History of the Maserati Marque
THE TIPO 151 COUPE
by Willem Oosthoek(reprinted in part from the June, 1996 iL TRIDENTE)
Le Mans/June 1962: Bertocchi warms up Tipo
151.004 during practice. Engine compartment
shows 45 mm IDM Webers. (Photo: Flip Shulke)The rather unfortunate decision by the Paris-based CSI (short for Commission Sportive Internationale, the sporting arm of the FIA) to cancel the World Championship for sports racing cars for 1962 and replace it with a "Grand Tourisme" version of the latter, forced the Maserati factory to stop the development of its Tipo 63 and 64 rear-engined Birdcages. These V12 cars were considered too complex and temperamental to be raced and maintained by private owners in the only remaining market for these cars: the U.S. This left Maserati's racing program (relatively small scale anyway at that point) in limbo.
Luckily, because of the fear that the move to the more mundane GT cars might jeopardize ticket sales on race day, the CSI also created a GT prototype class. More "exciting" prototypes of future mass-produced GT cars could race for one year, without being eligible for championship points. Maximum engine capacity went from the previous 3 liter limit for sports racing cars to 4 liter for the GT prototypes in 1962.
The Maserati importers in the U.S. (Briggs Cunningham in partnership with master mechanic Alfred Momo) and in France (US expatriate John Simone in partnership with Jean Thepenier, with a financial interest by Marquis Philippe De Montaigu) firmly believed in cross-selling their 3500 GT cars on Monday morning as a result of the racing glory of a prototype featuring the Trident over the weekend. Pressure was put on the Modena firm to produce that Maserati prototype and, since the importers would foot the bill, the factory racing department was soon back in business. In a relatively short period of time Ing. Giulio Alfieri designed probably one of the most spectacular looking Maseratis ever: the Tipo 151 coupe.
Modena/April 1962-Tipo 151.002, the Maserati France car, nears
completion at the factory. (Photo: Egon Hofer collection)The Tipo 151 was hardly the prototype for a future Maserati GT car, being purely built with long-distance racing in mind. Since time was of the essence, Alfieri borrowed heavily from the one-off 1957 Maserati 450S coupe with Frank Costin-designed body. No more delicate, small-diameter tube "Birdcage" concept, but back to the sturdy chassis of large tubes of the fifties. A 4-liter V8 engine, fed by 45 IDM down draft Webers, was placed up-front, both engine and gearbox being direct descendants of the 450S model. The body was based on the aerodynamical concept of the early sixties: a teardrop model with cut-off Kamm tail for stability, with the Alfa Romeo SS a convenient source for the CSI regulation windshield! Overall weight hovered around 975 kg, which made it substantially heavier than the Birdcages. The coupe was good for 185 mph and looked just the ticket to enhance Maserati's racing heritage again.
Modena/May,1962-Bertocchi and Momo discuss the new coupe while
Hansgen checks thefront wheel. (Photo: Egon Hofer collection)Only three cars were built in the spring of 1962. Tipo 151.002 was sold to Maserati France, whereas Briggs Cunningham took delivery of 151.004 and 151.006. The first car to be constructed, the Maserati France car had a slightly different roofline, side windows, and tail from the two identical Cunningham coupes. Mechanically all three cars were the same. The most innovative part of the Tipo 151 Maseratis was a flexible De Dion axle, similar to the Tipo 64 and designed by Alfieri's assistant Gianpaulo Dallara (he would be responsible for the Lamborghini Miura later on in his career).
Le Mans /June,1962-First public appearance. To improve driver's visibility,
the hood bulge on the Cunningham cars was replaced by a plastic cover
for the race. Tipo 151.006 driver Roy Salvadori was too tall for the Coupe
and traded places with Bill Kimberly in Cunningham's E-type.
(Photo: Henri Beroul)The big coupes were finished in time for their first intended outing: the 24 hours of Le Mans! The French (#4-Maurice Trintignant/Lucien Bianchi drivers) and U.S. entries (car #2-Bruce McLaren/Walt Hansgen drivers, car #3-Bill Kimberly/Dick Thompson drivers), were easily the fastest cars of the entire field-at least in a straight line. The tricky and overly complicated rear suspension prevented the cars from climbing higher than 2nd place. Driver comments vary: although driving the same Maser, Bill Kimberly remembers it as extremely stable, whereas Dick Thompson calls it the most dangerous car he has ever driven in his career! Most agree that the Tipo 151 suffered from excessive axle windup. The car would pull to the left under heavy acceleration and pull to the right when the accelerator pedal was lifted. This habit would catch a number of drivers by surprise in the short racing history of all three cars.
As was to be expected when entering a brand new design in the longest race in the world, all coupes dropped out at Le Mans. The McLaren/Hansgen car was the last to retire after 13 hours of racing (cause: a blown engine). Brake failure was responsible for Thompson crashing the other Cunningham entry in the Esses after 5 hours and the French entry was withdrawn after 10 hours. Suspension problems caused the rear tires of 151.002 to wear out at an alarming rate and they had to be replaced every 10 laps. This went on until John Simone, fearing high speed tire failure, decided to pull the car out of the race.
Le Mans / June 23, 1962 - the McLaren/Hansgen
Coupe passes the Dunlop bridge on its way to the
Esses. Coupes were Dunlop shod: 6.00 X 16 in front,
7.00 X 16 in the rear (Photo: Flip Schulke).After Le Mans, Cunningham took his coupes back to the U.S. Tipo 151.004 and 151.006 would never again be seen in competition in Europe. In the U.S., due to their weight problem, the cars would only be entered in those races where their tremendous top speed would make a difference. This meant they were to have a fairly limited racing schedule. While 151.006 kept its original 4 liter engine, Alfred Momo put a 5.6 liter V8 Maserati engine in 151.004. In its first race in the U.S., the Road America 500 miles, the bigger-engined car was driven by Walt Hansgen/Augie Pabst and dropped out after running second to Jim Hall's Chaparral (cause: a broken wheel bearing). One week later, Augie Pabst retired the 4-liter sister car during the International Bridgehampton 400 km race (blown engine). This time it ran second to the 4 liter Ferrari 330TR/LM of Pedro Rodriguez.
Riverside/Oct. 14,1962-Going through turn 7, Chuck Daigh tries to
improve his visibility in the 5.6 liter Tipo 151.004 (Photo Bob Tronolone).During the fall season in California, both Cunningham cars found long overdue reliability in the Times Grand Prix at Riverside. Augie Pabst finished 7th with the 4 liter car (151.006) and Chuck Daigh would have placed higher than 11th with his 5.6 liter Tipo 151.004, if he had not fallen victim to debris left by a crashed Lotus 23. It stuck the Maser's throttle wide open and Daigh had to use the ignition key to shut down the engine for the turns. Nevertheless Cunningham saw the writing on the wall. Even on a fast track like Riverside the coupes could not compete for first place with slower but nimbler cars like the Cooper Monaco and Lotus 19. Whatever they gained on the long straight was lost during braking in the turns due to the weight difference. And to put things even more in perspective, Ken Miles had finished ahead of Pabst in a well-driven, two year old Tipo 61 with only four cylinders.
Tipo 151.006 did not leave California after Riverside: it was sold to San Francisco Buick dealer Bev Spencer, who promptly entered the car in the last race in California in 1962, a local affair at Vacaville. Driver Stan Peterson forgot about axle windup and crashed the coupe on the 2nd lap of the qualifying race, resulting in extensive body damage. That was enough for Spencer, and, in early 1963, he put the car up for sale-fully refurbished again, in Road & Track magazine for the princely sum of $7,950. That included many spares, tools, and 4 extra Borrani wheels! Today that sum would only buy the Borranis of course.
Exiting the Esses, Trintignant in Tipo 152 (or 151/3). He fights for position with
Attwood's brand new Ford GT-40. The Maser got as high as 3rd place before
dropping out (Photo: Flip Schulke).Chuck Jones bought 151.006 from Spencer for his Team Meridian stable, which also included a Chaparral. Designated driver Skip Hudson raced in three events during 1963. The most noticeable was his entry in the divisional race at Cotati, north of San Francisco. Racing the Maserati without doors, Hudson placed third in both races during that weekend. Next, with doors this time, the coupe dropped out during the Bridgehampton Double 500 (reason unknown).
Finally, in the Road America 500, after racing without a relief driver, Hudson finished 17th, 13 laps behind the winning elva mk7/Porsche of ex-Tipo 151 driver Augie Pabst and Bill Wuesthoff. From than on, the coupe fades into obscurity. Nowadays 151.006 can be admired, in its original Briggs Cunningham colors, in the Rosso-Bianco museum of Peter Kaus in Aschaffenburg, approximately one hour east of Frankfurt, Germany.
Ing. Alfieri sizes up the just completed Tipo 154. It would be the last coupe.
A week later the car was destroyed by Casner during the Le Mans
practice weekend (Photos: Egon Hofer Collection).A more dramatic fate fell upon Tipo 151.004. After Riverside this car was brought back to Cunningham's headquarters in New York and underwent another engine change in the hands of Momo: a 7 liter V8 Ford this time. Entered in the first sports car race of the 1963 season, the American Challenge Cup (to be run on the Daytona tri-oval speedway ), Nascar driver Marvin Panch flipped the car during practice and was lucky to get out alive. The big Maser/Ford burnt to the ground and Cunningham sold the remains to Team Meridian, as spare parts for its sister car. Most of what remained of the body and frame were discarded by the new owner so Tipo 151.004 does not exist anymore.
As for the the third coupe, the Tipo 151.002 owned by Maserati France, this machine was updated continuously over the next few years, in order to remain competitive for the main reason of its existence: the Le Mans 24 hours race. In 1963, designated Tipo 151/1, with a 5 liter V8 production engine from the 5000 GT model (now Lucas fuel injection equipped), and a simpler De Dion rear suspension, the coupe reached its zenith. For 2 hours drivers Andre Simon and Lucky Casner kept a fleet of Ferraris at bay during the Le Mans race. Then the gearbox packed up. In additional European races that year, Andre Simon crashed at Reims while Lucien Bianchi finished 8th at Clermont Ferrand (flat tire) and 12th at Brands Hatch in what was to be the car's only appearance outside of France. For 1964 the wheelbase was extended and the car received a new body. It was now "officially" designated Tipo 152. This would indicate a brand new model rather than an updated one. However, it should be remembered that Maserati chassis numbers at this stage followed little rationale or consistency as the car is also known as 151/3. Driven at Le Mans by Maurice Trintignant and Andre Simon, the coupe started feeling the heat from the new generation of mid-engined prototypes like the Ford GT-40 and was no longer among the leaders. The Maser dropped out after 8 hours with electrical problems. The same driver combination competed at the Reims 12 hours (DNF, generator) and the Montlhery 1000 km (DNF, broken oil line) later that year.
The Maserati France coupe was upgraded one more time in spring of 1965, with a slightly larger 5 liter V8 engine. This version, called Tipo 154 by Simone in his entry form, had chassis number 151/4, and was assigned to U.S. expats Lucky Casner and Masten Gregory. Casner took the car out during the Le Mans practice weekend and crashed heavily near the kink at the Mulsanne straight. He lost his life in the accident and the car was junked, although some engine parts remain today. A similar car is also on display in the aforementioned Rosso-Bianco museum near Frankfurt, but this is a replica built in 1980, with a Maserati speedboat engine and definitely not the real thing.
Only one of the three Tipo 151 coupes remains with us today. In addition, the Maserati factory museum features the empty body shell of Tipo 151/1 of 1963 vintage, as well as a 1964 body frame for the Tipo 152 (see photos in the 8/95 IL TRIDENTE).(Reprints of our June 1996 issue (which contains the full 151 story with even more great photos) are available. See complete list & prices under iL TRIDENTE page. )