The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Story by Graham Gauld
If you were a journeyman racing driver or a tyro and lived near Modena, Guglielmo Dei’s Scuderia Centro Sud had many attractions.
First of all, it was a driver’s school, but it was also a club with its own clubhouse in a small villa at 646 via Emilia Ovest. There, you could sit at tables under the trees and talk motor racing or perhaps share stories of how you had driven a racing car on the nearby Modena Autodromo.
My first and almost forgotten Maserati shot is of Jimmy Bryan in the Henry Maag entered 300S at Willow Springs on March 4, 1956. Bryan also was a pilot in the Indy 500. To keep everyone happy, it’ s/n 3058.
Story and photos by Allen R. Kuhn
As I start my one-digit waltz once more upon my keyboard, the letters begin to flow. Sometimes they make sense, sometimes not. We’ll do the best we can.
“Back by popular demand” might be a bit of a stretch. There were three guys from Sheboygan who said they wanted to see more Maserati pictures. I started thinking that this would be a most salient time to cull the archives once again, with purpose. The archives didn’t let me down.
I feel a need to start this dissertation with a true icon of the sport. He is, of course, Carroll Hall Shelby. We were both at the Examiner GP Riverside on April 3, 1960 where Shelby won driving this Maserati Birdcage Tipo 61 RHD s/n 2458, entered by Camoradi U.S.A.
Photography and Story by Allen R. Kuhn
My Humble Contribution to the Legacy of Maserati from 1957 thru 1963
Almost everything I read about Shelby states that he was a great car designer. I find it hard to accept the fact that he was a car designer. My feelings are he was great at getting the right people on his team to get things done, and knowing what was available to make it happen. Nothing wrong with that.
It took a while for the organizers to realize that Carroll Shelby was leading the race in his Maserati Tipo 61.
By Willem Oosthoek
Photos by Bob Bellows and Dave Nicholas (Willem Oosthoek Collection)
Links to all previous chapters below
So how did the Nassau Trophy exactly unfold in 1959? With such a diverse field and some drivers making faster getaways than others, it always takes a few laps before everything is sorted out, However, reading what the motorsport journalists in period, and some of the subsequent book authors, tell us about this feature race, a rather vague picture emerges.
By Willem Oosthoek
Photos by Bob Bellows, Benita Lane and J. Frank Harrison(Willem Oosthoek Collection)
And then the final day of racing began, with two events on schedule.
The start of the Memorial Trophy with, from the left, Bob Grossman [Ferrari California] and the AC Bristols of Jim Miller, Bob Keyes and J. Collins leading the field. Grossman would soon take command.
Dissatisfied with his 570S Maserati, Shelby became available for the Birdcage ride. Here Casner is showing him the layout of the land, or rather the cockpit of a car in which Shelby had never sat before.
By Willem Oosthoek
Photos by Bob Bellows and Benita Lane (Willem Oosthoek Collection)
Then the action began. After a few days of practice, the first 5-lap preliminary for the Tourist Trophy on November 29th was for under-2-liter GT entries. Johnny Cuevas and his 1.6-liter Carrera Speedster won over Jay Chamberlain’s Lotus Elite. In the 5-lapper for larger GT cars, Stirling Moss in a private Aston Martin DB4GT beat Roy Salvadori’s special-bodied works Austin-Healey 100S. In the 25-lap Tourist Trophy itself Moss dropped out after leading and Cuevas claimed CAMORADI’s first international victory, with Chamberlain second again.
Denise in the OSCA 750S (chassis 763) that ‘Lucky’ Casner acquired from Robert Publicker just before Nassau. No time for a respray in CAMORADI colors. The car was originally owned by Luigi Chinetti.
Story by Willem Oosthoek
Photos by Bob Jackson, Benita Lane and Bob Bellows (Willem Oosthoek Collection)
Obviously, a number of English marques were present at Nassau. The two 4.7-liter Chevy-powered Listers came from Texas, one owned by Ronnie Hissom, the other by Jimmy Younger. Hissom was a wildcatter in Midland who had bought his car via CSSCI. Sources vary about its chassis number, either BHL18 or the more logical BHL118. Jim Hall owned the first Lister bought via the agency (BHL108) and since Hissom complained why he received a much older car than Jim’s, it was probably BHL18.
Ettore Chimeri and his 250TR. Is there a problem or is he just showing off the car to the local constabulary?
Story by Willem Oosthoek
Photos by Bob Jackson and Bob Bellows [Willem Oosthoek Collection]
Fantasy Football anyone? Oooops, wrong site. How about your fantasy road race? In my case, no need to fantasize since it actually happened way back in 1959, when the Nassau Speed Weeks took place from November 27 to December 7. The event that gets my vote would be the Speed Weeks-ending feature for the Nassau Trophy.
Shelby, Maserati 300S, Palm Springs, April 7, 1957.
Story and photos by Allen Kuhn
Segment One How I met Jon Shirley
It was still early in my career, and I had no photo pass yet when I attended the races at Palm Springs on April 7, 1957. Once I found a good spot, next to the dreaded snow fence, I had a tendency to just settle in there. This sedentary occupation, however, resulted in these four Shelby images.