{"id":27081,"date":"2018-08-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.secret-classics.com\/maserati-tipo-60-61-birdcage-2\/"},"modified":"2020-10-03T05:53:35","modified_gmt":"2020-10-03T05:53:35","slug":"maserati-tipo-60-61-birdcage-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.secret-classics.com\/en\/maserati-tipo-60-61-birdcage-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Maserati Tipo 60\/61 Birdcage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the winter of 1958\/1959 Maserati presented a new vehicle for the sports car world championship. Since there were no factory race operations at that time, it was clear from the beginning that it would be a pure customer race car, which should have correspondingly low maintenance and a relatively cheap price. Under company boss Omer Orsi it came close to a revolution that the Tipo 60 ever originated, because he rejected racing in general due to financial problems of his company. Popularly, the Maserati quickly got a nickname that has burned itself into the collective memory: while it was called ‘Spaghetti’ in Italy, the world knows it as ‘Birdcage’. This was based on the tubular frame made up of around 200 thin, different-length chrome-molybdenum steel tubes below the narrow-cut aluminium bodywork of the open two-seater racecar.

From the Tipo 60 with its 200 horsepower two-liter four-cylinder engine and only 585 kilograms of weight Maserati created six more copies (next to the prototype) between March 1959 and August 1960, which reached racing successes worldwide. Already at the first official start Stirling Moss crossed the finish line first in the ‘Coupe Delamare’. However, American customers quickly asked for more power to compete with more powerful cars. Thus the Maserati engineers in Modena started working on the Tipo 61, which received a 2.9-litre four-cylinder engine with about 250 hp. The curb weight rose slightly to 600 kilograms. Of this type they made 16 cars. Both Tipo 61 that were used for the first time during a race in Nassau at the Bahamas failed to finish, Carroll Shelby with engine damage and Gaston Andrey after an accident. Other races of the world championship took place with the American team Camoradi (Casner Motor Racing Division) of Lloyd Casner, who talked Omer Orsi into selling him cars for a cheaper price and supporting his team with mechanics while Camoradi together with funding of tire manufacturer Goodyear would prepare the cars as a factory team. In addition to some privateers also Cunningham and Scuderia Serenissima used various ‘Birdcage’ versions over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n

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