1956 Jaguar D-Type

This is a photograph that I took at Luffield corner during the Classic Car Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

Leading is Frank Sytner in Anthony Bamford's 1956 Jaguar D-Type, a former Ecurie Ecosse car, chassis XKD603. I can't identify the car behind him but the following red car is the 1960 Maserati T61, chassis 2458, of Lindsay Owen Jones and in the background is the 1957 Maserati 250S of Robin Lodge, chassis 2432.

Maserati T61

I took this photograph at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

According to the programme of the event car number 26 is the Maserati 250S of Robin Lodge, and I have photographs that I took at the meeting showing that car with the number 26, so the car pictured above was not a replacement for that car. It appears to be chassis #2453 which was wrecked in 1959 and a replica was built in the early 1990s using the parts which had been salvaged in the accident. The Barchetta register of racing Maseratis says that the rebuilt car had a white stripe on the left side.

1959 Maserati T61

This car competed in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1997.

It’s Valentine Lindsay’s 1959 Maserati T61, generally known as a Maserati Birdcage on account of its space frame chassis and which the programme of the events says has a 2,850cc engine. It's chassis #2453, which was totally wrecked in an accident at Daytona in late 1959 but the remains were used to re-create the car in the early 1990s.

1960 Maserati T61

This car competed in the Sir Stirling Moss Trophy for 50s Sportscars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's the 1960 Maserati T61 of Mark Gillies and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine. The T61, and the 1,989cc T60 were generally known as Maserati Birdcage cars because of the intricate tubular space frame chassis. In total 22 of these cars were built by Maserati, but this car is a recreation built by the Crosthwaite & Gardiner engineering company which is indistinguishable from the original cars and has been given the chassis number 2478.

1960 Maserati T61

This car competed in the Classic Car Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's the 1960 Maserati T61 of Lindsay Owen-Jones, chassis #2458 and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine. The T61, and the 1,989cc T60 were generally known as Maserati Birdcage cars because of the intricate tubular space frame chassis, and in common with many of these cars 2458 started off life in the USA, in this case with Lloyd "Lucky" Casner's Camoradi team. After passing through various hands in the USA it was acquired by Lindsay Owen-Jones in 1992. Sixteen examples of the T61 were produced between 1959 and 1961.

1959 Maserati T61

This was one of the entrants in the Louis Vuitton '50s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

It's Nick Mason's 1959 Maserati T61, chassis #2457, and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine. The T61, and the 1,989cc T60 were generally known as Maserati Birdcage cars because of the intricate tubular space frame chassis, and in common with many of these cars 2457 started off life in the USA. After passing through various hands it was acquired by Nick Mason in the 1980s. Sixteen examples of the T61 were produced between 1959 and 1961.

Three Maseratis

Three Maseratis spotted in the paddock at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

On the left is the 1955 Maserati 300S of Michael Hinderer which was powered by a 2,991cc 6-cylinder engine that was based on the 2½ litre unit of the 250F Grand Prix car with a longer stroke. The Maserati 300S took part in the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1957 and this car is chassis #3057 that was originally owned by Swiss driver Benoit Musy. The middle car is Alan Minshaw's 1959 Maserati T61, chassis #2453, and is a car that was almost completely destroyed in an accident at Daytona in 1959. The parts that could be salvaged were used to reconstruct the car in the UK in the early 1990s. The car on the right is the 1953 Maserati A6GCM of David Bennett, chassis #2044 that was at one time owned by Prince Bira, and has the blue and yellow Siamese racing colours.

1960 Maserati T61

I took this rather blurred photograph with my Kodak Brownie 127 camera in the paddock at the August Bank Holiday meeting at Aintree in 1960.

It's John Coundley in the 1960 Maserati T61 that he drove for the American Camoradi team. The car has a 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine and seems to have been one of the cars that competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour Race in June of that year. I've not been able to confirm the chassis number, but it seems likely that it was either 2461 or 2464.

1959 Maserati T61

This car took part in a Classic Car Invitation Race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Autumn Historic Car Races meeting at Oulton Park in September 1992.

It's the 1959 Maserati T61 'Birdcage' of Jeffrey Pattinson and is chassis 2453 which was totally wrecked in an accident at Daytona in late 1959 but the remains were used to re-create the car in the early 1990s.

Maserati Birdcage

I took this photograph at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in 1996 of these three Maseratis that are generally referred to as 'birdcage' cars because of the intricate tubing that makes up the chassis of the car.

On the left, car number 37 is the 1960 Maserati T61 of Tony Smith which has a 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine and is chassis 2470. Next to it car 38 is a similar 1959 T61 of Valentine Lindsay which was driven in the race by Stirling Moss and is chassis 2453. The programme of the event shows car 39 to be the identical T61 of Nick Mason, but the car pictured is actually the 1961 Maserati T63 of Edmond Pery, chassis 63002 and apparently has a 3 litre V12 engine. The red car behind the T63 is the 1930/31 Maserati T26 of Anthony Hartley which is chassis 2518 and has an 8-cylinder inline 2½ litre engine.

1956 Jaguar D-Type

I took this photograph at Luffield Corner during the HGPCA Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

Leading are two former Ecurie Ecosse 1956 Jaguar D-Types, Frank Sytner driving Sir Anthony Bamford's car and John Harper driving that of Robert Brooks. Both cars have the 3,781cc straight-6 engine and are the cars that finished in second and first places respectively in the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hour race, Sytner's being chassis XKD603 and Harper's XKD606. Behind those two cars is the 1960 ex-Camoradi Maserati T61 of Lindsay Owen-Jones with a 2,890cc straight-4 engine. In the background approaching Priory Corner is Willie Green in Pete Waterman's 1958 Ferrari 250TR, chassis 0742TR.

Maserati T61

The Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Oulton Park in September 2005 paid tribute to the Maserati marque, and the car pictured below was one of a number that were displayed in the Paddock Suite.

It's a 1959 Maserati T61, chassis #2470, and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine. The T61, and the 1,989cc T60 were generally known as Maserati Birdcage cars because of the intricate tubular space frame chassis, and in common with many of these cars 2470 started off life in the USA. After passing through various hands in the USA, and being owned at one time in the 1980s by Lord Hesketh, it was acquired by Tony Smith in 1998, and since then has been sold to a German racing enthusiast, Constantin von Dziembowski. Sixteen examples of the T61 were produced between 1959 and 1961.

1959 Maserati T61

This car was listed in the programme as a Reserve entry in the 10 Lap Scratch Race for 1950s Sports Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's Nick Mason's 1959 Maserati T61, chassis #2457, and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine. The T61, and the 1,989cc T60 were generally known as Maserati Birdcage cars because of the intricate tubular space frame chassis, and in common with many of these cars 2457 started off life in the USA. After passing through various hands it was acquired by Nick Mason in the 1980s. Sixteen examples of the T61 were produced between 1959 and 1961.

Maserati T61

I photographed this car in the pit lane at Donington Park during a practice session at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

It's the 1959 Maserati T61 of Carlo Vögele which took part in two rounds of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge series. The car is chassis #2454 and has a twin overhead camshaft 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine, and you can read about it here.

On 25 November 2016 I showed a photograph taken during one of the races showing the car at McLean's Corner. 

Maserati T61

This car competed in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

Listed in the programme of the event as a 1959 Maserati T61 with a 2,890cc engine, but generally known as a Maserati Birdcage on account of its space frame chassis, it was entered for the race by Valentine Lindsay and driven by Stirling Moss. It's chassis #2453, which was totally wrecked in an accident at Daytona in late 1959 but the remains were used to re-create the car in the early 1990s.

On 17 August 2017 I showed photographs of three examples of the Maserati Birdcage, including  this one (then coloured red), at Silverstone in 1992.

Maserati T61

This car was one of the contestants in the 'Classic Car' Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's the 1960 Maserati T61 'Birdcage' of Hartmut Ibing, and was driven in the race by Peter Hannen. The Maserati T61 had a 2,890cc inline 4-cylinder engine, and this car is chassis #2461 which was acquired when new by Lloyd Casner for his Camoradi team, for whom it won the 1960 Nürburgring 1000 km race in the hands of Stirling Moss and Dan Gurney.

Maserati Birdcage

Three Maserati 'Birdcage' cars took part in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992, one 2-litre T60 model and two of the 3-litre T61's. All three are pictured below.

The car above and below is Nick Mason's 2-litre 1959 Maserati T60 and is chassis #2466.

This is Lindsay Owen-Jones' 3-litre 1960 Maserati T61. chassis #2458.

Above and below is Jeffrey Pattinson's 3-litre 1961 Maserati T61, chassis #2453.

The programme of the event said this about the 'Birdcage' Maseratis:

'Maserati's final fling on the international stage was with their legendary 'Birdcage' models, so named because of the multitude of small tubes which made up their chassis. They proved faster than anything else in 1960 but also more fragile, though the quasi-works Camoradi team managed to win the gruelling 1000km at the Nürburgring that year and again in 1961.

The car entered here by Lindsay Owen-Jones is an ex-Camoradi T61, used once or twice by Stirling Moss (but not in his Nürburgring victory). Nick Mason's is a 2-litre version, a T60 rather than a 2.9-litre T61, originally campaigned by Scuderia Serenissima.'

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at McLean's Corner during a Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge race at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

Leading is Peter Hardman in the 1966 Ferrari 412P of Harry Leventis (#0844), followed by the 1959 Maserati Tipo 61 of Carlo Vögele (#2454) and the 1960 Ferrari 250GT SWB of Vincent Gaye (#2069GT).

Maserati T61

Here's a car I photographed in the pit garage at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

It took part in the 1950s Sports Car Race and it's a 1960 Maserati T61, entered by R & Mrs M Smith and driven in the race by Matt Gillies.

Here you can see the tubular space frame chassis which gives the car its nickname of 'Maserati Birdcage'.

The Type 61 had a 4-cylinder 2.9 litre engine instead of the 4-cylinder 2 litre engine of the Type 60, and according to Luigi Orsini & Franco Zagari's book 'Maserati - a complete history' the entire production of the Type 61 went to the American market.

Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph taken at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992. It shows a group of cars lining up to take to the track for a sports car race and the main car featured is a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa of 1957, serial number 0742TR. There are two other Ferraris in the line-up, a 1957 500TRC, serial number 0682MDTR, (number 42, the yellow car) and a 250MM of 1953, serial number 0390MM, (number 33, the black car). The two other cars shown are a 1957 Jaguar D-type behind the Testa Rossa, and a 1960 Maserati T61 behind the 250MM.