Trident

The Maserati 450S #4506 - Part I

by Joel E Finn

Maserati records indicate that number 4506 was completed on 18th June, 1957, and was sold to John Edgar of Encino, California. There is reason to believe that the car was actually constructed somewhat earlier as a note on page 18 in the Road and Track issue of November 1957 states that this was the very same machine driven by Moss in the 1957 Mille Miglia for only a few miles before the brake pedal broke. Another article appearing in the Sports Cars Illustrated issue of September 1957 dealing with the 1957 Le Mans race states that the 450S driven by Behra which led the race in the early going is actually the same car driven by Moss in the Mille Miglia. If these references are correct, 4506 was indeed both a Mille Miglia and Le Mans contender.

One possible clue is the very distinctive lipped nose configuration on 4506 that can be clearly discerned in the photographs accompanying this article. This nose type is identical to that used by the Mille Miglia and Le Mans cars as well as the Argentine and Sebring entry. One of the Swedish entries has a somewhat different though similar nose. The 450S was also originally ironed for a top (hood), possibly for Le Mans, though several other survivors are so fitted, so it may not be a significant identifying feature.

My research so far indicates that 4506 might conceivably have been run at Le Mans but is very unlikely to have been a Mille Miglia contender.

In correspondence with Denis Jenkinson about the matter, he concludes that 4506 was not an entry in either event but is continuing to check further. Perhaps one of our French members could contact the Automobile Club de L'Ouest to determine the exact chassis number of the Behra 450S used at Le Mans that year, so we could be more certain.

While I am not able to state with any degree of certainty the European history, if any, of 4506, a great deal is known about its American history.

The Edgar Racing Team

John Edgar, the owner and importer of 4506, was a wealthy California sportsman who seriously campaigned sports cars in the 1950's. He always operated in a first class manner and those of you who were American race goers in that period may remember his magnificent polished aluminium truck that functioned simultaneously as race car transporter, machine shop, spare parts holder and hospitality/ social center.

Entering the 1956 season, the Edgar team relied on a 4.9 Ferrari 410 Sport and a Porsche 550 Spyder with whom a significant number of wins were racked up. The Ferrari was generally utilized on high speed tracks where its pure power could overcome an inherent ungainliness in the twisty bits and the Porsche was run primarily on short or slow speed tracks.

During the 1956 season, Edgar began to think that something in between the two extremes was needed and eventually purchased a 300S Maserati, which, though it acquitted itself very well, did not lead to the disposal of the other cars. At the end of the season, he became concerned that the big Ferrari might be approaching the end of its useful life and started searching for a potential replacement. His search led him to undertake a trip to Modena in early 1957 where he studied and tried out the newest Ferrari and Maserati offerings before deciding on and ordering a 450S which was duly shipped to New York, arriving in early July of that year. Several motor racing publications of the time comment that Edgar ordered the 450S on the strength of the promise that his organization would be made the sole US importer of Maserati racing automobiles. This did not, in fact, actually take place and I have not been able to determine why it fell through. During this period, Edgar was also busy with helping to establish the Riverside Raceway in Ontario, California and was believed to be the track's primary financial backer.

The Ferrari, Maserati 300S and Porsche were retained by the team but saw only limited service after the arrival of the 450S. The Ferrari was eventually sold and, at some later point, was acquired by Luigi Chinetti, who still owns it.

The Edgar team's number one driver was the inimitable Carroll Shelby, just beginning to make a name for himself in the mid-1950's when he signed on as chauffeur. Shelby was an extremely capable driver who had many victories over his career, the most notably being the 1959 Le Mans race when he won in an Aston Martin DBR1, co-driven by Roy Salvadori. He was also his own best promoter and pyramided a small Dallas, Texas sports car dealership into production of the potent Cobra family of sports cars, for which he is best known. Shelby is no longer directly involved in racing, but retains a keen interest in the sport.

The man who really made the Edgar team successful was Joe Landaker, a truly talented mechanic and jack of all trades. Before coming to Edgar, he worked as chief mechanic for Tony Parravano where, on occasion, he prepared as many as seven cars for a race event. Some of Landaker's stories about his Parravano experiences border on the unreal and I hope to do an article someday soon describing a few of them. On the Edgar team, he was not only responsible for maintaining the cars, but getting parts, engineering modifications to fix poor design, and transporting the cars to the track and back to the Encino base.

First American Race

The maiden race meet for 4506 was at Danville, Virginia, the site of the brand new 3.2 mile Virginia International Raceway, where, on 4th August, 1957, a SCCA National inaugurated the track. Practice took place on the 2nd in 101° heat which made everyone thoroughly miserable. Shelby was third fastest qualifier at 2:28.1 with an unofficial time of 2:25.6. Ahead of him in the first row with identical qualifying times of 2:27.8 were Walt Hansgen and Charlie Wallace, both driving Briggs' Cunningham-owned 3.8 litre D Type Jaguars.

Weather for race day started with rain, followed by high winds that cleared away just before the race which was for 20 laps totalling 64 miles on this new course.

The race was decided conclusively at the very start. Shelby was in the second row with Hansgen and Wallace sitting in front of him. When the flag dropped, Wallace, who was on the outside pole, spun his wheels and Shelby simply cut to the left, stuck his foot to the floor and out accelerated both Hansgen and Wallace and shot into the lead.

Number one into the first turn, Shelby was never headed, literally coasting his way through the race to victory. It's worth noting that Landaker had fitted a tell-tale tachometer to the 450S and given Shelby permanent instructions not to exceed 6,000 rpm unless it was absolutely necessary to win a race. When he checked the tach at the completion of Danville, it read 5,400 rpm, so clearly a great deal of power was left in reserve.

Troubles

The next event for the 450S was held at Montgomery, New York, about 50 miles northwest of New York City. The race took place on 18th August, 1957, and was a SCCA National held on the old concrete airport runways, which were flat and very bumpy. Shelby was clearly fastest in practice and nailed down the pole position with more than a second advantage over Walt Hansgen in the Cunningham D Type.

The race began with a standing start and when the flag dropped, Shelby popped the clutch which promptly disintegrated, leaving him sitting forlornly on the grid as the rest of the field motored off. So much for that race.

The 450S was loaded on the van and taken back to California as the next event for the team was to take place on 21st September, 1957, at the spanking new Riverside track. At practice for that race, Shelby crashed heavily in turn 6, wiping out the entire left front of the 450S, and putting himself in the hospital. It required some 70 odd stitches to put him back together but he promptly announced he would be ready to drive again at the next major race scheduled to take place at Palm Springs, California, on 3rd November. The 450S, however, was not so easily repaired.

A survey of the damage to the 450S was undertaken and the results were none too encouraging. Besides the badly mangled left front end, the tail, head rest, windshield and hood all received some damage. The entire left side front of the chassis was destroyed and needed replacement. New framing material was rush ordered from Modena but they could not provide the pieces quickly. As Edgar and Shelby desired to run the 450S at Palm Springs, only a few weeks were available to repair this extensive damage.

Joe Landaker brought tubing and bent it into the elliptoid shape required for the frame tubes, cut away all the old tubes, made the new ones and welded everything back together. He fitted a new front suspension and brake drum/hub assembly. The engine had to be removed and repairs made to the block where the front motor mount had been torn out and then reassembled and installed back in the chassis. A new radiator and oil cooler were fitted. The clutch and transaxle were also rebuilt.

Landaker then tackled the body, straightening all the body panels as well as he could in the time available and repainted the entire car. A new windshield was also fabricated. With the exception of the left front fender which permanently retained a peculiar shape due to the accident, the rest of the 450S looked quite presentable.

By working phenomenal hours, Landaker managed to have the car ready in time for a somewhat recovered Shelby to run at the Palm Springs event.

Easy Victory at Palm Springs

This event was an SCCA National held at the 2.9 mile Palm Springs, California, airport course on 2nd and 3rd November, 1957.

The 450S appeared to handle as well as ever, though admittedly this was a very flat course and quite suitable for the big bore machinery. Shelby was fastest in practice, a task made somewhat easier by a distinct lack of suitable competition. Most of the big guns were sitting out the Palm Springs event waiting for the major fracas coming up at Riverside two weeks later. Next to him at the start was Max Balchowsky in the Buick powered special, Old Yeller.

The race was literally no contest, with the 450S jumping into an immediate lead. In the first corner, Shel jammed on the brakes a bit too hard and got solidly rapped in the left rear by Old Yeller, probably a hint to get the lead out of his behind. No more urging was needed as Shelby stuck his foot in it and rapidly opened up a commanding lead. At the end of the first lap, Shelby was some 4 seconds ahead of his nearest pursuer, Balchowsky in Old Yeller. Shelby simply cruised around through the rest of the race to take the checkered flag at an average speed of 75.5 mph, serving notice that both he and the 450S were fully recovered and ready for Riverside.

Victory at Riverside

Both the 450 and Shelby were fit and ready to tackle the Riverside dust bowl once again. This time, it was an SCCA National held on Sunday, 17th November, 1957.

The previous day, a qualifying race of five laps was held on the 3.275 mile course. The winner was Masten Gregory, in the Temple Buell 4.7 litre 450S No 4508 freshly rebuilt after its crash at Caracas on 3rd November. Shelby was second, 4 seconds behind, followed at a distance by Walt Hansgen in the Cunningham 3.8 litre D Type Jaguar and Dan Durney, then a flashy newcomer in Frank Arciero's 4.9 litre Ferrari. Fifth was Richie Ginther in another 4.9 Ferrari and sixth was his boss, John Von Neumann in his 2.5 litre 4 cylinder Ferrari Testa Rossa.

Sunday was an extremely cold day, very unusual for Southern California, and also quite windy, blowing sand on to the course and making several turns particularly tricky to navigate. The main event was to be of 25 laps totalling 81.88 miles.

The race was a real scramble from the very outset. As the 20 car field was flagged off, Gregory, Hansgen, Shelby and Gurney went screaming into Turn 1 inches apart in that order, rapidly separating themselves from the rest of the competitors. Hansgen scooted by Gregory in Turn 8 of the 2nd lap which is at the end of the 1.1 mile back straightaway to grab the lead. Shelby evidently took note of the passing spot as he made it by Gregory in the same place on the next lap to take over second behind Hansgen.

On the 4th lap, Shelby decided Hansgen's time had come and used Turn 8 once again to pass into the lead. His joy was short lived, however, as he spun off the track on lap 5 at Turn 7 when he hit the throttle instead of the brakes. This returned the lead to Hansgen and dropped Shelby to 6th, 22 seconds behind the leader, and set the stage for a stunning comeback drive. The leader's lap times were in the 2:14 to 2:16 range and Shelby began tigering eventually getting down into the 2:10 range while setting new lap records continually. He was literally flinging the big red 450 through the corners consistently picking up 4 to 6 seconds a lap on the leaders. On the 7th lap he passed Von Neumann into 5th spot and overhauled Ginther for 4th on the Ilth lap. Gurney got by Hansgen into the lead on the 15th lan and on the same lap, Shelby picked off Gregory moving into 3rd place. He then blew off Hansgen on the next lap and set his sights on Gurney, still in the lead. When the two drifted through Turn 8, Shelby shot out in front through the short shute to take the lead on the 17th lap. He was given a tremendous ovation by everyone in the pits and around the course for his tremendous performance and cruised home to victory completely in command of the race.

Shelby won at an average speed of 87.8 mph and also set the fastest lap of 2:10.8, both course records. Finishing second was Dan Gurney, some 5 seconds behind, with Gregory third and Hansgen 4th. Altogether a very satisfying victory.

Nassau 1957

One of the major North American sports car events each year in the late 1950's was held at Nassau in the Bahamas. The Speed Weeks, as they were called, were held every December and consisted of a week long series of parties and races. Great fun for everyone and the ideal finish to a season of racing. The 1957 edition of the Speed Week took place on Ist December through the 9th, and many of the big names were on hand including Stirling Moss driving a 3.7 litre Aston Martin DBR l, Masten Gregory and Carroll Shelby in 450S Maseratis with Phil Hill, Richic Ginther, Joakim Bonnier and Oliver Gendebien in Ferraris ranging from 3.5 to 4.9 litres.

Several preliminary races were staged, one being the 102 mile Nassau Trophy event, on lst December, won handily by Masten Gregory in the Temple Buell 4.7 litre 450S by a margin of 1 minute 39 seconds over second place finisher Richie Ginther in a 4.9 Ferrari. The Governor's Trophy race was won by Phil Hill in his Ferrari despite a high speed blowout in the last lap. He managed to keep the car under control and crossed the finish line only 3 seconds in front of Gregory. Shelby was third another 3 seconds back, with Moss 4th, and Ginther 5th.

Unfortunately for Stirling Moss, his Aston Martin was demolished by Ruth Levy in a ladies' race, but he was given a 3.5 litre 290 MM Ferrari to use and won another preliminary event while familiarizing himself with it.

The main event, the 252 mile Nassau Trophy race on 9th December began with a Le Mans start for the 40 drivers. Shelby got off to a bad start and at the end of the first lap was running sixth behind Gregory (450S), Hill, Moss, Ginther and Bonnier all in Ferraris. Gregory was in the lead for most of the early going but broke his transaxle on the 14th lap and dropped out, Moss taking over the lead. Meanwhile, Shelby was rocketing up to challenge for the lead, passing Bonnier, Ginther and Hill by the 20th lap. When Moss made his scheduled 25th lap pit stop (halfway through the race) Shelby boomed into the lead. He, in turn, made his pit stop on the 30th lap but had built up a sufficient lead such that he re-entered the race still in the lead. However, when Shelby tore out of the pits, he totally destroyed his clutch, but did manage to jam it into 5th gear, leaving him bereft of all the intermediate speeds for the remainder of the race.

It took Moss four laps to catch up and pass the crippled 450S, getting by into first place on the 34th lap. Shelby hung on in 2nd and they finished in the gathering darkness in that order with Phil Hill 3rd. Moss averaged 101.63 mph for the 250 mile race and finished 1 minute 5 seconds ahead of Shelby.

Havana Tune-up

The 450S remained in Florida after Nassau to compete in the SCCA Orange Bowl National race at Pensacola on 12th January, 1958. Shelby simply cruised around the course in the process of winning the event, soundly beating Walt Hansgen in the Cunningham D Type Jaguar.

Fiasco in Havana

The second Cuban Grand Prix was scheduled for 24th February, 1958, in Havana. Edgar entered both the old 4.9 Ferrari for Masten Gregory and the 450S for Shelby. In hopes of being able to run the 450S through the entire 500 mile race, Landaker built and fitted an enormous 80 gallon gas tank and repositioned the oil tank into the passenger compartment. You can just imagine what happened to the handling characteristics with all that fuel on board.

Fangio was entered in the Temple Buell 450S, temporarily in Edgar's care. Moss was to drive an NART 4.1 litre 4 cam 412 MI Ferrari, and Trintignant in a D Type Jaguar were among many other name drivers on hand.

The night before the big race, the famous abduction of Fangio from his hotel lobby by Castro's guerrillas took place, further adding to the confusion surrounding the whole event. It was bad enough that the organizers did not have the proper signal flags, no radio communication around the course to say nothing of a lack of official stop watches, poor crowd control and no ambulances on duty, but Fangio's kidnapping almost forced the race to be called off completely. It was decided to go ahead regardless and Fangio's car was handed over to Trintignant to drive.

The race began over two hours late with a crowd estimated at over 200,000 on hand for the festivities, after a couple of false starts that caused Shelby's mount and several others to reach the boiling point. When the flag at last fell, Gregory made a very smart start into the lead closely followed by Moss, Shelby, Von Trips and Hill in that order. At the end of the Ist lap, however, Moss came around in front holding a commanding lead over Gregory, closely shadowed by Shelby's gas heavy 450S, with their pursuers far astern. Gregory repassed Moss on the 5th lap to take back first place.

On the 6th lap, the Cuban, Cifuentes, lost control of his Ferrari Testa Rossa and ploughed into the crowd killing at least six people and injuring many more. The red flag to stop the race was thrown in the accident area immediately and Gregory slowed promptly on seeing it but Moss did not, and passed him into the lead as they came up to the start-finish line. The race ended there as the drivers voted not to restart with Moss declared the winner, even though Gregory should have been. However, they subsequently agreed to split the first place money between them. Shelby was a definite third, but placings beyond that were most confused.

All Downhill

The Havana race was the last significant success for 4506, but certainly not from lack of trying over the next several years.

Shelby was to drive the car in its first 1958 SCCA West Coast outing at Palm Springs on 11th and 12th April. The qualifying races on the 11th resulted in victory over Bob Oker's Aston Martin DB3S and Lance Reventlow's Scarab. After the event, Landaker discovered that the De Dion tube had collapsed and could not be repaired in time for the next day's main go.

It appears that Edgar and Shelby had some sort of a falling out shortly afterwards and Shel's services seem to have been sparingly used from that date on, a variety of drivers taking his place.

Dan Gurney was in the driver's seat for the next major event of the season held on 10th May, 1958, at Tracy, California. He was holding a fine second when the right rear tyre blew out and wrapped itself around the suspension in such a fashion that it was impossible to make it back to the pits.

The Riverside races of 29th June, 1958, were the next target date for 4506, to be driven on this occasion by a promising new driver, Pete Woods. Unfortunately, during practice he blew the tired old engine, putting several rods out the block.

Landaker decided that the engine needed more of a rebuild than he could undertake, so it was removed and shipped off to Modena for a complete renovation and conversion to 5.7 litre displacement. This conversion included new pistons and liners that increased the bore from 93.8mm to 103mm, and a new crankshaft/rod assembly enlarging the stroke from 81mm to 85mm. The whole rebuild process including shipping both ways was to take about nine months.

Pontiac Days

While the 450S engine was away, Landaker very neatly installed a Pontiae V8 engine in the chassis, utilizing the downdraft 450S Webers, and mated to the existing Maserati clutch assembly by a cleverly designed adapter plate. The original motor mounts were retained and all the underhood sheet metal and frame structure remained as original to facilitate easy re-installation of the Maserati engine.

The 450S was then loaned to Jim Rathman, a successful NASCAR stock car driver, for entry in the Riverside Sports Car Grand Prix to be contested on 12th October, 1958. Rathman was not happy with the 450S's handling characteristics, so he performed some major surgery on the rear suspension. This included the removal of the entire transverse leaf rear spring and Houdaille shock absorber assemblies. In its place was welded and fitted a gigantic set of adjustable tension coil springs with tubular shock absorbers fitted inside. What this setup meant to the car's handling is somewhat questionable, but at Riverside the clutch packed up in practice, so it was not actually driven enough to determine what good, if any, the suspension changes made.

The car was next taken to Nassau for the 1958 Speed Week, again with Rathman driving. It did not distinguish itself there, though it was certainly very quick. The primary problem was that the head gaskets would not seal properly, possibly due to a warped block. In any case, Rathman did not finish either of the races he started.

Incidentally, the cover of Speed Age magazine for March 1959 shows the 450S equipped with the Pontiac engine and Rathman ensconced in it.

Rebirth and Retirement

The newly rebuilt engine finally arrived back in Los Angeles in tne early spring of 1959 and was promptly re-installed in the chassis. However, it never performed very well and was a constant source of headache to Landaker.

Only two events were attempted in 1959, the driver being Chuck Daigh of Scarab fame. Both were at Riverside, the first on 19th July, 1959, where he did not finish due to a broken camshaft. The second time out was on 11th October, 1959, when the engine was blown up.

At this point, Edgar gave up on the 450S and shortly thereafter sold it, as is, to a local Southern California buyer.

(To be continued)

This article first appeared in the Winter 1976 issue of Trident

Hi Michael!

I was doing some research on the web and came across the article by Joel E. Finn from the above link.

In reading the article, I noticed that Riverside Raceway was said to be in Ontario, California. Not true!

The author is probably confusing the track later built in Ontario with the one located outside of the city of Riverside, California. The Riverside track was originally way out in the boonies but close by the city of Riverside. Today, there are homes and shopping centers covering what had been Riverside Raceway.

Some years later, Ontario Speedway was built, in of course, Ontario, California - not too far from Riverside - and also, not too far from present day California Speedway in Fontana, California. Ontario was primarily a high-banked oval with a road course added. Fontana is similar.

Riverside was a road-racing course.

The other item: Pete Woods was called an "upcoming driver".

"The Riverside races of 29th June, 1958, were the next target date for 4506, to be driven on this occasion by a promising new driver, Pete Woods. Unfortunately, during practice he blew the tired old engine, putting several rods out the block."

Truth is, Pete was a well-known hot shoe well before this - he had won races with his D-Jaguar, for example in 1956. Pete had been a professional race driver on dirt sprint tracks with cars called "midgets" here in the San Diego region. Pete would drop by my dad's shop (this was in the Los Angeles area - in '55 and '56) and always was kind to me - I liked him.

I later ran across him, many years later, (1971) in this San Diego area - he had a business selling Recreational Vehicles on a large lot beside the California 8 Highway.

Michael Savin.

Maserati enthusiasts and collectors who may be interested in acquiring back issues of this highly collectable magazine may do so by contacting Adam Painter of the Maserati Club at

adamkpainter@uk2.net

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