Not content with letting Ferrari have all the headlines at the recent RM Auctions sale in Monaco, this absolutely stunning Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage sold for over €2.4m (AU$3.5m). That’s the highest price achieved for a ‘Birdcage’. And isn’t it just one of the most beautiful machines you have ever seen.
The car’s ‘Birdcage’ nickname came from its innovative trellis construction that weighed just 36kg. The Tipo 61 was fitted with a 2.9 litre four cylinder good for around 186kW (250bhp). While earlier models used a 2.0 litre engine which produced 150kW (200bhp). With a kerb weight of just 600kg this would have gone like a rocket. And that’s exactly what it did winning the Nürburgring 1000km race in 1960 and 1961.
More detail available below.