OK, Maserati history. It was based on the 250 F1 car but was given the 450S (BIG brakes). It started life as a factory racecar, and was built for Sebring, hence the big brakes. The factory didn't want any braking problems and the only problem with these brakes was the lack of power assist. It took both feet to stop, but boy, would it.

It also had two fuel tanks for a 48-gallon capacity with 3 fuel pumps, 1 mechanical and 2 electrical. "Ah, Tony, no need a stop for gas in-a 12 hours, and lotsa pumps to keep-a motor make noise."

The engine had a 24-quart, dry sump, oil system. "Ah, Bruno, shes-a no need to stop for oil even if shes-a start to smoke."

The car was originally built to FIA regulations, meaning it had to be street legal, headlights, windshield wipers, spare tire, and space for the FIA suitcase.

At one point it was entered in the 1957 Sebring 12-Hour race with its' big brother, the 450S. The 300S was driven by Moss and Fangio drove the 450S. They came in 1-2 with Moss second. Not bad for some Italian blacksmiths.

John Edgar bought the car from the factory and used it until his 450S was delivered. Somewhere in this timeframe Carroll Shelby drove the car for a while. There were a few other owners before Ron Dykes bought it and started racing it in Northern California.

In 1962 brother Steve and I were crewing for Roger Bryon who was racing the newest car from Jaguar, the XKE. We were at the one and only Oakland Airport race, pitted at the beginning of the long main landing strip. During practice on Saturday morning I heard a gasp from the crowd in the pits and, looking up towards Turn One, there was a large column of black smoke rising. There had been an accident in Turn One and a racecar was on fire. Confident that no one gets hurt in racing accidents my only comment was, "Now there is a car that I wouldn't want to put back together." Later I found out that, in fact, no one had been hurt.

Two months later Roger Byron announced his retirement from racing but he knew someone who was looking for a crew. It was George West, whom we had met 6 months earlier when he was racing a Jag XK-120. However, he had just bought the origin of the column of black smoke we had seen at the Oakland race. So, to my chagrin, I was going to get to put back together the car I had said I wouldn't want to repair.

There are a lot of stories like that related to the Maser, but let's skip around. George bought the car in 1962, after the fire, for $1700. It cost him $2200 in bodywork to get it ready to race again (George in photo at left, taken in 1968). As you know, we raced it until 1969 when class restructuring made the car non-competitive. George sold the car in 1978 and I think it was for somewhere between $5,000-10,000 to a guy named Steve Block.

Block puts, I am guessing, a couple hundred thousand dollars into restoring the car, including buying another 300S for spare parts and having a new body built from scratch. He raced it for a few years in the historic car races. Then, one year he takes it to Italy for a re-running of the Mille Miglia. You know, down one side of Italy and back up the other, all on public roads.

Now I have to say I never was one for racing the Maser after the restoration because of the history of the car and it's value. After all, a crash and burn would turn this historic car into a big pile of junk.

Anyway, George calls up Block after he returns from Italy to see how things went and Block tells George that he returned without the Maser (Do I hear JUNK?). It seems, while in Italy driving the Maser over the old racecourse, he meets a rather wealthy guy named Pietro Brigato, who knows the history of the car. In the grand old Italian style, he makes Block and offer he can't refuse. So Block sells the car for an undisclosed amount and the Maser now resides in a private collection in Italy, near its' birthplace. Conversations with Block put the amount of the sale in the five to ten million dollar range (Gee, George, I would have bought it for $6000). No, I don't hear JUNK.

Like I said, there are a lot of stories about the Maserati. One more story, which I think is the strangest I have heard. When Steve Block buys the car he gets a restoration company in Berkeley, Griswold Engineering, to build a new aluminum body for the car based on photos of the car at its' earliest races. Quick flashback here. While we were racing the car, Steve White, with some regularity, would bring up the fact that the rear brakes were not the same as the front brakes. He would cite the fact that the wheels did not fit around the brakes the same was as the fronts, the cooling fins were of a shorter size and fatter, the backing plates were different, and the general shape of the drums were different. As for me, it wasn't a big deal because the rear brakes don't do as much work as the front brakes because of weight transfer. The design engineer would also know this and so the difference between the front and the back.

Now fast forward to Griswold Engineering and restoration time. While the Maser was there having the new body made, some knowledgeable car guy was walking through their shop admiring the cars being restored. By chance, the Maser was on jack stands next to a 4.9 liter Ferrari of the same vintage that was also having a new body made. After admiring both the Ferrari and the Maser for a considerable length of time, the guy enquires, "Why does the Maserati have Ferrari rear brakes and why does this Ferrari have Maserati rear brakes"

Closer scrutiny does reveal that the Maser rear brakes were of Ferrari origin and that the Ferrari rear brakes were of Maserati origin. Now they didn't come from the factory that way. Yes, once again, Steve White was correct. There was something funny about the Maser's rear brakes. So, how does this happen? Further investigation finds that both the Maser and this Ferrari were owned at the same time by none other than John Edgar. It seems something happened during that time and the rear brakes were switched. So what are the odds that 25+ years later these two cars would again end up side-by-side, undergoing major mechanical work resulting in them getting their original brakes back.

As a closer, Road & Track Magazine's issue from March 1985 has a feature article on the Maser with its' picture on the cover. The article is written by Phil Hill.