Maserati Tipo 60 and 61: The Magnificent Front-engined Birdcages
By Willem Oosthoek and Michel Bollee
The opening photograph of Part 1 provides the requisite 1,000-word explanation of just how the Birdcage got its name, and while virtually every other photograph is similarly effective, it’s the words, as usual, that truly tell this story. Authors Oosthoek and Bollee have invested exhaustive research into this work, and it shows.
Instead of the “harness the brute force of a big engine” approach that had characterized previous Maseratis, in the Tipo 60, the Orsi brothers created a delicate machine based on the emerging British philosophy of lightweight nimbleness with a smaller displacement engine. It proved to be a brilliant decision, and a legendary string of competition successes followed.
All that and much more is chronicled here, with the recounting supplemented not only by excellent period photography, but also comprehensive data that includes full competition and postcompetition histories for each of the 22 individual chassis. This book is a must for anyone with an abiding interest in Maseratis or the golden age of sports car racing at the close of the front-engined era.
Available for US$150 (£96) from publisher Dalton Watson Fine Books, (847) 945-0568, or on the web at www.daltonwatson.com
