Coys to offer rare 1959 Maserati Tipo 60/61 ‘Birdcage’ for sale

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 30.07.2018

One of the most iconic and celebrated historic racers ever to wear the Trident badge

The 1959 Maserati Tipo 60/61 ‘Birdcage’ is one of the most historic Tridents ever, and one of the most iconic and celebrated vintage race cars of all time.

This example, Lot 150, was prepared for racing by Alfred Momo, and is set to cross the block at Coys’ Scholoss Dyck auction in Germany next week on August 4.

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It gained its ‘Birdcage’ nickname from its intricate tubular frame constructed of 200 small-diameter chrome-moly steel tubes, designed and engineered by Giulio Alfieri.

In 2010, the car was submitted to MSA and received its Historic Technical Passport/ FIA TSRC4 certification – allowing the car to compete in vintage events such as Classic Le Mans, Goodwood Revival and Motor Racing Legends Stirling Moss Trophy at various international circuits.

CEO of Coys, Chris Routledge stated: "This car offers a collector a chance to own a unique race car".

He goes on to state that the car "is going to be sold with a large amount of documentation, photographs, full rebuild invoices from Steve Hart Racing and confirmation of the cars original components used directly from Momo".

Pre-auction estimate is per enquiry, however RM Sotheby’s sold a 1960 Tipo 61 ‘Birdcage’ in 2013 for $2,090,000, and Gooding and Co sold another 1959 Tipo 61 ‘Birdcage’ in 2012 for AUD$3.5 million.

Safe to say, any prospective buyers will need to dig deep to take this car home; but as one of the most iconic and celebrated historic racers ever – we’ll leave it for you to decide how many pennies it’s worth.

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