The Prince
Just look at that name: Prince Gaetano Starrabba di Giardinelli, Prince of Militello, Marquis of Sant’Agata, Baron of Scibina and Bumisca, Baron of Pachino, Baron of Mandranova. The Sicilian nobleman, born in 1932, was an engineer and agronomist by training, but preferred to race cars. He contested his first race with a Fiat Topolino, and in 1954 he drove his first Targa Florio in a Lancia Aurelia B20 – and came in a respectable eighth. A year later, he wanted more, so he bought a Maserati A6GCS, chassis number #2085, directly from the factory. However, things didn’t go so well; the competition was strong, the Targa Florio was part of the World Sports Car Championship for the first time, and the prince had to settle for 10th place. That was enough for him with the Maserati, and in 1956 he competed in a Ferrari 500 TRC, achieving his best result in his home race with a 7th place, in which he competed 14 times. Incidentally, the prince is still doing very well. He has also written a fascinating book about his racing career, in which he even managed to compete in a Formula 1 race.
The next owner of the Maserati was another Italian, Erasmo Simeone, better known by his fighting name ‘Kammamuri’. But he didn’t have much joy with #2085 either, because he lost his life in 1957 in a Ferrari 250 GT (#0503GT) during the hill climb for the Coppa del Cimino. The Maserati went on to Germany, and in 1974 it came back into noble hands with Baron Kurt von Hammerstein. In 1981, Peter Kaus bought the car for his Rosso Bianco collection, and the next owner was Wolf-Dieter Baumann, who entered #2085 in many historic races and had it restored to its original condition, including the yellow triangle on the front that the prince had had added so that he would be recognised at the Targa Florio.
The Maserati A6GCS – #2085 is for sale at Fiskens (Dezember 2024). You can find more about these magnificent vehicles: here.
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