Maserati Tipo 65 Sports Racing Prototype

It’s an iconic Italian failure, a testament to chaos, caffeine, grappa, panic, and an unwillingness to throw in the towel

by Thor Thorson

This remarkably imposing V8 rear-engined, sports-prototype is the last of the line of Maserati competition cars built during the Gruppo Orsi Empire’s long ownership of the Italian marque. As such, it marks the high tide of their development right through the wide range of A6GCS, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, and 450S sports racing classics, through the famous “Birdcage” Tipo 60–64 models and the big V8-powered, 151 Berlinetta designs of 1962–65.