Last month Maserati celebrated its eightieth anniversary of the Maserati 8CTF’s renowned win at the Indianapolis 500. After a mere four hours and twenty minutes the Maserati 8CTF, driven by 27-year-old Warren Wilbur Shaw, crossed the finish line at the Indianapolis 500 in first place. According to our friends at Fullerton Maserati (Fullerton, NJ), this historic win at the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 30th, 1939 marked the first time a European car had won at the famous race track in twenty years – a very big deal.
During the early 1930s, Maserati had been invited to attend several races in America by organizers but it wasn’t until 1937, that the Maserati brothers were able to concentrate on designing new racings cars. It was the sale of the company’s shares in May of 1937, to the Orsi Group which allowed the brothers to create the legendary Maserati 8CTF.
The year 1938 saw an introduction of tighter restrictions by the international racing authority which included regulated displacement depending on the car’s weight. These new regulations included a maximum of 3,000 cc for supercharged engines. The new rules served as the base in which Ernesto Maserati designed and built the 8CTF.
The supercharged engine of the 8CTF had a displacement of 2,991.4 cc with a compression ratio of 6.5:1. The car’s engine had eight cylinders that were placed in two groups of four and cast in a monoblock with the cylinder head. This engine design is the reason the 8CTF is called the 8CTF which means 8 cylinders “Testa Fissa” – fixed head. The engine also had two volumetric compressors and two carburetors. Driven by two overhead camshafts was the timing system with two valves per cylinder in a 90 degree V arrangement.
Before the Maserati 8CTF came to win at the Indianapolis 500, the race car at participated in several races during 1938. Once buyers saw the Maserati 8CTF’s remarkable potential they jumped at the chance to own one. One of those buyers was the Chicago-based team Boyle Racing Headquarters which was owned by Michael Joseph Boyle. Boyle had set the lofty goal for himself of winning the Indianapolis 500, with a car managed by his time and funded by himself, and he was determined to accomplish his goal.
Boyle sent his team manager, Harry W. Henning, to purchase an 8CTF from Maserati in early 1939. When the car finally arrived in America it was outfitted with Firestone tires, larger wheels, and painted in the Boyle Racing Headquarters color scheme.
The 8CTF than entered the Indianapolis 500 as the “Boyle Special” with Warren Wilbur Shaw behind the wheel. The “Boyle Special” won the race after leading for 51 laps and with an average speed of 115 miles per hour. This historic win served as the start of a long and successful career for both Wilbur Shaw and the 8CTF.
The following year three more Maserati 8CTF’s were entered into the 1940 Indianapolis 500 and with Wilbur Shaw behind the wheel of one of them, the 8CTF saw another victory at the legendary race track.
The same Maserati 8CTF that Wilbur Shaw won the Indianapolis 500 in back to back is currently on display the Indianapolis Speedway Museum with the same paintwork it wore back in 1939.
