The Maserati Tipo 26B is a car from Maserati, built from 1927 to 1930, the vintage years, when coachbuilders still shaped most of what was sold. Under the bonnet: 2.0 litre supercharged I8. Alfieri Maserati drew it.
The story
The Maserati Tipo 26B or Maserati Tipo 26B Monoposto was a racing car built by Italian manufacturer Maserati between 1927 and 1930, in a total of six examples and one additional engine. It was closely derived from the Tipo 26 with the same steel ladder-type frame and a similar aluminum two-seater bodywork. The main difference was in the straight-eight engine being enlarged to 2 litres, otherwise it still featured a crankshaft-driven Roots supercharger, twin gear-driven overhead camshafts and dry sump lubrication. The Tipo 26's 1492.9 cc engine had its bore and stroke upped by 2 and 16 mm, respectively, increasing displacement to 1980.5 cc.
The engine's dimensions were now 62 by 82 mm. Two engines were bored out further, to 2.1 litres. The Tipo 26B was conceived primarily for open road racing since its engine didn't comply with the 1926-1927 Grand Prix formula which required a maximum displacement of 1.5 litres. At its debut race in the 1927 Targa Florio the Maserati Tipo 26B driven by Alfieri Maserati finished third overall. A Tipo 26B was classified 12th in the 1930 Indianapolis 500 race, driven by Letterio Cucinotta of Messina.
What is underneath
Power comes from 2.0 litre supercharged I8. It weighs 720-780 kg. It shifts through a 4-speed 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 2650 mm (2580 mm since 1928). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Maserati Tipo 26; its successor was the Maserati Tipo 26M / Maserati Tipo V4; assembly was at Bologna, Italy. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Bugatti Type 41, the Bugatti type 30 A torpedo, the Hispano-Suiza Type H6 B (32 cv) coupé-chauffeur — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Maserati catalogue sit the Maserati 150S and the Maserati 200S.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Maserati Tipo 26B 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.