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!


To finish first, first, you must build a winner

Can-Am royalty
Only three M20s were built, including the car that was destroyed at Road Atlanta. This car was later rebuilt. All three cars were sold at the end of the 1972 season. One of the cars would score another Can-Am victory in 1974, driven by a privateer, but the M20’s day was done. Can-Am racing faded away at the end of that season and was replaced by Formula 5000.
These days the cars are valued in the millions. It was unlikely that I would ever have seen one in the flesh if it hadn’t been that one day my editor asked me if I would mind popping over to Taranaki and having a look at a pretty McLaren M20 that somebody had built in their shed.
That is how I came to be standing by the car owned and built by truck driver Leon Macdonald.

Lunch with … Roly Levis

Lunching was not allowed during Covid 19 Lockdowns so our correspondent recalled a lunch he had with legendary New Zealand racing driver Rollo Athol Levis shortly before he died on 1 October 2013 at the age of 88. Michael Clark caught up with Roly and members of his family over vegetable soup