Simply Abu Dhabi XXXI

2 8 0 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I Stirling Moss and 250F The “Trofeo dei due Mondi” (Race of TwoWorlds) was a 500-mile race organised by the Automobile Club d'Italia at Monza in 1958 and based on the famous American Indianapolis 500. Hence why even though the car is very much Italian, it looks like a period Indy 500 car from the US and the race featured the top American and European drivers of the time. The Maserati 420/M/58, chassis number 4,203, was thus finished with a cream coloured livery, instead of Italian racing red. The previous year, 1957, Maserati withdrew from Formula One after Fangio, who also retired that year, won the world championship with them and they decided to focus on supplying race cars for private customers. When the “Monzanapolis” race was announced, the owner of Eldorado wanted the best driver and so with Fangio in retirement, the name Stirling Moss, a former Maserati racer was placed down the side. Its 4.2-litre v8 engine that produced 410bhp at 8,000rpm has rarely turned again in anger after Moss finished the first of three heats in fourth, the second race in fifth but crashed out of the final with steering failure. The next year it tried to qualify for the Indy 500 with an inexperienced driver who didn’t make the cut, so it was placed in storage and returned to its former glory in time for this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The name Maserati is one of the most evocative in the automotive world and it’s stories like the Eldorado that makes its current models such as the Levante so much more desirable knowing there’s a wealth of heritage behind the badge.