Maserati Tipo 63 64 65 Birdcage to Supercage Limited Edtion

Limited Edition 25 copies

The history of the rear engined Birdcage Maseratis is recoded within these pages. By the end of 1960, the rear-engined revolution was well on its way in international sports car racing. It led to a changing of the guard, with traditional front-engined racing designs such as Jaguar, Aston Martin and Scarab giving way to rear-engined, Formula One-derived sports racing cars like Lotus and Cooper. To remain competitive, Ferrari and Maserati were forced to make the transformation from "pull" to "push" as well, starting with the 1961 racing season. This book begins with a detailed description of the 1960 racing season. Supported by some 350 never published photographs, it describes the development of the Tipo 63 muletto and the background of the private owners of the first three production cars: Briggs Cunningham, Count Giovanni Volpi and Lucky Casner. Every event in which the rear-engined Maseratis were raced in 1961 and 1962 is covered. Each race report features start photographs, a complete entry list, starting grid positions and final results. The book finishes in 1965, in the midst of the war between Ferrari and Ford, with the construction of the last rear-engined Birdcage built specifically for John Simone of Maserati France. The Appendices give the complete racing histories by individual chassis number, along with short-wheelbase versus long wheelbase specs by individual chassis number and the names of all people relevant to the history of the rear-engined Birdcages. All are recorded in the Index for easy access. In addition to the audience of Maserati aficionados, Birdcage to Supercage should appeal to anybody interested in the Golden Age of early sixties sports car racing. Supercage note: The front-engined Tipo 60 and 61 cars were nicknamed Birdcages. When the rear-engined Tipo 63 [with independent rear suspension] was introduced, it was also referred to as a Birdcage. However, when the rear-engined Tipo 64 model was shown to the press in the beginning of 1962, its Birdcage frame turned out to be made of even smaller tubes and its rear suspension [a flexible deDion] was also made of a Birdcage structure, sort of a Birdcage within a Birdcage This led the journalists to nickname this very complex looking car a Supercage. Produced in a print run of 2,500 copies, of which 25 will be leather bound. A further boxed and more elaborate edition for each present owner of each car may also be prepared.