Ken Painter’s 1935 Maserati 4CS has had a highly active and dramatic existence, and though perhaps not as sinister as Stephen King’s continually resurrecting Christine, it certainly has had narrow escapes from destruction. Ed McDonough was lucky enough not only to get to grips with the history, but to have two chances of driving it with some exuberance.
In 1931, Maserati produced the first of its 4-cylinder cars, a long-term move, which was to prove very successful. The current model up until that time had been the 8-cylinder 8C-2500, which was a full-fledged Grand Prix car, and its voiturette version, the 8C-1100. (Voiturette was the term used to describe cars of a smaller engine size than Grand Prix cars. Most Grand Prix race meetings had the Grand Prix and a supporting voiturette race. From about 1934 on, the term referred almost exclusively to cars of 1500 cc)
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