| |
 |
| |
The Maserati Junior
by Joel E Finn
Until recently, there was little known about the Maserati Formula Junior project as the factory has always been extremely secretive and close-mouthed on the subject. In the course of researching material at Modena for my recently published book on the Maserati Postwar Sportsracing Cars (plug), I attempted to find more detailed information about the Junior. Factory personnel responded to my requests for information relative to the project by either stating it never took place, or that the records had long since disappeared. These replies made it obvious that strict orders had been given to keep the project a total secret, even from me, a Maserati enthusiast of the highest order.
One of my research visils to the factory occurred in June 1975 during the confusion occasioned by Citroen's pullout. Maserati had allowed me to have full access to their old production files, which were scattered about haphazardly in numerous nooks and crannies at their Via Menotti headquarters. One morning, while poking around in some long unused and dusty files, a minor, but very significant accident occurred. I had opened the top drawer on a tall file cabinet and pulled it all the way out to cheek some papers in the rear. The weight and angle caused the cabinet to tip over and fall to the floor with a tremendous crash and a great cloud of dust. While righting the cabinet I noticed a large, bulky, old envelope that had obviously fallen down long ago between it and the wall. I picked up the envelope and saw it carried the legend, Tipo FJ, the designation known to be used for the mysterious Formula Junior.
In my excitement, I literally ripped the envelope to shreds in getting it open, and found it contained all the engineering drawings, relevant spec. sheets, photos of the major components and completed prototype, as well as all the pertinent internal correspondence pertaining to the project. After a quick study of the material, I grabbed the Minox from my briefcase, intending to photograph everything in the package. I only snapped off a few shots before a high Maserati executive wandered by to see how my researches were progressing, discovered what I had found and scooped up all the material. He also turned the air purple with eloquent Italian phrases about my discovery of their secret. While I was not thrown out of the factory because of this incident, the rest of my stay was marked by a considerable coolness toward me by Maserati officials, and the assignment of a personal shadow to watch my every move. Still I had a long enough look at the material to be able to put together this article on the Junior project, though the official Maserati position remains to this day that it never happened. For the sake of the record, Maserati personnel have reviewed this article and state categorically that it is pure nonsense. |
For those readers unfamiliar with the Formula Junior period of the late 1950s, a potted history is in order. The concept was proposed and fathered by Count Johnny Lurani as a single seater mini-Formula 1 series. It required the use of unsupercharged 1,100 cc, pushrod operated, overhead valve engines commonly used on Italian production cars of the time such as Fiat, Lancia, etc. The objective was to build inexpensive racingcars utilizing production components wherever possible, to permit competitors not only to race cheaply, but also to provide a training mechanism for aspiring Formula 1 hopefuls. Exciting racing resulted, with numerous makes such as Stanguellini, Taraschi, Bandini, DaGrada. OSCA, etc, producing designs for the Junior formula beginning in 1958.
Maserati had been forced to drop out of Formula 1 and Sports Car Racing in early 1958 due to severe financial difficulties, but still desired to compete in some form, no matter how modest. The documents I saw revealed that during mid 1958, while Maserati chief engineer Guilio Alfieri was formulating the Tipo 60 Birdcage concept, he promogulated a similar design for a Formula Junior and oversaw construction of a prototype. The Junior project was kept a total secret within Maserati, certainly very uncharacteristic behaviour for the firm. The design was most fascinating and the technical description following will certainly prove to everyone my belief that the Junior was in a class by itself.
The Chassis
As low weight and extreme rigidity were of paramount importance, the Tipo 60 small diameter tube frame concept was carried to the logical extreme. The Junior frame consisted of 1926 hollow partinium tubes of varying length and thickness. The average O.D. was .0774in. with the largest being .0124in. The total frame assembly would weigh in the range of 7lb., including paint! Truly an amazing concept and it quickly became known in the works as the "Fleacage" when the prototype frame was actually constructed in late 1958.
A major problem became apparent when the first completed frame turned out to weigh 210lb, a bit off the goal. The tubing came in at the projected 7lb., but the welding material used to put all the pieces together weighed 213lb Clearly, something needed to be done to resolve the untenable situation.
Compounding the problem was the difficulty of welding the multiplicity of bitty tubes so that they wouldn't warp. In addition, the tubes were so small and the layout so convoluted that only a midget welder with tiny hands could possibly do the job. As Maserati only employed one such welder, and it would take him almost two months to complete each frame, it appeared financially unwise to proceed further as potential production volume would be constrained to six units per year.
Not exactly a promising commercial venture. There were two solutions, the first was simple, find more midget welders, or secondly, change the design, which Alfieri was loathe to do.
While they were studying alternate approaches, an American specialist in welding and bonding materials happened to visit, and was given an inspection of the problem in hopes that he might come up with a solution. Incidentally, he is believed to be the only outsider ever to actually be shown the Junior and his description of it some years later was my base source of information that the project had ever taken place. He suggested an entirely new and even more novel frame approach, while retaining the base concept intoto. His solution involved using number 1 grade Semmelina pasta for the frame tubes. They would be properly fitted into place in a jig, sprayed with a thin coating of epoxy glue thinned with tomato sauce and then baked in an oven for 20 minutes at 158°C. It was tried forthwith with outstanding success. The frame produced had all the stiffness properties desired with a total weight of 2.89lb. Each frame required slightly less than a kilo of pasta, keeping the cost amazingly low. It also claims the honour of being the first and probably only example to date of a re-cyclable frame. In the event of a crash, or after its racing days were over, the frame could always be boiled and eaten.
With the frame problem so brilliantly solved, attention was next lavished on the rest of the chassis. The front suspension, based on the ubiquitous Fiat Topolino, was modified to be fully independent and acid dipped to save weight. Shock absorbers were not utilized as it was concluded that the completed car would only weigh 325lb and be run exclusively on smooth courses. Therefore, shocks would be redundant.
The rear suspension, a Colotti design, had many advanced features in keeping with the overall visionary theme of the Junior. Continuing MAserati 250F and 450S practice, it contained a deDion layout, but distinctly different in several important ways. The deDion tube now ran above the transaxle, instead of in front as on the 250F, or behind as did the 450S. The Junior deDion tube was not anchored to the frame by the common Maserati practice of a transverse leaf rear spring. It was now bolted solidly to the transaxle top, and at either end slipped into a rotating sleeve at the halfshaft joints. A very clever arrangement.
The transaxle was pure five speed forward 250F, but as the Junior engine put out less power, the assembly was reduced in size to 38 per cent of the original, saving some 72lb. No small feat. The transaxle casing incorporated a quick change capability, with the mechanism protruding out the left front of the unit alongside the driver. All the driver had to do was flip up the lid and he could easily change rear axle ratios at will, even on the move. The intent was to allow drivers to change gears during the course of a race. An outstanding engineering concept far ahead of its time.
The Engine
Maserati decided to follow most other Junior manufacturers in choosing to use a Fiat 1,100 cc engine, but made several very important modifications to the basic unit. The bottom end was drastically revised, the normal three main bearing Fiat crankshaft and webbing assembly were eliminated completely and replaced with a five main bearing unit from a 200SI, reduced in size to fit the block. To facilitate the swap, Maserati cast an entirely new block in aluminium, externally identical to the Fiat. The Fiat head was modified to four valves per cylinder, with actuation by a clever arrangement of epiloidal gears and sprockets, while retaining the original pushrods. The camshaft featured a particularly wild grind of 182° intake overlap and 186° on the exhaust.
Two custom built 54mm Weber sidedrafts were installed on driver adjustable infake manifolds. The manifold length could be changed at will via a lever in the centre of the steering wheel. The eight branch exhaust manifold was also tunable, the length being adjustable by a spring loaded pedal.
These modifications resulted in the engine delivering 168 hp at 9,300 rpm in initial tests, certainly an astounding figure for the period. A harmonic problem did crop up, during testing that could not be resolved. At any rpm less than 9,300 a first level harmonic tended to destroy the bearings mucho pronto. At anything over 9,300, second level harmonics would cause the engine to explode. Maserati's solution was once again a stroke of genius. Set the engine to run at 9,300 rpm all the time and just slip the clutch to start. This had a side benefit in eliminating the need for the throttle pedal and linkage as well as doing away with the necessity to have a tachometer and cable drive unit. Definitely a significant weight saving.
The body shape resembled a mini-Eldorado, and instead of being formed from aluminium, steel, wood, fibreglass or the other habitually used materials, it utilized pages from Enzo Ferrari's memoirs, shaped to fit and then sprayed with a light haze of epoxy mixed with Lambrusco to produce the proper shade of Italian racing red.
The completed Junior was breathtaking to behold. A stunning creation in every aspect, and light years ahead of its competition.
The Debacle
In the early spring of 1959 the Junior was taken to the Modena autodromo for initial tests in conjunction with the Tipo 60. Stirling Moss had been signed to test both machines, but after carefully looking over the Junior he decided it was beyond his capability to manage and informed Maserati that they should hire a driver who needed money worse than he did. Several other experienced drivers were on hand that day, but they similarly demurred, citing their concerns about the radical machine. Finally, a rather emaciated looking spectator came forward, identified himself as an experienced driver and agreed to test the Junior for a ridiculously small amount. He explained that he was out of work, and in fact hadn't eaten in two days, and was taking on the chore only to get enough money to buy a big meal.
After some discussion he was turned loose in the Junior and the results were unbelievable. On his first full lap he broke the all-time autodromo recoro-by two full seconds, on the second lap he took another six seconds off and by the fourth had lowered the record by a full 18 seconds. The Maserati men in the pits exploded with joy as they watched their machine scream around the track. The joy soon turned to concern as the Junior's handling started to deteriorate on the fifth lap and then evolved to horror when the car crashed during the next lap out on the back straight. Fearing the werst, they ran to the crash scene and found their test driver frantically tearing the body and frame to pieces and eating it! Between mouthfuls he blurted out why the handling went sour and the crash took place. As the car heated up, it caused the frame to emit the unmistakable odour of pasta sauce causing his hunger pangs to flare. Suspecting that the frame was edible he ripped off a tube, chewed on it a bit, discovered it was really tasty, and began ripping out whole handfuls of the frame and stuffing them in his mouth. The frame became weakened, causing the handling problems and led to the crash.
The Maserati crew stood around dumbfounded while their erstwhile test driver proceeded to gobble down the entire frame and body, before staggering out of the autodromo holding his distended stomach and belching loudly. At about that point an onlooker to the whole proceedings stepped forward, identified himself as a Commission Sportive International-FIA official from Paris, and announced that he would not allow the Junior to be homologated to race as it might cause riots at racetracks located in poverty stricken areas where people were starving. Furthermore, his decision was final, and appeals would be summarily rejected.
Stunned by the day's rapidfire happenings, Maserati decided to abandon the Junior programme and clamp a lid of secrecy over it, which has prevailed to this day.
JOEL FINN
This article first appeared in the Spring 1977 issue of Trident
|
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
BACK TO ARTICLES
|
|
|
