1959 Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage

The Maserati Birdcage Tipo 61, with proper team preparation and organization, would undoubtedly have won more classic races. It led every round of the 1960 World Sports Car Championship – at Buenos Aires, Sebring, the Targa Florio, Nurburgring and Le Mans – but only won a single event, and was sidelined by mechanical failure in the rest. Some fine results in Europe included the great 1960 1,000 km Nurburgring victory in the hands of Dan Gurney and Stirling Moss for “Lucky” Casner’s Camoradi team and its fortunate follow-up in 1961 driven by Casner and Masten Gregory. In reality, the Birdcage was most successful in the hands of customer teams in the United States. Only 22 were built, of which six were two-liter Tipo 60s, one of which, the prototype 2451, was quickly converted to a 2.9-liter Tipo 61, making a total of 17 Tipo 61 Birdcages – a very small number to establish such a large reputation.

One of the best Tipo 61...