1957 Maserati 450 S Spyder

Development of the Maserati 450S began in early 1954 under the direction of Chief Engineer, Ing. Alberto Bellentani and Guido Taddeucci. This was part of Maserati's all-or-nothing attack on the World Sportscar Championship and an effort to defeat their archrival Ferrari on the track. Although the tragedy at LeMans in 1955 temporarily halted development of the car, it would soon resume when wealthy American racing-team owner Tony Parravano ordered a Maserati V-8 to power his Kurtis Indianapolis `500`roadster. The V-8 Indianapolis engine displaced 4.2-liters and would eventually grow to 4.5-liters and be used for Maserati's sports-car racing. The 4,477cc unit had short-stroke architecture and offered high-rpm operation. It breathed through four Weber twin-choke carburetors and had two valves per cylinder actuated by four gear-driven overhead camshafts, two per cylinder bank. Fully assembled, the 4.5-liter unit weighed just 425 pounds.

The V-8 engine was first installed in the ex-Mille Miglia Tipo 53 350S which Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson crashed there in 1956. It was tested at Monza where it showed tremendous promise on the straights, however it could not match the lap times of the standards 350S. A stiffer new tubular-frame chassis was designed by Ing Valerio Colotti. It retained the normal Maserati independent front-suspension setup with double wishbones and coil springs. The rear underpinnings were updated with a heavily-reinforced tubular de Dion setup including transverse leaf springs. The transmission was a five-speed gearbox with a limited-slip ZF differential placed ahead of the de Dion tube. Enlarged drum brakes were added to help cope with the additional horsepower.

The first Tipo 54 was chassis 4501. It had a 4.2-liter V8 engine. Chassis 4502 had the 4.5-liter setup and was sold to one of the company's best customers, Parravano.

The first race of the 1957 season was the Buenos Aires 1,000 km. Fangio and Moss drove the heavily modified chassis 4501 where they led much of the race, until clutch problems slowed them until the transmission failed and forced their retirement. At the 12 Hour Sebring event, Fangio and Behra co-drove the lone 450S, chassis 4503, to overall victory by more than two laps.

Chassis number 4505 left the factory on May 8th of 1957 and was the factory 'Works' entry for Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson to drive at the Mille Miglia on the 11th and 12th of May. During practice, Behra crashed 4503. The Moss/Jenkinson car proved to be fastest during practice. Chassis 4505 was fitted with a high-speed overdrive or dual-range gearbox engineered by Valerio Colotti and engaged by a separate gear lever for high-speed use. Unfortunately, the car retired very early due to a broken pedal that sheared off at the root.

The next event for 4505 was at the Nürburgring on 26th May. It was driven by Fangio and Moss, but on the 10th lap, it retired due to a half-shaft failure along with a wheel coming off. Moss spun out of contention, but fortunately with no further damage to either the car or driver.

The history of the Tipo 54 cars then becomes unclear, as swapping of chassis numbers often occurred at Maserati (a familiar practice among several other manufacturers as well). By changing chassis numbers, manufacturers were able to avoid import duties between races. Chassis numbers of various cars were often swapped for damaged or unavailable cars to race-ready cars as required for their carnet (customs paperwork) and logbooks, and entered into races under the existing entry forms already assigned for specific cars to compete under. It is believed that chassis number 4504 was entered in the Nurburgring event as chassis number 4503, as the damaged 4503 had not yet been repaired. Chassis 4505 may have run as number 4503 at LeMans, although it is hard to determine as 4503, 4504, 4505 and 4506 have virtually identical bodies.

4505 was later purchased by TempleBuell, Jr. of Denver, Colorado in 1957 with the engine opened up to 5.7 liters. 4505 was entered as the factory entry into the 1958 Cuban Grand Prix where the cars assigned driver, Jauan-Manuel Fangio, was kidnapped by Communist guerrillas. Maurice Trintignant replaced Fangio at the start in 4505 and in the confusion following the crash of a Ferrari into a crowd of spectators by Cuban driver Armando Garcia Cifuentes' Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa.

Soon after the crash, the car was sold to Jint Hall of Midland, Texas, who raced the Maserati a few times before selling it to John Edgar, who already owned 4506. It is believed that 4505 was then driven by Carroll Shelby with the car numbered 78 at the Palm Springs on November 1st and 2nd of 1958, where he won the feature race. Shelby also drove 4505 at Nassau on December 7, 1958, running well there until the car could not be restarted after a pit stop.

It is believed that 4505 raced until 1960 when it crashed badly at Riverside. It passed through the ownership of several caretakers, including Joel Finn, who acquired the remains in the 1970s and eventually sold it in 1980 to Virgil Millette, who in turn sold it in 1986 to Stephen Forristall. Mark Goyette restored the car, with all of the Fantuzzi-style bodywork and much of the chassis painstakingly remade. Items salvaged from 4507 were used, which had crashed at Caracas in late 1957.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2016