Some cars leave a paper trail; the Maserati 4CM left a name, a year — 1932 — and a place in Maserati's list. What follows is what can be said with a source behind it. The shape is credited to Maserati.
Where it came from
The Maserati 4CM is an open-wheel Grand Prix motor racing car, designed, developed and built by Italian manufacturer Maserati, in 1931.
In 1930, Maserati decided to concentrate its efforts on the voiturette class, which was not contested by German manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union. The 1,100 cc (1.1 L; 67 cu in) Tipo 4CM was Maserati's first racing voiturette. The name of the car is derived as follows: 4: 4-cylinder engine; C: Corsa, for racing; M: Monoposto, for single seater. Built alongside the 4CS two-seater sports-racer, the 4CM was powered by a 1,088.4 cc (66.42 cu in), (65 x 82 mm) twin-overhead-camshaft supercharged four-cylinder engine that produced 125 hp (92 kW) at 6,600rpm, an output sufficient to propel it to a top speed of 210 km/h (130 mph). Some cars came with a spare cylinder block, pistons, connecting rods and supercharger enabling it to be converted to 1,495.7 cc (1.4957 L; 91.27 cu in), (69 x 100 mm) when required. Depending on the size of the engine, the roots-type supercharger boosted power to 90–150 hp (66–110 kW). It succeeded the Maserati Tipo 26M, and was itself slowly replaced by the Maserati 6CM around 1936.
In context
In the Maserati line-up the Maserati 4CM has a clear place: it replaced the Maserati Tipo 26; it handed the line to the Maserati 6CM. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Bugatti Type 57, the Chevrolet Suburban, the Panhard & Levassor type X 49 biplace sport. Nearby in the Maserati catalogue sit the Maserati 150S and the Maserati 200S.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Maserati 4CM 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.