Sebring 12 Hours warm-up; the 1957 winner and and of the 2009 favourites ...

[Wouter Melissen]

Dear Ultimatecarpage.com visitor,

In little over a week the 57th annual Sebring 12 Hours race will kick off. The season opening classic of the American Le Mans Series, ranks as one of the hardest races in the world. The very bumpy track puts man and machine through more abuse than in most races twice the length. We will cover 'Sebring' in detail for the first time this year and it promises to be an epic race. To warm you up before the event we today take a closer look at one of the former winners and a brand new challenger for the 2009 honours.
The Italian rivalry between Maserati and Ferrari in sports car racing during the 1950s brought about some fantastic machinery. Topping all of them is the ferocious Maserati 450S. Powered by a 4.5 litre quad-cam V8 engine, it remained the most powerful front-engined sports racer for many decades to come. Due to regulation changes, it was only eligible for the World Championship in 1957. In that year, a win in the Sebring 12 Hours was scored by Juan Manuel Fangio and Jean Behra and the 450S almost brought Maserati the World Championship. From 1958 the Works racers were all sold to the United States where they were raced with great success by the likes of Carroll Shelby and Jim Hall. Our exclusive 24-shot gallery depicts an amazing six of the seven surviving examples.
Together with Peugeot and Acura, Audi is one of the top contenders for victory this year. The German manufacturer has dominated the race in recent years with the R8 (6 wins) and the diesel engined R10 (2 wins). For 2009 they have developed the brand new R15 TDI, which is no doubt one of the most interesting new racing cars of the last decade. Other than the years of experience, very little was carried over from the R15's highly successful predecessors. The chassis, aerodynamics package and V10 engine are all brand new. The goal was to get a better balanced and more drivable car than the V12 engined R10 was. After one teaser shot a few weeks ago, Audi has now pulled the curtain off the R15 TDI

Enjoy the links:

2009 Audi R15 TDI - Images, Specifications and Information

1956 - 1958 Maserati 450S - Images, Specifications and Information

Regards,
Wouter Melissen

[Manel Baró]

IMHO, 450S is one of three iconic sportscars of a period when the sports cars were true workhorses for true fearless drivers.

[henk4]

IMHO, 450S is one of three iconic sportscars of a period when the sports cars were true workhorses for true fearless drivers.

agreed, but what are the other two in your opinion?

[cmcpokey]

fantastic maserati at fantastic tracks. great update.

[Manel Baró]

agreed, but what are the other two in your opinion?

335S + 300SLR, along with D24 as the referee

[Wouter Melissen]

335S + 300SLR, along with D24 as the referee

The Listers and Scarabs/Chaparrals should not be forgotten either. The latter were arguably even better cars than the Maserati.

[Manel Baró]

The Listers and Scarabs/Chaparrals should not be forgotten either. The latter were arguably even better cars than the Maserati.

Agreed: I do refer to the 50's when cars and drivers were indomite.
Every enthusiast has his icons, normally related to his own age. This and similar subjects have been discussed hundreds of times in every motorcar nut circle: To never end.
Some sportscars however, stand well above the crowd ever because their charismatic looks, enginering, facts, wins or tragedy related life.
Such the D-Type, for instance.Or Ford MKIV, or GTO,or...

[Ferrer]

I like 50's sportscar racing, and I'm 22.

As you said it was man, machine and road, nothing else. Back then it was still a sport and not a bussiness. And then there are the all time great races like the Targa Florio, the 1000 Miglia or La Carrera Panamericana.

[Kitdy]

Wouter, do you have any shots of the 450S Coupe? I only found some low quality ones on google image search.

[henk4]

Wouter, do you have any shots of the 450S Coupe? I only found some low quality ones on google image search.

there is a link in the part on chassis #4501....

[Kitdy]

there is a link in the part on chassis #4501....

Thanks for that henk - I must admit that I didn't read the end bit on the chassis. I would like to have seen this car as a coupe but not done by Zagato - I really dislike Zagato.

[Ferrer]

Thanks for that henk - I must admit that I didn't read the end bit on the chassis. I would like to have seen this car as a coupe but not done by Zagato - I really dislike Zagato.

It doesn't look bad, the 450S Coupe. The later Tipo 151 closed race cars were uglier.

[Wouter Melissen]

Thanks for that henk - I must admit that I didn't read the end bit on the chassis. I would like to have seen this car as a coupe but not done by Zagato - I really dislike Zagato.

It was styled by Frank Costin. Zagato just built the body.

[bruxell]

It was styled by Frank Costin. Zagato just built the body.

Yes, but Zagato added their own "styling" by not translating the measurements correctly.

[Kitdy]

It was styled by Frank Costin. Zagato just built the body.

I didn't know that - I thought that the design seemed Zagatoish in it's own right.

No less, I don't really like any Zagato I've yet seen.