Maserati 8CTF

This is one of the cars that took part in the Historic Seaman Trophy Race at the VSCC meeting at Donington Park in June 2003.

It's E Dean Butler's 1938 Maserati 8CTF, which was driven in the Historic Seaman Trophy race by Stephen Hyett. Three of the 8CTF models were built by Maserati in 1938 with the chassis numbers 3030, 3031 and 3032. The cars were campaigned by the works in the 1938 racing season with little success, the best result being a third place for 3031 in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in the hands of Paul Pietsche. Early in 1939 3032 was sold to American Mike Boyle and as the 'Boyle Special' it went on to win the Indianapolis 500 race in 1939 and 1940. The other two cars were sold later in 1939 to French racing driver Laury Schell and his French-Irish-American wife Lucy O'Reilly Schell, who was also a well-known competitor. After Laury Schell's death soon after that in a road accident his wife returned to America taking the two Maseratis with her and they were entered in the Indianapolis 500 race in 1940. Car 3031 in the hands of René Dreyfus didn't qualify for the race, but he shared the driving of 3030 in the race with René Le Bègue, finishing in tenth place. The car pictured here is that car, chassis number 3030.

NB: Harry Schell, who competed in the 1950s with Maserati, Vanwall, BRM and other cars, was the son of Laury and Lucy O'Brien Schell.