Description

The winning car, driven by Wilbur Shaw, was the first back-to-back car/driver combination to win the famed Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. This was also Shaw’s 3rd trip to victory lane at the famed brickyard (his previous win was in 1937). Shaw was the first driver to accomplish the three-peat at Indy.

The Maserati resides in the Indianapolis Speedway Museum.

The chassis adopted the standard layout for single-seater racers of the era, with two steel section bar rails and cross-members, while the car had a straight 8 engine with cylinders in two groups of 4, cast in a monoblock with the cylinder head: hence the name “8CTF”, or 8 cylinders “Testa Fissa” – fixed head.

Displacement was 2,991.4 cc with a compression ratio of 6.5:1 and the engine was supercharged, with two carburettors and two volumetric compressors. The timing system, with two valves per cylinder in a 90° V arrangement, was driven by two overhead camshafts.