Ernesto Maserati second, 17 August 1930), III Gran Premio di Monza (Varzi won, Arcangeli second, 7 September 1930) and the VII Gran Premio de España (Varzi won, Aymo Maggi second, 5 October 1930). [5] In the first half of the 1931 Grand Prix season it lost to the Alfa Romeo 8C and Bugatti T51.

The engine was a straight-eight with a displacement of 2495.4 cc. The bore and stroke are 65 and 94 mm, respectively. The horsepower delivered was 185 hp (136 kW) at 5600 rpm, while the compression ratio was 5.5:1.

A bored out engine with carburetors from Edoardo Weber of Bologna, became the 8C 2800. Thanks to a 69 mm (2.72 in) bore, this engine's displacement is 2811.9 cc; maximum power is 205 hp (151 kW). The 8C 2800 won at the IV Gran Premio di Monza (Luigi Fagioli, 6 September 1931) and I Mountains Championship at Brooklands (Tim Birkin, 17 October 1931). Other drivers of 26M this year were Clemente Biondetti, Luigi Parenti, George Eyston, Pietro Ghersi, Umberto Klinger and René Dreyfus. [6]

Later victories were with Tim Birkin's 26M, III Mountains Championship (Whitney Straight, 21 October 1933) and as an 8C at Circuit d'Albi GP (Buddy Featherstonhaugh, 22 July 1934). [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tazio Nuvolari</span> Italian motorcycle and sports car racer

Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari was an Italian racing driver. He first raced motorcycles and then concentrated on sports cars and single-seaters. Originary of Mantua, he was nicknamed Il Mantovano Volante and Nivola ("Cloud"). His victories—72 major races, 150 in all—included 24 Grands Prix, five Coppa Cianos, two Mille Miglias, two Targa Florios, two RAC Tourist Trophies, a Le Mans 24-hour race, and a European Championship in Grand Prix racing. Ferdinand Porsche called him "the greatest driver of the past, the present, and the future".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Achille Varzi</span> Italian motorcycle racer

Achille Varzi was an Italian Grand Prix driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luigi Fagioli</span> Italian racing driver

Luigi Cristiano Fagioli, nicknamed "the Abruzzi robber", was an Italian motor racing driver. Having won his last race at 53 years old, Fagioli holds the record for the oldest Formula One driver to win a race. He is also the only Formula One Grand Prix winner born in the 19th century, and the only Grand Prix racing driver to have won a championship race in both the AIACR European Championship and the FIA Formula One World Championship.

The Grand Prix du Comminges was an automobile race held in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe Campari</span> Italian racing driver

Giuseppe Campari was an Italian opera singer and Grand Prix motor racing driver.

Baconin Borzacchini was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver often referred to as Mario Umberto Borzacchini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfa Romeo 8C</span> Motor vehicle

The Alfa Romeo 8C was originally a range of Alfa Romeo road, race and sports cars of the 1930s. In 2004 Alfa Romeo revived the 8C name for a V8-engined concept car which made it into production for 2007, the 8C Competizione.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfa Romeo P3</span>

The Alfa Romeo P3, P3 monoposto or Tipo B was a classic Grand Prix car designed by Vittorio Jano, one of the Alfa Romeo 8C models. The P3 was first genuine single-seat Grand Prix racing car and Alfa Romeo's second monoposto after Tipo A monoposto (1931). It was based on the earlier successful Alfa Romeo P2. Taking lessons learned from that car, Jano went back to the drawing board to design a car that could last longer race distances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maserati 8C</span> Motor vehicle

The Maserati 8C was a Grand Prix race car built by Maserati between 1931 and 1933. The 8C was being designed by Alfieri Maserati in the early 1930s; however, he died before its completion. The chassis was that of the Maserati Tipo 26M, and it was initially fitted with a Tipo 26M engine with its cylinders bored out by 4 mm to arrive at its limit of 2.8 litres (2,812 cc) for 69 x 94 mm bore and stroke. Development of the new 3.0 L engine continued and it was constructed for racing in 1932. The car won the 1933 French Grand Prix and Sir Henry Birkin achieved third place driving it in the Tripoli Grand Prix. However, it was not very successful in other races. The car featured some of the world's earliest hydraulic brakes. The Tipo 8C 3000 was the final two-seater Grand Prix Maserati, and was succeeded in 1933 by the Maserati 8CM, M for monoposto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1935 Grand Prix season</span> Third AIACR European Championship season

The 1935 Grand Prix season was the second year of the new 750 kg Formula. The success of the previous year encouraged the AIACR to reinitiate the European Championship. It was composed of the seven national Grands Prix and was won by Rudolf Caracciola, driving for the Mercedes-Benz team. The team dominated the season winning five of those Grand Épreuves, as well as four of the other major races of the season. However, in one of the great motor-races in sporting history, Tazio Nuvolari in a Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo beat the combined numbers of the German teams in their home Grand Prix. The season also saw the arrival on the international stage of the bright young talent Bernd Rosemeyer in the Auto Union team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1931 Grand Prix season</span> First year of the AIACR European Championship

The 1931 Grand Prix season was a watershed year, with the advent of the AIACR European Championship. After several years of Grand Prix racing in the doldrums with little technical development, 1931 saw new models come from all three main manufacturers: Bugatti, Maserati and Alfa Romeo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1932 Grand Prix season</span> Second year of the AIACR European Championship

The 1932 Grand Prix season marked the second year of the AIACR European Championship. It saw the debut of Alfa Romeo's sensational new Tipo B and with it, Tazio Nuvolari won the Championship driving for the Alfa Corse works team. The 40-year old Nuvolari won two of the three rounds and was second in the other. Still running to a Formula Libre rules for the cars, the regulations were revised to set the races to be between five and ten hours. However, all three national committees ran their races to the minimum time-limit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1933 Grand Prix season</span> Intermediate year for the AIACR European Championship

The 1933 Grand Prix season was an intermediate year, as it would be the last season for the current AIACR regulations before a new weight-formula was introduced in 1934. As such, the European Championship was not held and the manufacturers held back on further developments of their existing models. Alfa Romeo, following an Italian government financial bailout and like Mercedes-Benz the previous year, had shut down its Alfa Corse works team. Scuderia Ferrari, their regular customer team took up the role of racing Alfa Romeos and a number of ex-works drivers moved across to join their ranks. They were not allowed, however, to buy the impressive Tipo B that had been so dominant in the previous season.

The 1934 Grand Prix season saw the advent of the new 750 kg Formula. In an effort to curb the danger of rising speeds, the AIACR imposed this upper weight limit that effectively outlawed the large capacity engines. The incumbent manufacturers Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Bugatti had been preparing their new models with varying success – the best of which was the Alfa Romeo Tipo B. However, it was the state-sponsored arrival of the two German teams, Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, and their innovative and progressive cars that ignited a new, exciting era of motor racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luigi Arcangeli</span> Italian motorcycle and race car driver

Luigi Arcangeli was an Italian motorcycle and car racer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1931 Monaco Grand Prix</span> Motor car race

The 1930 Grand Prix season continued the malaise that had taken over the sport. Although there was little technical advance more privateer teams were forming, getting some factory support. The AIACR continued to mandate its fuel-regulated Formula Libre rules. Across the Atlantic, the AAA abandoned the AIACR regulations. Their new regulations were derisively called the “Junk Formula” by purists, opening up to their own version of Formula Libre: with modified stock-standard cars of up to 366 cu in (6-litres) with two seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunis Grand Prix</span>

The Tunis Grand Prix or Grand Prix de Tunis was a motor race held in the 1920s and 30s in Tunis, the capital of the African colony of the French protectorate of Tunisia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1930 Targa Florio</span>

The 1930 Targa Florio was a non-championship Grand Prix motor race held on 4 May 1930 on the Madonie Medio Course, a 67 mile (108 km) course made up of public roads on the mountainous Italian island of Sicily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1930 Monza Grand Prix</span> Motor car race

The 1930 Monza Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza on 7 September 1930. There were four 14-lap heats, a 7-lap repêchage, and a 35-lap final, which was won by Achille Varzi in a Maserati. His teammates, Luigi Arcangeli and Ernesto Maserati, completed the podium.

References

  1. "Maserati 26M Sport". Archived from the original on 2010-01-22. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  2. 1 2 "Cars (Part 8): Maserati". The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing. Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  3. facts and pictures Archived 2009-10-17 at the Wayback Machine about the 26M
  4. facts and pictures Archived 2009-10-02 at the Wayback Machine about the 26M Sport.
  5. "1930 Grands Prix". Archived from the original on 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  6. "1931 Grands Prix". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-03-12.