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The Birdcage Maseratis
Ten years with a stable of Tipo 61 vintage racersDecember 16, 2011: During the 9 years and change that I worked at the Corte Madera location of Phil Reilly & Co, I had the pleasure of working on four different Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcages. The two cars in today’s lead image were major players in the success of the model, racing with Team Camoradi…
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The Maserati Birdcage Gearbox, Part One
The Tipo 61 transaxle's origins and mechanical layoutThe Tipo 61 Maserati “Birdcage” was a winning car under the right circumstances in its brief competitive lifespan from mid-1959 into 1961. Light weight was its major advantage, with the complex tubular chassis structure that spawned the “Birdcage” name being the main factor. It also had excellent disc brakes, licensed from Girling, and very good…
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Too Damn Hot
A Maserati A6 GCS in the California HeatIt is murderously hot here in the Sacramento river valley. This is all I have for you today, a little bit of Maserati content. Stay cool, friends.
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Keeping the Fire Inside the Motor
Five Methods for Sealing the Combustion ChamberI’ve worked on a pretty wide variety of engines over the years, and a consistent engineering question each of the designers faced is this: How do we keep the extremely high combustion pressures inside of the motor? If you’ve ever experienced a blown head gasket and the expense that comes with repairing it properly, you…
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Back to the Birdcage
For the last three years, I’ve mostly been working on more modern race cars, but back in the day, I worked on several Maserati Tipo 61 “Birdcages”. I had my hands in four or five of the lightweight masterpieces and came to know them pretty intimately. I’m back in NorCal for a bit to do…