1929 Maserati Tipo V4 Record Car

The Maserati Tipo V4 record car combined sixteen cylinders with an ambitious high-speed programme. Its 1929 Cremona achievement belongs to a specific record context and a documented physical car.

History and verified programme identity

Maserati commemorates Mario Umberto Borzacchini’s September 1929 record over the flying ten-kilometre distance. The reference is a class and distance achievement, not the absolute maximum speed of every vehicle of the era. The period photograph’s source identifies chassis 4001 in the Bologna factory courtyard. That gives this profile a precise illustration rather than the later Zagato-bodied V4 often returned by image searches. The inventory’s one-car phrase is retained as the record subject’s scope, without claiming that the whole V4 family contained only one chassis or merging the later V5 into this identity.

Engineering and design

The V4 used a sixteen-cylinder arrangement derived from Maserati’s existing competition engine work. Its long front-engine chassis and open single-seater body make the programme’s purpose apparent in the period photo. Such an image can show proportions and visible equipment, while engine details come from the factory record. Record attempts also need their stated distance, class and date. Preserving those conditions prevents a flying-distance average from becoming an invented maximum-speed specification. The programme belongs to the early Maserati competition archive, separate from road commissions and later restored appearances. The published specification describes the programme or the explicitly named configuration. An individual car can receive revised parts during use or restoration. Keep those changes dated when comparing it with other Maseratis, so current hardware does not silently rewrite the original engineering record. Weight and output figures also require their printed measurement convention and market context rather than being treated as measurements of the pictured vehicle.

The physical car in the supplied photograph

Agence Rol’s period photograph shows the Tipo V4 in the Bologna courtyard; its source identifies chassis 4001 and dates the image to September 1929. The later Zagato V4 body is not substituted.

How to identify and compare the programme

Use chassis 4001 as the source-identified record subject, while leaving broader V4 quantities in a separate research field. A later road body, different chassis or V5 evolution cannot automatically illustrate the original car. Equally, a period image does not certify the present survival or condition of the photographed vehicle. The maker’s retrospective and the image identify the programme and original illustrated appearance. Keeping a distance record distinct from a maximum speed also makes comparisons with the later 8CTF meaningful: both are competition Maseratis, but they were developed for different demands and carry different historical claims.

Collecting and chassis evidence

An individual Tipo V4 Record Car record starts with its original chassis identity, delivery specification and dated documents. Preserve the engine and body references separately where the car was coachbuilt or changed during competition. Original correspondence, build sheets and early photographs can establish details that a modern exterior cannot show. Record replacement panels, engine changes and restoration work chronologically. A present appearance may differ from the original specification without representing a second manufactured vehicle. For a numbered edition, retain its plate and allocation paperwork alongside the chassis file. Historical names and race numbers are useful search references, but they are not substitutes for permanent identity or a reconciled production register.

Related Maserati designs and meaningful comparisons

The Tipo V4 Record Car belongs to Tipo V4 / chassis 4001. Compare it with the two linked profiles to follow how Maserati changed its engineering or its presentation. Their original model identities remain separate, even when a coachbuilder, engine family or anniversary theme connects them. Shared ancestry does not merge their manufactured quantities or make their photographs interchangeable.

Reading the sources

The programme sources and the photograph answer different questions. Manufacturer and custodial records establish the original model, Type, category and published production scope. The creator’s file establishes the pictured subject, setting and image permission. An individual chassis history can then add ownership, competition entries and dated repairs without changing the scope of the original programme. Build references are not survivor counts, and a later specification does not automatically become an additional newly manufactured vehicle. Where primary evidence does not establish a complete fabrication census, that field remains unassigned.

Specifications and rarity evidence

Frequently asked questions

What does the published rarity reference cover?

Verified 1929 record-car identity, illustrated by period source identifying chassis 4001. Not a count for every V4 or later V5 chassis; complete wider fabrication census unassigned.

How is Tipo V4 Record Car classified?

This is a Maserati competition archive. It remains separate from Maserati road-car production. Customer cars, works entries and converted chassis need a reconciled scope before any complete fabrication tally is assigned.

Which technical details are established for the programme?

The primary record supports record reference: September 1929, Cremona; measurement scope: Flying ten kilometres; class record; engine arrangement: Sixteen cylinders. These are programme or explicitly attributed photo references. A particular surviving car’s engine, chassis repairs and competition preparation require its own dated documentation.

Does the photographed appearance establish factory originality?

The caption records a real creator-identified Tipo V4 Record Car subject and its documented setting. It establishes the illustration’s scope, while original components, restoration work and individual race provenance require chassis-specific evidence. A competition number, current paint or museum display is not used as an originality certificate.

What rarity or archive scope is verified?

Verified 1929 record-car identity, illustrated by period source identifying chassis 4001. Not a count for every V4 or later V5 chassis; complete wider fabrication census unassigned.

Who photographed the supplied image?

Agence Rol via Wikimedia Commons, under Public domain. The original file and licence are linked with the image. Retain the creator, source and licence when uploading, exporting or reusing it; local retouching and synthetic enlargement have not been performed.

Related Maserati profiles

• 1935 Maserati V8RI
• 1938 Maserati 8CTF

Sources and photo credits

• Manufacturer or custodial programme evidence

Photograph: Agence Rol via Wikimedia Commons original source, Public domain. Original image or source-provided thumbnail supplied without local cropping, retouching or synthetic enlargement.