| Chuck added this info
about the Maserati:
"I checked the Sebring
results, and the car was driven there to 2nd OA by Stirling Moss ? Harry
Schell. Fangio ? Jean Behra had won OA in the 450S. That was the
last official entry by Maserati and they beat the factory Ferrari's, Jaguar
D-Types, ? Porsches.
I remember that Nemore
had told me the car had been impounded after the Sebring race because of
a visa/duty problem. After that problem had been cleared up, the
factory shipped the car to San Francisco in Nemore's care. So it
appears the car had been impounded longer than I remem- bered.
I do recall the Webers
were fouled with jelled gas when the car arrived in SF. I can confirm it
was indeed the ex-Moss, Sebring car as I had seen a photo of Moss in the
car at Sebring with the same dent in the RF as can be seen in my photo.
Also this car had been fitted by the factory with the huge 450-S drum brakes
for the long endurance race.
Originally the idea was
that I would drive the car a few races races to try to put an end to Ferrari
dominance on the west coast.
A mechanical problem at
Stockton curtailed that plan. On the start of the race, I thought the clutch
had gone out and I drove the race using no clutch at all. I told Nemore
after the race of the problem and he was not overly concerned.
However upon disassembly
he found a greater problem -- the crank flange had broken. He had to order
a new crank from Italy, and it was a special crank that had to be machined
which took a very long time.
By the time he received
the new crank and rebuilt the engine between his regular business customers
the factory had instructed him to abandon the project and sell the car.
I believe it was Ron Dykes (a fine, underated driver) that
purchased the car.
I did also drive a A6GCS/2000
a couple of times in 1958, but I have no pics of that car. It was later
destroyed in a structure fire." |
