Maserati race car with Pontiac V8 engine

I read a couple references to Jim Rathmann, who was a name Indy driver, racing a Maserati with a Pontiac V8. Was this a 200s, 300S or 450S? This was I think well before the Pontiacs of the Sixties (GTO, etc.) that had a reputation for performacne. What size engine was it and was it successful? One race report said in one race it lasted only one lap.
Was GM eager to see its engines used in exotic cars? I know one famous Ferrari-- a '56 500 TR-- had a Chevy 283 in it, the same car previously owned by Chester Flynn, but the Chevy didn't go into it until after he sold it.

 

It was a 450s with a - probably - 1958 370 in it. The 389 didn't appear until 1959 and the 370 could be had reasonably hot, with solid lifters and either tri-power or mechanical injection from a Chevy. They called it a 6.3 liter which means it was probably bored out a little from 370"....which is actually the same block as a 389.

I'm not remotely surprised it blew, as successful Pontiac roadrace engines are REALLY hard to do, due to oiling problems based on 90* oil passage drillings and oil pump pickup/pump locations being completely different from Chevy.

http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/shm00100025.html

 

Hi there David Here . im from the netherlands. i was searching the net for pontiac road race engine builds and stumbeld across this post. and due to the wrong data in this topic i joind up to correct some details.. please forgive my spelling im dislectic.. The pontiac oiling system is just fine!!. and reving it up to 9000 rpm in sirtin aplications as wel. they are as durable as any american v8 brand out there. it was just that GM has always kept pontiac on a lease and favoured chevy as a brand at al costs. Pontiac engine / car divelopmend was far superior then the sbc, being a intermidiate engine ... Infact in 1963 GM pulled the plug out of the Super Duty project where pontiac won 75% of al the nascar ecetera races!! . dominating the field. in a direct indy 250 race they beat Ferrari mercedes and everybody els..... someting you wil not find back in the Ferrari history, nor wil mercedes admit that afther they bought the car that beat Ferrari and mercedes and send it back to studgard where they fully dismateld the pontiac. and used its engine base to produce there own engines on!!!!!. thats right from that momend on mercedes drove and build engine with e longer stroke!!..... up till today........

 

It is #4505 renumbered to 4506.

Regards

Wolfi