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The Greatest Maserati's










High Bid  of  £1,600,000 on September 9, 2013

250 bhp, 2,890 cc twin-cam, four-cylinder engine
with two Weber 48 carburettors, five-speed manual
transaxle, tubular trellis frame, independent front
suspension with coil springs, de Dion rear axle
with transverse leaf springs, and four-wheel
hydraulic disc brakes. Wheelbase: 2,200 mm

1960 Maserati Tipo 61 'Birdcage'
Few sports racers of the 1960s have garnered a more legendary status than the Maserati Birdcage. Originally a 2 litre, and designated the Tipo 60, the famous tubular-trellis Birdcage burst onto the scene with Stirling Moss’ victory in chassis number 2451 at the Coupe Delamare Debauteville on 12 July 1959. In the competitive American racing market, word was already out that Maserati was developing a larger four-cylinder engine, and it wasn’t long before an anxious spate of owners lined up for the Tipo 61, a development of the Birdcage with the enlarged 2.9-litre engine.

One of five Birdcages to be run by the famous Camoradi team
Finished 5th overall at the 1960 Nürburgring 1000 km
Competed in the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans
Documented period racing history in SCCA and Le Mans, including a 1960 Le Mans entry form and scrutineering book
Immaculately prepared and highly eligible competitive veteran of numerous vintage races over the past two decades

Customer deliveries of T61s to the United States began in October 1959 with chassis number 2453, and shortly thereafter, 2455, driven by Gaston Andrey, caused quite a stir at the Governor’s Race at Nassau in the Bahamas on 6 December 1959. It was there that Lloyd Casner, owner of T60 chassis number 2451, witnessed the true potential of the T61. Completing factory assembly on 13 May 1960, this car, chassis number 2464, was finished in white with a blue centre stripe and was sold to Lloyd “Lucky” Casner, the American privateer racer whose Casner Motor Racing Division, or Camoradi team, was such a pivotal test bed for factory Birdcage development. The car was the 12th Birdcage Tipo 61 constructed, and it was the last of three cars that Casner ordered that year on the memory of Gaston Andrey’s performance at the Nassau Speed Week in early December 1959.