Celebrity chef and car aficionado James Martin has entered his latest addition to his car collection, a stunning Maserati A6GCS, in this year’s Mille Miglia race.

Celebrity chef and car aficionado James Martin has entered his latest addition to his car collection, a stunning Maserati A6GCS, in this year’s Mille Miglia race.

James, who acquired and painstakingly restored his 1948 A6GCS (one of only 15 ever built) just a few months ago, headed off to Italy last Sunday in a new Maserati GranTurismo. He was accompanied by a TV crew who will be filming him and his co-driver Sarah Bennett-Baggs, herself a racing driver and team manager, for a one-off documentary which will be aired later this year.

The Mille Miglia started last night at 19:30 from Brescia, Italy and will finish tomorrow (Saturday) at 22:30 again in Brescia. A total of 10 Maseratis, including James Martin’s A6GCS featuring race number 161, will be competing in the 2008 edition of the “world’s greatest road race”.

The Maserati A6GCS features an open 2-seater barchetta body with cycle wings, no doors and a single central headlight (monofaro in Italian) and was crafted by factory coachbuilder Medardo Fantuzzi of Tipo 26 fame. A body with integrated mudguards and three headlights was introduced for endurance racing in 1948. A unique streamlined coupé was built for Luigi Villoresi to drive in the 1947 Mille Miglia. A total of 15 cars were made. Two team cars raced with Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi in 1947 and 1948, the latter winning the Italian championship both years. The A6GCS also raced in Formula 2 as a single seater, with its road-going equipment removed and the passenger seat blanked-off, resulting in a net weight of 580 kg.