Engine: in-line four-cylinder, 1,489 cc, two overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, two-
stage Roots supercharger, 260 hp at 7,000 rpm; transmission: four-speed gearbox; suspension:
independent with coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers at the front, longitudinal leaf springs
with hydraulic shock absorbers at the rear; brakes: hydraulic drum brakes on four wheels; single-
seater.
In 1947, engineer Alberto Massimino became chief engineer at Maserati, assisted by Bellentani
and Gorrini, and for 1948 they developed an improved Formula 1 car with sixteen valves, which
they called 4CLT/48 - at that time it was better known as Formula A.
The additional letter "T" stood for "Tubolare" and denoted a new tubular frame that replaced the
outdated channel beams with round tubes. The front independent suspension consisted of upper
rocker arms mounted on internal coil springs, the driven rear axle was supported by four elliptical
leaf springs as on the 4CLs, but the four-cylinder engine with 16 valves was now two-stage
turbocharged and produced around 260 hp at 7,000 rpm, i.e. 173.3 hp per liter.
The first pair of 4CLT/48s made their successful debut in San Remo in June 1948. Alberto
Ascari and Luigi Villoresi took first and second place, earning the model the name "San Remo
Maserati" as they completed an extremely successful season in their beautifully designed new
Fantuzzi bodies.
British racing driver Reg Parnell, a haulier from Derby in the north Midlands, had become one of
England's leading racing personalities, particularly at the wheel of the pre-war Maserati 4CL.
Together with like-minded racing enthusiasts, he founded a British branch of the Italian Scuderia
Ambrosiana. He and Leslie Brooke acquired the third and fourth 4CLT to be built. T h e chassis
with the factory specification "1596" - engine "1593" - went to Reg Parnell on September 14,
1948. The car was delivered just in time for the opening of the Goodwood Motor Circuit, where
Parnell beat Bob Gerard in his ERA for the Goodwood Trophy.
Parnell contested much of the 1949 racing season in this car, and further Goodwood successes
followed, including the Richmond Trophy race on Easter Monday, April 18, and the Goodwood
Trophy on September 17, while in July he won the second round of the Dutch Grand Prix at
Zandvoort, setting the fastest lap in the final. The Richmond Trophy was again won by Parnell in
April 1950.
After the end of her active racing career in Europe, the "1596" was sold to New Zealand as part
of the post-war development.
This "San Remo Monoposto" continued to be actively raced there by a number of amateur
racers. Pat Hoare, Ernie Spargue, Dick Campbell, Victor Blackburn and Ian McKellar, before it
was thoroughly renovated and then exhibited in the Queenstown Motor Museum.
The 4CLT returned to Europe at the end of the 1980s, but was no longer used for racing
competitions. After the change of ownership in June 1999, the former Parnell San Remo Mase
"rati 4CLT was overhauled ready for operation and is once again being used in its element,
racing competitions.