Classic Maseratis

[Jaguar D-Type]

The Tipo 61 "Birdcage" is named after its complex tubular chassis. Around 200 aluminum tubes made up the entire chassis. The car has a fantastic racing history including a win at the 1960 Nurburgring 1000 km and has been driven by greats such as Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney, and Roger Penske. Only 22 were made and were all driven by private teams in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

This 1960 model was formerly raced by Stirling Moss.



The Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and 1940.



Wilbur Shaw won the 1939 Indianapolis 500.



He won it again in 1940.



1960 Maserati 3500 GT Vignale Spyder

[Jaguar D-Type]

1954 Maserati A6 GCS/53 Pinin Farina Berlinetta

Road racing was very popular in the 1950s in Italy, with the Mille Miglia as the annual highlight. Many of the major Italian manufacturers provided race-bred sportscars for their rich customers to campaign in the 1000 mile event. Most of these racers were roadsters but after the rain-soaked 1952 edition of the race, the demand for fixed-heads increased.

For the 1953 season Maserati produced a revised version of their 2 liter A6 sportscar. The previously used engine was replaced by a F2-derived DOHC twin spark engine. This was Maserati's first short-stroke engine, resulting in a stunning 7300 rpm red-line. The chassis was the same as used in the old GCS. Factory coachbuilder Fantuzzi had penned an all enveloping roadster body.

Some of Maserati's customers expressed interest in a Pinin Farina designed berlinetta body for their A6 GCS/53. There was no way that Maserati could directly commision Pinin Farina to fit the chassis with bodies, as the Turin based company had just closed a co-production deal with Enzo Ferrari. Long time Rome based Maserati dealer Giuglielmo 'Mimmo' Dei was supplied with 6 bare A6 GCS/53 chassis. He commisioned Pinin Farina to fit them with elegant berlinetta bodies. Eventually four of the six chassis were fitted with Pinin Farina designed bodywork. All of which survive in one form or another today.

Featured is s/n 2060 (the silver one), the star of a 2002 Bonhams auction, where it failed to meet its reserve. It was signed off on September 28th 1954 to Dei. After it was fitted with a Pinin Farina body, it was displayed at that year's Turin Motorshow on the Pinin Farina stand. It's jaw-dropping looks were awarded in June 1954, when a sister car took top-honours in the Rome 'Concorso Internazionale d'Eleganza.' After its Turin appearance 2060 was raced by Dei's Scuderia Centro Sud racing team. For unknown reasons it was converted to Spider-form with a bodywork by Fiandri. Pinin Farina's body was discarded. The same happened to Dei's s/n 2057.

For a period it was campaigned by Scuderia Centro Sud, after which it was sold to German collector Count Doenhoff in the 1960s. In the mean time the body was acquired by Francesco Giardini, who needed a replacement-body for his crashed barchetta bodied A6 GCS/53, s/n 2089. Count Doenhoff tried to acquire an original body for his chassis, in vain. Eventually he commisioned Church Green Engineering to build a new body for his 2060. One of the other berlinettas was used as a pattern.

Today all four original chassis remain (s/n 2056, 2057, 2059 and 2060), with 2089 being a fifth semi-original Pinin Farina Berlinetta. Passionate Maserati enthusiast Franco Lombardi commisioned Giordemengo to rebuilt a body for his original 2057. After the 20 years restoration project Giordemengo started work on replicas, of which two have been completed.

Due to close cooperation of Ferrari and Pinin Farina, these four were the last Maseratis to be bodied by Pinin Farina.

It had a 2.0 liter I-6 with 170 hp.

[Jaguar D-Type]

Maserati A6G 2000 Frua Roadster

[Jaguar D-Type]

Race cars

[Jaguar D-Type]

Juan Manuel Fangio and the 1957 Maserati 250F

The 1957 German Grand Prix was on the fearsome old, original 14.2-mile, 174-turn Nürburgring. On that singular August day the man they called the Maestro surpassed anything he'd ever done.

The race distance in 1957 was 22 laps, or 311 miles. Though the 250F could have carried enough gas to go the distance, Fangio's game plan was to start light and try to build up a big lead, then pit for fuel and new tires. He did just that, building up 30 seconds over the Ferraris of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins before his midrace stop.

Fangio was out of the car slugging down water, when he realized it was taking too long. He heard the Ferraris scream by, obviously going nonstop. His fumbling, frantic crewmen wasted almost another minute before he could go after them.

Under normal circumstances, the 46-year-old Fangio was so good he seldom had to push his limits. But this was his call to make history. Taking his driving to a level he'd never been before he began charging corners so fast he was staying a gear higher than normal. In top-gear corners where he'd normally lift, he kept his foot hard down.

Every lap he was chopping whole seconds off his pole position time, which itself had been a record. He'd started with a deficit of 51 seconds, apparently hopeless, but he caught and passed the Ferraris with two laps to go. Then he went really fast, lapping at an incredible 7.8 seconds under his qualifying time. He beat Hawthorn to the flag by 3.6 seconds.

The grand old man said plainly he never wanted to drive like that again, and he didn't. It was the last victory of his career. Only a few races into the next season he simply walked away.

[Jaguar D-Type]

450S



1964 Tipo 64 Birdcage

[Jaguar D-Type]

Carroll Shelby sliding a Maserati 250F at the 1958 British Grand Prix

[Jaguar D-Type]

Stirling Moss driving a Maserati on a rain-soaked track, April 1951.