“The 2.0-litre Maserati was as quick on a twisty circuit as the 3.0-litre and really could handle very nicely…” Works Maserati long-distance driver Stirling Moss’s verdict on the 200S sports cars he raced twice, in 1956 and 1957.

‘Mr Motor Racing’ had briefly driven a 200S at the 1956 Monza Supercortemaggiore event – Europe’s richest race, the famous ‘Monza Lottery’ – setting fastest time in practice but the car’s propshaft broke on the opening lap. At the February 1957 Cuban Grand Prix in Havana, Moss and Fangio’s big 450S failed to turn up, so the Argentine switched to a 300S and Moss drove a 200S, both cars on loan from Scuderia Madunina, a Milan-based team with connections to South America. Naturally, Fangio was fastest overall in practice but Moss’s 200S was 15 seconds quicker than anything else in its class, the 2.0-litre category that included Ferrari 500 Testa Rossas driven by Peter Collins, Olivier Gendebien and Masten Gregory.