1957 Maserati A6G 2000 Frua Spyder

Description 1957 Maserati A6G/2000 Frua Spyder Coachwork by Frua Chassis No. – 2104 Engine no. – 2104 History of Maserati and the A6G/2000 Young and daring upstarts with little more than passion and grit to fuel their racing desires, the Maserati brothers built their reputation on the trident of performance engineering, uncompromised artisanship, and Italian passion. These attributes motivated Maserati to craft some of the world’s finest race cars, attracting top-tier drivers, wealthy patrons, and premier talent. Though lacking the resources of larger companies, Maserati remained highly competitive against heavily funded competitors. Realizing the need for consistent income to satisfy racing costs, Maserati pivoted to dual-purpose vehicles capable of both race and touring use. Though Maserati enjoyed success with their popular 4-cylinder engines, the 6-cylinder 1.5 L A6G was developed as the next iteration for purpose-built monoposto competition cars. These met with regular success in both works cars and privateer entries, but the most notable success came with the A6GCS advancing the prowess of Maserati from 1947-1953 with win after win. By 1954 the engine developed into the A6G/2000, which was offered in Gran Turismo configuration with coachwork from Pinin Farina, Frua, and Allemano. The new 2000 engine delivered reliable power and durability making it a formidable competitor against larger displacement entries from Jaguar and Ferrari. By 1956 Maserati was poised for what would become an historic year. Concurrent with A6G competition cars, Maserati introduced the 250F Grand Prix Monoposto, a car that would compete handily against Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari piloted by legendary drivers such as Sterling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio. As modern media began worldwide distribution, promotion and marketing of sports car racing surged in both Europe and North America. The 50s would advance performance car driving while “gentleman racers” emerged as a new hobby for the sporting elite. This combination was ideal for Maserati who could leverage their racing history and handcrafted coachwork GT offerings as premier dual-purpose examples to serve this growing market. History of Maserati A6G/2000 Frua Spyder #2104 Pietro Frua began his career as a Stabilimenti Farina draftsman, rising to Director of Styling at the remarkably young age of 22. Though car design was his passion, Frua was skilled in a wide range of industrial design practices, creating designs for kitchen equipment, motor scooters, and other products, particularly so during the war years when car production was limited. After the war, Frua established his own coachworks taking on new clients including his most important and lasting relationship with Maserati. As his priority client, from 1950-1957 Frua created some of the most memorable Maseratis including stunning show cars. In 1957, Frua sold his firm to Ghia and continued as Head of Design for Ghia until exiting to establish his own firm once again where he would continue through the 1960s as one of the most prominent and prolific independent car designers of the 20th century. Maserati Spyder #2104 was completed July 30, 1957. According to Maserati factory archives, a rolling chassis was dispatched to Carrozzeria Frua in Turin on December 2, 1954. Records further indicate that a second chassis was dispatched on May 9, 1955. Historians suggest that the first chassis was the shorter Series I, but a change order had been initiated for the longer chassis which was delivered later. Once the Series III chassis was dispatched, records indicate that #2104 would take 18 months to complete before delivery to Maserati for final assembly in July of 1957. The delay would result in this spyder being the first example to exit Frua with Series III coachwork. On the same day of completion, Maserati delivered the car to their dealer, Guglielmo “Mimmo” Dei from Rome. The same-day delivery suggests that the change order and delay may have been by Signore Dei on request from an eager customer. In any case, #2104 remained in Europe only briefly, as it was soon exported to the US, followed by a March 1958 advertisement in the Oakland Tribune, an Oakland, CA based newspaper, offering the car for $10,000.00. Shortly thereafter, #2104 was registered with license plate SPH 963 in Northern California. In the late 1960s the car was purchased by Peter Toft Neilsen, San Francisco, CA who stored the car with his friend Peter Prudell, Palo Alto, CA. In August 1970, it was advertised for sale in the San Francisco Examiner describing it with 10,000 miles and an asking price of $2,750. Though not confirmed, it’s likely the car was in non-running condition at that time. In 1978, Peter Prudell purchased the car from Neilsen, dismantled it, boxed all the parts, and transported the car and parts to his new home in Washington State, where it would remain until 2009. At this time, the engine had been separated from the car. After 32 years as a disassembled but relatively complete car, by the early 2000s, the car was partially refinished but still retained the original paint on the inner door panels, steering column, and other areas. During this same period, Prudell sourced an original un-numbered Maserati factory engine poised for rebuild and installation. After his passing in 2009, Fantasy Junction brokered the sale of #2104 for the Prudell estate to Curt Pindler who embarked on a meticulous fifteen year Pebble Beach-level restoration, subsequently selling it to the current owner. During the 15 year restoration process, every nut and bolt was removed from the car in an effort to complete a world class restoration befitting one of the most beautiful spyders ever built. The mechanicals were performed by Phil Reilly & Co. spanning 2011-2013 for the engine and transmission work with the final assembly managed by the Reilly & Co. team as completed components from outside sources were delivered to Phil Reilly & Co for final fit to