The Maserati 200S is a 0-door speedster from Maserati, built from 1955 to 1959, at the height of the post-war boom. Under the bonnet: 2.0 . Giulio Alfieri drew it.
Where it came from
The Maserati 200S (Tipo 52) is a racing car made by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati as a successor to the Maserati A6GCS. 28 cars were made in total. The development of the 200S, codenamed Tipo 52 started in 1952, led by Vittorio Bellentani. The 250S was developed in response to Ferrari's 500 Mondial which featured a four-cylinder engine and was quite successful in sports car racing. The car had a 2.0 L (1,994.3 cc) inline-four light-alloy engine, featuring dual overhead valves per cylinder and twin camshafts, double Weber 50DCO3 (first few cars only) or 45DCO3 carburetors. The engine was rated at 190 PS (140 kW; 187 hp) at 7,500 rpm. Many chassis components were identical to the Maserati 150S in order to speed up development, except the rigid rear axle inherited from the Maserati A6.
Maserati made the first three chassis internally, but outsourced a tubular chassis to Gilco which was modified by Maserati. The first five aluminium bodies were made by Celestino Fiandri, and the 23 final bodies were made by Medardo Fantuzzi. The 200S debuted at the 1955 Imola Grand Prix, driven Franco Bordoni, but yielded disappointing results. The 200S was then entered at the 1955 Targa Florio driven by Giovanni Bracco and Bordoni along with a 150S. Both cars were forced to retire, with Maserati winning the race with a A6GCS driven by Francesco Giardini. In 1956, Maserati entered three new 200S' at the Supercortemaggiore GP. Problems with the suspension would be resolved by fitting two cars with a De Dion tube attached to the differential with a sliding pin at the rear. The third
Under the skin
Power comes from 2.0 . It shifts through a 4-speed synchromesh manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 86.6 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Maserati A6GCS; its successor was the Maserati 300S; assembly was at Modena, Italy. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, the Nissan Skyline — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Maserati catalogue sit the Maserati 150S and the Maserati 300S.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Maserati 200S has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.