Maserati Birdcage(s)

[jbwelda]

When I buy diecasts, I tend to go for the high end ones, those cheap Maisto, Bburago etc just don't cut it. So when I went shopping for a die cast of my favorite car ever, it was a mo money proposition, probably a grand for the stuff you see here, but worth every penny.


CMC Maserati Tipo 60/61 Birdcage:








Here is one from Minichamps, about half the price of the CMC but about 9/10s the detail:








CMC Rolling Chassis alongside just the plain space frame chassis:





And a CMC Maserati engine, not from the Tipo 60 but close. Restored 60s slot car on top:




Sorry for the poor photos, they are in a dark case and I didn't feel like dragging them out.

jb

[Bernard Kron]

The Tipo 61 is one of my faves, too. A total technological blind alley in all its dubious glory. There are several Maseratis from this period which spectacularly outshine all their competitors, each in its own specific way taking some aspect of the initial post-war period of sports car development and taking it to its over-the-top conclusion; whether it's epitome of the front engine Italian barchetta, the brutish 450S, it's voluptuously baroque streamline variant the Frank Costin coupe, or the Birdcage, seemingly, with its 2 litre 4 cylinder, Giulio Alfieri's response to the coming wave of British space-framed lightweights. I always felt that when Stan Mott drew the Pignatelli for Sports Cars Illustrated they owed more than a little to the Orsi era of Masers.

The picture with the slot car implies that the CMCs are at least 1/24th scale if not larger. They are spectacular. My favorite of the mid-20th century scratch modeling masters, Manuel Olivé Sans, produced what is most likely his masterpiece, his 10th scale replica of the Gaston "Gus" Andrey car. Those CMCs look like they would give him a run for his money:

[jbwelda]

The big ones are 1/18, the slot car is a bit oversized 1/32 and the smaller ones are 1/43. Sort of a mishmash of sizes.

jb