Strip the Maserati V8RI back to its specification sheet and the character is already there: 4788 cc, 90° V8 engine, 320 horsepower. Maserati built from 1935 to 1936, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together.
The background
The Maserati V8RI was a model of racing car produced by Italian manufacturer Maserati of Modena from 1935 to 1936, with a total of four units. Designed by Ernesto Maserati, they had a front-mounted 4.788-liter V8 engine, 90 degrees, bore was 84 mm and stroke was 108 mm. A Roots type supercharger and dual choke Weber carburetor, single camshaft resulted in 320 bhp (239 kW) and a maximum speed of 270 km/h (168 mph). The "RI" denoted Ruote indipendenti, the then innovative independent four-wheel suspension.
The cars measurements were wheelbase 2,560 mm (101 in), length 3,865 mm (152.2 in), width 1,490 mm (59 in), and height 1,250 mm (49 in). Chassis #4501 debuted at Grand Prix de la Marne 1935, driven by Philippe Étancelin. Its only victory was the Pau Grand Prix in 1936. All four V8RIs built competed in the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup at New York's Roosevelt Field, and all four remained in the United States for many years afterwards.
The engineering
Power comes from 4788 cc, 90° V8 engine; 320 horsepower is the published figure. It weighs 750 kg. Work it out per tonne and you get about 427 horsepower — hypercar territory, where the limiting factor is the tyre, not the engine. 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 2560 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Maserati 6C 34; its successor was the Maserati 8CTF. Its Maserati stablemates include the Maserati 150S and the Maserati 200S.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the Maserati V8RI — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.