5/20/08
Maserati Tipo 65
One of the coolest things about working at François' shop is the
variety of exotic vintage machinery that shows up, and what rolled off
the truck this morning was no exception. This is a 1965 Maserati Tipo
65 race car driven by Jo Siffert at LeMans in 1965. It retired after
two laps due to a damaged radiator, and a rule that would not allow a
repair so close to the start. The car performed well for such a short
time, and it was unfortunate to have it DNF before showing the rest of
the world what she could do.
This car was auctioned in 2006 and was purchased by its current
owner with the plans to restore it to her LeMans specification.
Choosing François to do this work is very fitting considering
Sicard was one of the mechanics working for Maserati in 1965 and was
part of the crew who built this car and took it to LeMans! Before
working for Ferrari, François worked for Mercedes, Matra, and
Maserati, each with some great experiences. The time with Maserati was
accented with the time working on this car.
This car is powered by a 90 degree four cam V-8 with dual plug
ignition. It has Lucas injection, and was still running up until
several years ago.
The plan is to get this car cleaned up for display in the next month or
two, but after that, we're going to be stripping everything down to get
her ready to drive! The modification to the nose section will be
replaced with a new nose replicating the shape of the bodywork as she
looked in 1965 at LeMans.
When Maserati constructed "body on frame" race cars, they used small
tube construction to make the frame. This "Birdcage" type construction
carried over into this car, and can be seen with the body work removed.
As François inspected this car, memories of working on this car
as a 30 year old mechanic came flooding back. He remembered trying to
make this car in the four week deadline that the frame fabricator
welded the frame as the mechanics worked on fitting the engine. When it
was time to pull the engine after fitting it to the chassis, they found
the welder had welded bars that wouldn't allow the engine to come out
again! After a couple saw cuts, the engine could come back out, and the
fabricator made the appropriate modifications!
After looking at Ferraris all day, it's been refreshing to see another
car manufacturer's work, especially the unique work of Maserati. It's a
visual feast narrated with great stories from someone who was there
when it was all happening. What a treat!
I hope to take plenty of more pictures of this rebuild, and I am
excited to even witness the restoration. I may even get to work on it a
little bit if I have time between working on the lesser Ferrari road
cars!
Just a reminder, I'm looking for a
new Vintage Ferrari Project. If you have, or know of a restoration
project, please let me know. It would be great to restore another car
on this website! My E-mail.
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