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Vintage Speed: Caged Lions Part 1
Written by: Kevin Krefting   
06/14/2007
 
The Tipo 60 prototype, chassis 2451, about to be tested by Stirling Moss at the Nürburgring in June 1959. (Photo: William Oosthoek) » More Photos

The Maserati Tipo 60/61 became famous for its "Birdcage" spaceframe constructed from a multitude of small diameter tubes. Its formidable performance was at times dashed by reliability problems, but it made an indelible mark in racing history.

The year 1958 was a disaster for the proud firm of Officine Alfieri Maserati SpA, which continued to bear its founder's name two decades after the Orsi family bought it. The previous year had been so successful that few people outside the Orsi inner circle realized how precarious Maserati's financial situation had become. To an uninformed world the future of the Modena firm, after capturing the 1957 Formula 1 World Championship crown with Juan Manuel Fangio's 250F and the European Mountain Championship with Willy Daetwyler's 200S, never looked brighter. At the same time, capitalizing on these racing successes, Maserati started its first-ever production line of a Gran Turismo model: the 3500GT.

From a competition standpoint the only disappointment was the narrow loss in the 1957 Manufacturers Championship to cross-town rival Ferrari, after the 450S sports racers suffered incredibly bad luck during the season-ending race at Caracas.

In those days, racing formed only a small part of Maserati's
business. The company was an industrial conglomerate, its main activity the manufacturing and sale of machine tools.

The machine tool division's profits had always subsidized the racing arm of the firm. However, by the end of 1957 the tool business developed its own cash flow problems, the result of large shipments to Argentina and Spain for which Maserati had not yet received payments. Combined with the fact that the 250F model was at the end of its development, and that the 1958 World Sports Car and Mountain Championships were restricted to 3.0- and 1.5-liter cars respectively, the liquidity crunch led to an inevitable decision.

In December 1957 the Orsi family announced that Maserati was pulling out of active competition. The general consensus was that this was likely to be a temporary withdrawal from racing until new competition cars could be developed. Unfortunately, much worse was to come. In its issue of April 11, 1958, Time magazine printed a sensationalist article on Maserati suggesting "…petitions of bankruptcy declaration presented by many banks, uncovered checks, the confiscation of plants, the breaking up of cars and the disappearance of Adolfo and Omar Orsi, the father-and-son team that owned the firm."

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