Maserati 450S

Vehicle Overview

The Maserati 450S was at the time the most powerful sports car in its class, and during the competitions in which it took part it never had an engine failure. During the 1957 racing season the races it participated in it either won or retired. It was used in the world sportprototype championship organized by the FIA. Bodied by Fantuzzi, it had two doors and was convertible. It was rear-wheel drive. Its design began in 1954 (hence Maserati’s internal designation “Type 54”), and was overseen by Vittorio Bellentani and Guido Taddeucci. Their goal was to use a larger engine than those used by Maserati at the time. Prior to the introduction of the 450S powerplant, the most powerful engine used by the House of the Trident was the one fitted to the Maserati 350S. The one in the 450S was a short-stroke V8 with a displacement of 4478 cm³. It had four Weber 45 IDM carburetors and delivered so much power that on the 400-hp test bench it could not be measured. The cylinder stroke was 81 mm while the bore was 93.8 mm. It had a double overhead camshaft per bank. The compression ratio was 9.5:1. Two later versions of the powerplant were prepared, one with 4700 cm³ displacement delivering 410 hp and another with 5600 cm³ displacement delivering 526 hp. The tubular chassis and bodywork were designed by Valerio Colotti. The 450S had inherited some technical solutions from the Maserati 300S and used the De Dion bridge, a five-speed ZF-type gearbox, and suspension with double wishbones and coil springs. The top speed was 200 mph (320 km/h). The first example was actually a Maserati 350S (chassis 3501) stretched in the chassis, equipped with the new V8 engine and fitted with a newly designed body. It made its debut at the 1956 Swedish Grand Prix trials but was not used in the race because the chassis was deemed inadequate for the car’s power. It was then decided to shelve the prototype and begin construction of new chassis specifically for the 450S. Example number 4501 participated in the 1957 1000 km of Argentina with Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio driving, but a clutch failure prevented a good race after a promising start. This chassis was destroyed in an accident during practice for the Mille Miglia that year. The example with chassis number 4503 won the 1957 12 Hours of Sebring driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Jean Behra, and the Swedish Grand Prix again with Behra assisted this time by Stirling Moss. It was later destroyed at the Venezuelan Grand Prix the same year and later rebuilt. Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson competed in the 1957 Mille Miglia with the example with chassis number 4505 until the brake pedal failed. During the 1000 km of the Nürburgring, driven by Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio, a wheel came loose. The car, renumbered 4506 was then sold to John Edgar who fielded it in North American SCCA races driven by Carroll Shelby. The example with chassis number 4507 was destroyed in 1957 in Caracas during the Venezuelan Grand Prix. Car number 4508 was sold to U.S. architect Temple Buell, who later increased the engine displacement to 5.7 L and then sold it to Jim Hall. The other cars were sold: that chassis number 4502 to Tony Parravano, 4504 to Jim Kimberley, and 4506 to John Edgar. Those with chassis numbers 4509 and 4510 were sold in the United States of America, and were upgraded with increased engine displacement to 5.7 and 6.6 L. They were used in competitions organized by the Sports Car Club of America with Carroll Shelby, Jim Hall, Masten Gregory, Walt Cline and Ebb Rose driving. Between 1956 and 1962 the 450S had 119 racing appearances, with 31 wins. In 1957 a special coupé version was built by Zagato and designed by Frank Costin.