Page 385 - auto sfogliabile
P. 385
TA , 1991
NM*L AG*)
o compiva dieci anni ed era In 1991 the Maserati Biturbo reached its tenth birthday,
he andava attribuito il merito by which time it had become clear that this was the car
alla chiusura. Grazie ad un in- that had saved Maserati from closure. Through a constant
ionamento, la maggior parte process of improvement and upgrading, most of the re-
delle Biturbo erano alle spalle liability problems of the Biturbo were now behind it and
the range, now complete, could be sold with absolute
viveva la sua tranquilla vita peace of mind. Somehow, however, this relatively quiet
di relativa quiete che male si situation did not really seem to fit with the fiery charac-
ulcanico Alejandro De Toma- ter of Alejandro De Tomaso, owner of Maserati, who had
che la Biturbo l’aveva voluta wanted the Biturbo and defended it vigorously against
d avere pienamente ragione. criticism until he was finally proved to be absolutely right.
ne, il 14 Dicembre 1991, la Ma- In order to stir things up a little, on December 14th, 1991,
': un progetto del tutto nuo- Maserati unveiled the “Barchetta”: a completely new
li appassionati di misurarsi in project designed to allow fans to compete on the track in
nomarca apposito. Trenta gli a special single-brand championship. A production run
of thirty units was planned.
una vera macchina da cor- The car produced for this competition was a true racing
uminio rinforzato da pannel- weapon, built with a single-beam aluminum chassis re-
inforced with composite panels, a cockpit cell glued to
'abitacolo incollata al telaio the chassis using aeronautical materials, and indepen-
telaietti ausiliari, sempre in dent frame, also in light alloy, for the independent double
sioni indipendenti a triango- wishbones suspension. It was equipped with a V6 Mase-
V6 della Maserati Racing, la rati Racing engine, the most advanced Biturbo version
Biturbo disponibile all'epo- available at the time, which was rear mounted in a lon-
e in senso longitudinale ed gitudinal position and prepared to deliver 315 HP. A total
315 CV. Sedici le gare che si of 16 races were held over the two Grantrofeo Barchetta
92 e ‘93) del Grantrofeo Bar-
anche una versione stradale,
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