Barchetta corsa

Maserati surprised the motor racing fraternity when it launched a topless mid-engined sports racer on 14 December 1991 - over 35 years after its Tipo 65. The Barchetta was earmarked for the single-make Grantrofeo Barchetta championship. Six races took place on Italian tracks in 1992 and 10 during 1993, two of which on foreign circuits. A very few cars were later equipped with headlights and road car gear, but even the Barchetta stradale offered no kind of weather protection at all.

The Barchetta featured a central backbone chassis with integral fuel tank inspired by the Chubasco supercar concept announced in December 1990. Additional sub-frames carried the front suspension and the drivetrain and rear suspension. The suspension itself was race-inspired, with pushrods and pullrods operating inboard-mounted dampers and springs. The twin-turbo V6 had 4-valve heads and was derived from the 2.24v, Racing and Ghibli production cars, giving 315 bhp at 6,250 rpm from its 2.0 litres.

Just 10 Maserati Barchettas were assembled at De Tomaso Automobili on the outskirts of Modena. The Barchetta chassis survives in modified form in the limited-production De Tomaso Guarà.