Coys Auction - Automoto D‘Epoca
Padova Fiera
Padova, Italy

Italy

Saturday 25th October 2008

Admission by catalogue only - admits two.

During the 1960s Maserati gradually gave up the idea of motor racing and turned more to road cars, although these harked back to the marque''s days of glory on the race tracks. Nowhere is this dichotomy better illustrated than in Maserati''s V8 models. The engine was commissioned with the intention of winning the Indianapolis 500 but then the commissioner ran short of funds and withdrew from the project. Maserati could not allow a wonderful large-block, quadruple camshaft, engine to gather dust and so gave it gainful employment in the 450S sports-racer which almost won the 1957 World Sports Car Championship.

The front-engined cars originating in the 1960s shared the same basic floorpan although crucial dimensions changed according to whether it was to support the lithe Ghibli *or* th