1961 Maserati Tipo 63 'Birdcage' - Motorsports Almanac

Maserati Tipo 63
Maserati Tipo 63 'Birdcage' FIA 3.0 litre Sportscar
Technical Specifications (1961)
In 1958, Maserati commenced work on
a brand new design for a 'customer'
sports-racing car. The Tipo 60
'Birdcage', as it became known due to
its super-lightweight multi-tubular
space frame construction. The success
of the Tipo 61/62 led to the
development of a mid-engined
replacement to keep pace with the
contemporary Cooper Monaco and
Lotus 19 successes during 1960. This
prototype, known as Tipo 63, used the
complex 'birdcage' spaceframe chassis
construction carried over from the
preceeding front-engined Tipo 60/61
cars. In Dec 1960, the prototype first
ran. The car made its debut at Sebring
in March 1961. It was driven by Bruce
McLaren and Walt Hansgen. Hansgen
later had an accident with the car at the
pre-Le Mans 24 Hour trials. After
repairs, modifications, and the
installation of a V12 engine the car
returned for the '61 Le Mans.
DESIGN TEAM
Chief designer : Giulio Alfieri
PRODUCTION
Period : 1961
Number built : 6
CHASSIS / BODY
Bodywork : Aluminium-bodied two-seater open mid-engined sports-racing car
Type : Tubular space-frame, variable section tubes
ENGINE V12 In-line-4
Type : 60° V12, DOHC, 2VPC In-line 4, DOHC, 2VPC
Borex Stroke : 70.40 x 64.00 mm 100.00 x 92.00 mm
Capacity : 2989.5 cc 2890.3 cc
Compression ratio : 10:1 9.8:1
Max Power : 320 bhp @ 8200 rpm 250 bhp @ 6800 rpm
Fuel System : Six Weber 35 DCV or Two Weber 45 DCO3 carburettors
three Weber 38 IDM carburettors
Ignition : Twin-plug, Marelli coil ignition Twin-plug, Marelli coil ignition
Lubrication : Dual oil pumps (press. / scavenge) Dual oil pumps (press. / scavenge)
TRANSMISSION
Gearbox : 5-speed Maserati in unit with ZF limited-slip differential
Clutch : Dry, multi-plate
SUSPENSION
Front : Independent, Coil springs, Koni telescopic dampers
Rear : Independent, Coil springs, Koni telescopic dampers
BRAKES
Front and rear : Solid discs, 3-piston calipers
WHEELS
Front and rear : Wire wheels, 4.50x16
TYRES
Front : Dunlop Racing 5.50x16
Rear : Dunlop Racing 6.00x16 or 6.50x16
STEERING
Type : Rack and pinion
DIMENSIONS
Length : 3940 mm 151.12 in.
Width : 1540 mm 60.63 in.

Maserati's chief engineer Giulio Alfieri, work began on what was to become known as the 'Birdcage' series of
sports-racers Maserati's previous sports car. the big 450S, had not been a total success for it was not the equal
of its competitors on all-round performance and reliability, despite its straight-line speed. Thus a clean sheet
was taken for the design of the new car. Power unit for the first of these models was a four-cylinder, 2-litre unit
based on the older 150S engine. To achieve a low frontal area, the twin overhead camshaft engine was canted
over to the right at an angle of 45° and laid in a very light and strong frame made up of tiny welded steel tubes.
It was probably as near to a true space-frame as had been used in a racing car and its appearance soon earned
it the Birdcage nickname. The gearbox was a five-speed Maserati unit with ZF limited slip differential, which
coped admirably with the 195 bhp or so of the engine. Front suspension was independent at the front by coil
springs and dampers, while the rear suspension was by a de Dion axle with coil springs and dampers. Girling
disc brakes of 13ß ins front and 12 ins rear diameter stopped the car admirably. With private owners in mind,
price worked out at around £3,900 and the factory made sure of helping all customers considerably. About six
of the 2-litre Tipo 60s were built and the first made its racing debut at Rouen in 1959 for the sports car race
supporting the Grand Prix in the hands of no less than Stirling Moss. Moss took it to a rousing victory despite
the presence of the works Lotus 15s of Innes Ireland and Alan Stacey and almost as soon as the race was over,
work began on the Tipo 61, which was, in effect the same car fitted with a 2.8-litre version of the four-cylinder
engine. Two of these were ready in time for the Nassau Speed Week in December and these two Tipo 61s were
entered for the Swiss Gaston Andrey and a Lucky Casner-owned version for Carroll Shelby. Of the two,
Andrey's car with streamlined head fairing did well to hold third place before retiring after an accident with a
spinning Lotus Elite. For 1960 Casner was to prove a leading figure in the Birdcage saga for he formed the
Camoradi Team - Casner Motor Racing Division - and bought three more Tipo 61s which the factory agreed to
race-prepare. One Camoradi car was readied for the early-season Buenos Aires 1000 Kms for Masten Gregory
/ Dan Gurney. In practice only the Ferrari of Phil Hill was quicker than the Birdcage and Gregory led the race
until he spun and later retired with a broken gearbox. Shortly afterwards, however, Moss made up for that
disappointment by winning the Cuban GP for Camoradi from Pedro Rodriguez in a Ferrari. The Sebring 12
Hours of 1961 turned out to be a strange event as both Ferrari and Porsche withdrew their works cars due to a
dispute with the organisers over fuel contracts, which left three Camoradi and two other Birdcages up against
the rest. However, one Camoradi non-started after an engine blow-up, the Masten Gregory/Carroll Shelby car
blew a piston and the Moss/Gurney car was forced to retire from a big lead with a stripped diff. One of the
private cars, that of John Fitch, crashed, while the other retired with gearbox problems. After this disaster,
Casner demanded modifications and so work was put in to strengthening the connecting rods, gearbox and the
crown-wheel and pinion, all of which had given trouble in the previous races. Before Le Mans, a single
Camoradi Tipo 61 was entrusted to local aces Nino Vaccarella and Umberto Maglioli for the Targa Florio and
they did their stuff by leading the race until the penultimate two laps when a stone punctured the petrol tank
and Vaccarella crashed heavily. It was a a very encouraging outing, nevertheless, and although Casner had
been reluctant to enter the cars in races before Le Mans, two 61s went to Nürburgring for Moss/Gurney and
Gregory/Gino Munaron for the championship-qualifying 1000 Kms. Moss/Gurney suffered a broken oil line
early on which lost them some time, but nevertheless they struggled on valiantly through the rain and fog to
record a resounding win, with the sister car in fifth place. For Le Mans itself, Camoradi sent along three white
and blue cars, one of them sporting a special body with huge, enveloping windscreen. However, as at Sebring
they all failed. The newly-bodied car of Gregory and Scarab F1 driver Chuck Daigh worked its way into the
lead, but at the first pitstop would not restart. The starter motor was stripped and eventually the car restarted
in 46th place and worked up to 31st place before succumbing to engine troubles. The sister car of
Scarlatti/Munaron also had starter motor problems and stopped on the Mulsanne Straight with smoke
pouring out of the cockpit and retired, while the car of Casner/Jeffords, which also had starter motor trouble,
retired with a seized gerarbox after being crashed into the bank at Mulsanne and getting sand into its selectors.
To keep up with the design trends a new car, the Tipo 63, was built for the 1961 season. This featured a rearengined
'birdcage' frame with power from a 3-litre version of the four-cylinder engine, and independent
suspension by coil springs at the rear to replace the de Dion axle. Three of these new Tipo 63s appeared at
Sebring, one each from Camoradi, Briggs Cunningham and Count Volpi's Ferrari-breakaway Scuderia
Serenissima. However, all three retired as did the two other Camoradi Tipo 61s, leaving victory to Phil Hill's
Ferrari. The Tipo 63 was undoubtedly a rapid machine, but its handling left a great deal to be desired as was
shown in the Targa Florio where the Tipo 63s of Scuderia Serenissima for Maglioli/Giorgio Scarlatti and Nino
Vaccarella/Maurice Trintignant were a lowly fourth and fifth respectively. The Tipo 60 of Boffa/Todaro
retired with a broken oil line, which was an old Birdcage problem and the sort of occurence that thwarted the
cars from ever showing their real potential. Modifications to the rear suspension geometry of the brutish Tipo
63s were carried out in time for the 1961 Nürburgring 1000 Kms, but although the Birdcage scored its second
consecutive win in this tortuous race, victory was provided by a Tipo 61 in the hands of Camoradi Team's
Masten Gregory/Lloyd 'Lucky' Casner, and they only won after Moss in a Porsche had retired with a seized
engine and Phil Hill/Wolfgang von Tripps in a Ferrari had crashed. Thus the big attack was once again saved
for Le Mans. For this classic Cunningham entered no fewer than three cars : a Tipo 60 and two new versions of
the Tipo 63 (sometimes known as Tipo 64s). The chassis were essentially the same, but in the rear lurked a 60
degree 2.9-litre V12 engine. Based on the 1957 Formula 1 unit, and later destined to reappear in F1 in the
Cooper-Maseratis, these engines used twin-plug ignition and triple twin-choke Webers. Serenissima also had a
V12 Tipo 63, although this had square engine dimensions of 68mm x 68mm as opposed to the 70mm x 64mm