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Maserati: Ex-Stirling Moss Maserati up for auction

16 June, 2014

 


At RM Auctions’ Monaco sale on May 10, punters will get the chance to bid for the 1956 Maserati 450S Prototype, as driven by Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson on the 1956 Mille Miglia.

Originally built as a six-cylinder car, before the Mille Miglia that year, Maserati installed a 5657cc V8 producing around 520bhp. Moss crashed the car following brake failure.

This car has since gained the chassis number 4501, once used on an entirely different Maserati 450S but now verified for this car. At one time the Maserati was also fitted with a Corvette V8!

Today, fully restored, the car is expected to bring in big bucks at auction.

Another interesting Italian at the same sale is the re-creation of Lancia’s justly famous D50 Grand Prix car (although we’re not that keen on its modern roll bar). Built from original plans by Tom Wheatcroft of Donington fame, the car is expected to attract bids of over one million pounds — rather less than the cost of the real thing!

Escort services – 1968 Escort 1100 Restomod

19 September, 2024

The Escort started off as a 1968 1100 cc two-door sold-new in Britain. At some point it was retired from daily duty and set aside as a pet project for someone. When that project began is unclear, but much of the work was completed in 2014 including a complete rotisserie restoration.
By the end of 2014, it was finished but not completed. Its Wellingtonian owner bought it sight unseen from the UK and it landed here in early 2020. It was soon dispatched to Macbilt in Grenada North, Wellington for them to work their magic.
Macbilt had two instructions: to get the car through compliance for use on the road; and to improve the vehicle and finish the project so it drove as well as it looked. Looking at the car now, it has an amazing presence and stance. It can’t help but attract attention and a bevy of admirers.

Lunch with … Cary Taylor

11 September, 2024

Many years ago — in June 1995 to be more precise — I was being wowed with yet another terrific tale from Geoff Manning who had worked spanners on all types of racing cars. We were chatting at Bruce McLaren Intermediate school on the 25th anniversary of the death of the extraordinary Kiwi for whom the school was named. Geoff, who had been part of Ford’s Le Mans programme in the ’60s, and also Graham Hill’s chief mechanic — clearly realising that he had me in the palm of his hand — offered a piece of advice that I’ve never forgotten: “If you want the really good stories, talk to the mechanics.”
Without doubt the top mechanics, those involved in the highest echelons of motor racing, have stories galore — after all, they had relationships with their drivers so intimate that, to quote Geoff all those years ago, “Mechanics know what really happened.”