Best barnfind ever ? Lost Maserati A6G 2000 Frua in France !

These cars were sleeping not far from me ! Just amazing.

Artcurial Motorcars | Artcurial | Briest - Poulain - F. Tajan

 

I don't know the S/N for the moment but it might be #2063 or #2140. These two Frua Coupé are still missing. The late owner, M. Baillon bought it in 1961 !

Edit -> It's #2140 !

 

Ha ha, good question. A little explanation. The late owner of these cars, Mr Baillon, was an important business man of the area in the 50/60. Like Fritz Schulmf he was a compulsive buyer. At the end of the seventies, his business crash down. French financial authorities seized the cars and an auction took place in june 1979. Arround 50 cars of the collection were for sale. My father was here. He was a young boy and intented to buy a Jaguar E-Type. Unfortunately for him, the Jag made a score. Few weeks later, he found his E-Type and years later he bought Mr Baillon's personnal S-Type.
End of the first part.
The fact is that nobody knew that M. Baillon hid the rest of his collection (my explanation is for cheating the taxman !!!). Of course, I'm pretty sure that some people were aware !

 

FROM THE BAILLON COLLECTION

French carte grise
Chassis n° 2140
Engine n° 2140

- One of just 4 produced; refined, stylish coachwork by Frua
- Matching numbers
- Exceptional history - in same family for 55 years
- Superb condition
- 1956 Paris Motor Show

Maserati delivered the chassis to the Frua workshops on 9 February 1956, and it left Frua on 6 July to receive its engine and finishing. It appears in the factory archives as 'internal engine number 76, 2 Marelli ignition coils, Frua 2-4 seater berlinetta, black paintwork and ivory upholstery, Veglia instruments.' It was then delivered to France, complete with import licence, passing its "Service des Mines" homologation test on 2 August 1956. It was registered the same day in the name of Jacques Fildier of Rue St-Dominique, Paris, with number-plates 1007 FH 75. Fildier was an architect and connoisseur of British and Italian sports cars, who owned several Aston Martins. He had ordered the Maserati from Garage Mirabeau on Avenue de Versailles in Paris, who obtained it through Maserati's official French importers, Etablissements Thépenier in nearby Saint-Cloud. Maserati's invoice to Jean Thépenier, dated 2 August 1956, refers to a vettura Frua, verniciata in colore nero, 3 carburatori Weber 36DO4 n. 836, 843, 850. The relatively modest price of 2,500,000 lire probably refers to the chassis, with the bill from Frua sent separately.
Although it had already been delivered to its new owner, the car was exhibited at the Paris Motor Show in the Grand Palais in October 1956. Such practice was not uncommon at a time when firms like Maserati produced their touring models one at a time, with importers only buying them after receiving definitive orders. An article by Giovani Lurani in Auto Italiana, dated 30 October 1956, talks of a '2,000cm3 six-cylinder Maserati GT, colour black with de luxe finish.'
Between 1956-59 the radiator grill was modified, perhaps after a collision, and the car acquired the grill it has today - less bulky and more elegant than the original. On 12 July 1957 the car was sold to Marcel Chalas of Avenue de Versailles in Paris. After appearing in a Rue de la Pink advertisement in May 1959, the Maserati was again sold on 17 December 1959, this time to Roger Baillon, a garage-owner in the 19th arrondissement. The number-plates were later changed to 267 CMP 92, probably when the car was registered in the name of Jacques Baillon. It has remained in the Baillon family since 1959: some 55 years in the same hands! The Maserati archives contain a letter from Jacques Baillon written in 2000, requesting technical information about the car.

Our model was one of the very first Maserati tourers - the first being the A6 1500 of 1946. Production was slow, with just 61 cars completed by the time the 2000 version was launched in 1950. Distribution was even more limited, and the single-camshaft engine was somewhat lacking in power. For the new A6G/54 - A for Alfieri, 6 for six cylinders, G for Ghisa (cast iron block), 54 for 1954 - Maserati improved things, with an overhead twin-camshaft engine (albeit with the same capacity) and dual spark plugs. Power was increased to 150hp and the car was light enough to reach 125mph. The coachwork was assigned to Frua, Allemano and Zagato; Pinin Farina had stopped working for Maserati in 1952, and was now 'busy' at rivals Ferrari. Between 1954-57 sixty cars emerged from the Maserati factory, including four Frua berlinettas in the same style as the car offered here, and two later coupés with a longer bonnet. Frua also produced a very limited number of Spider versions.
The Maserati A6G/54 and A6G/2000 were radical sports cars for the time, inspired directly by competition and reserved for committed racing aficionados. But they would also enhance the transition between the worlds of racing and touring. The 3500 GT, launched in 1957, was Maserati's first comfortable Gran Turismo, on which all the following series that established the firm's success would be based. The A6G 2000 thus represents a key episode in Maserati's history.

The car we are offering is therefore exceptional, for several reasons. First, in terms of the model - rare, historically significant and technically sophisticated; secondly, for its stylish and highly refined coachwork; and lastly for its individual history, having belonged to the same family for 55 years while retaining its original appearance. It constitutes the finest example of this model available on the market.
Our Maserati has been parked next to a Ferrari 250 California ever since the latter entered the Baillon Collection in 1971. Four years ago Jacques Baillon began work on replacing the clutch; he removed the transmission tunnel, but did not have time to complete the job. This sublime, historic Maserati, still with its original engine, therefore remains in its purest, never-restored state. Its proportions are perfect; its balance is thrilling. It worked its magic on us on our first encounter on 30 September 2014. We are sure you will be equally enchanted when you discover it at Retromobile!

Auction estimate:€800 000/ 1 200 000

 

Catalogue online -> Rétromobile 2015 by Artcurial Motorcars - Sale N° 2651 - Lot N° 58 | Artcurial | Briest - Poulain - F. Tajan