Classic Maserati vs Ferrari battle..a great 6 minute watch, with two great drivers & cars. Brundel & Hill…
Later, let me add another "WOW" to the list after seeing an epic battle. There were some many iconic cars i that race and to see the Ferrari and the Maserati battling like there was no tomorrow in cars worth millions of pounds, dollar, Euros, etc. was really special. Two superb drivers on the edge and not backing off. I'm not sure that in the States those kind of driving risks with such expensive cars would ever happen. Vintage racing at it's very best!
Yes, Mr.B,..but you have to be “in awe” just a little! By the way, I have watched this battle about 15 times, as I have an interest in vintage racing. Obviously these gentlemen are not holding back and their drivers skills are very, very impressive.
I was going to ask what's up with the wipers on the Maserati but then it began to rain. Still why so early? So ... who won?
Neither, the 427 Cobras usually dominate the race. The 151 can pace them the GTO can’t, it would be interesting to see a 330 LMB run with the group.
Another WOW! Thanks for posting- Could watch that all day- Aside from the amazing Ferrari and Maserati battle it was cool to see Christian Horner out there- Great video- Goodwood is still an unchecked box on the bucket list- Seeing that makes it move up- Cheers
yes, it’s officially retired from racing. It finished 2nd in its last race at Goodwood. Joe told me that the car tried to kill me twice.
I remember that but it is still awesome that nose to tail racing like that was even attempted. I fully understand why these priceless cars need to be protected but every once in a while getting to see them run like they used to be is awesome. I'm thrilled that I got to see the videos. Walter, stay well and keep telling all of us like it is!
Yes the car was retired from racing when I asked to drive it for Octane magazine which took place late September 2018 at Lime Rock Connecticut so they had to recommission it for that. The whole endeavor took many months of planning. An unforgettable day as I relate in the article: no journalist had ever driven one of the three Tipo 151's built since their birth, not even Paul Frere in period. Of course this is the only real one left. There is a short video here done that day: Back then I tried to encourage Mr Auriana and his collection manager as well as main driver Joe Colasacco to do Le Mans Classic but no the car is now retired for good. They actually took it to Le Mans but not for Le Mans Classic, instead to the short vintage race on the morning of the modern 24 Hours of Le Mans a few years ago. I had a good chat with Derek Hill about this and of course there are guardrails and two chicanes on the Mulsanne straight and the car has had its semi articulated de Dion rear axle locked in position since the early days of when they started vintage racing it but Derek could not believe that people would have raced it lap after lap at 180mph on the then five kilometers/three mile long Mulsanne straight (the track is thirteen kilometers/eight miles log) with that wandering rear suspension and no guardrails, just trees...the thought of it was just mindboggling to him. Of course I drove it at much more humble speeds but nevertheless fully agree. In 1962 two of the drivers who could not have been more different had very colorful ways of describing its handling wandering all over the track: Bruce McLaren who drove for Cunningham called the Tipo 151 the unguided missile. Meanwhile the hugely experienced Maurice Trintignant, 1955 and 1958 Monaco GP winner, 1954 Le Mans winner who was driving the Maserati France entry had a great way to describe it to me when I met him in the 1990's. In his Provencal accent he said in French: "Oh eet held ze roadeuh yes...ze Wholllle roadeuh!" That semi articulated De Dion rear axle was not Giulio Alfieri's best idea specially since there as usual would be hardly any budget or time for testing. A pity as it blunted the three car's chances from the start. Joe explained he really had to get used to the car as it was not only very different from anything he had raced before ( a slew of classics) but also quite a challenge to deal with but once they locked the differential it was a lot better.
What of the rarely seen unrestored red 151 recently at Monterey? I've never seen it running anywhere!
It has some real bits but not the chassis, it is not a legitimate car but of course the very race weathered bodywork -which was worn by the Maserati France Tipo 151-002 until it received its 1964 new body version- fooled a lot of people. The owner, whoever he is, has talked himself into a dead end stating it is real when it is not. 002 was destroyed at Le Mans in the April test day in 1965. Destroyed and scrapped. Early last year there was talk (probably by the owner indirectly) to put the bitsa car we are discussing at auction in Monterey but he realized it could not be presented as real so it was not auctioned. I hope the owner faces the music and accepts that whether he was sold a misrepresented car or not, he swallows his pride, represents it as what it really is, a bitsa with some genuine components, and enters it in the vintage races that will actually accept it. It is better for him to do so in the long run. If you never saw it running anywhere it is because it did not exist until it was finally gotten to run, finished after several false starts and resto/recreation attempts that ran out of funds. Before that there wasn't a car but bits gathering dust in various places.
I was contacted by the current owner (from the West Coast) and he tried to convince me to accept his car as genuine but I said: NO! Problem is, that there is one historian in the US who talked around that there would be "...one chassis was found in the factory, blahblablah..." This was also supported by the workshop at the East Coast. I inspected this mysterious chassis there together with Steve Hart and we both were not convinced by another blahblahblah they told us. But without any doubt, the coachwork of the car is original and I...ahem..."discovered" it at Giodanengos`s workshop in Boves, Italy, many moons ago. The coachwork was then sold to Philip Marcq from Belgium. He wanted to rebuild the car but passed away before he could start the project. His estate sold it then to the US.
Walter, Just how much of a vintage maserati is needed to be reasonably, I repeat, reasonably consider to have provenance? What happens to car, for example, that came from the factory but maybe blew up an engine racing and replaced it with a new one from the factory or had a different engine put in to a factory race car in period. What about cars that get re-stamped by the factory? How do you deal with situations like that when you are talking to a customer or giving your professional advice as to authenticity. I'm just curious as there seems to be some confusion about what the process is to determine authenticity. I grant you that you can only comment about things you do and not about others in the business but I am curious about your thinking and process.
I would add: Can a car having kept only the chassis (or most of the chassis, or only a part of the original chassis if destroyed) be considered original when having none or very few of the original parts when rebuilt (engine, etc.) ?
As an example I can tell you that I represented a 250 Monza 6 years ago, one of four such racing cars made by Ferrari in 1954. Most of the car was absolutely original...except a portion of the chassis, about 20 or 30% which was replaced in the late 60's after a vintage racing accident. Well that was enough for the car to be red flagged in the view of the potential buyers among major collectors (the price was eight figures). The car would have needed a Ferrari Classiche restoration with chassis repair done by them which would have cost a fortune so after a few months I ceased to represent it. as far as I know it is still with its owner.
Ah ...Ferrari being Ferrari. If it was raced privately and the repairs were of a racing nature done at the time and not by some hack for a later owner after it had stopped serious racing then wouldn't having Ferrari put it's hands on it again actually destroy the originality of it? How about some of the vintage Maseratis and Ferraris being discussed in these various threads that are damaged at Goodwood or else where. Do all repairs have to be made by the Classiche programs now?
Bob: As far as Ferrari goes, we have stood our ground and refused to allow Classiche to make the requested repairs to the cars. It helps if you have a significant car and collection, but they agreed for us to make the repairs/changes and they approve via photos. It is all a confusing, very slow process with constant staff changes at the factory, nobody having any real understanding of the cars in period, and being "profit center" focused.
