When I first went to the UK, in the mid70s, there was a booming series for historic Sports cars and single seaters sponsored by the Lloyds and Scottish finance group. It featured full grids of exceptionally well-driven cars, all fighting to take the win.
The car of the day was Maserati, either the iconic 250F or the Tipo 61, affectionately called Birdcage, due to the use of many small tubes in the construction of its frame, about 200. At the time, I never thought that I would be fortunate to own and restore two Maserati Birdcage and a 250F V12.

 

 

For many years, my friend Joel Finn, author of many Maserati books and Maserati collector, told me how fantastic the Maserati Birdcage was and I really should own one. He had a Tipo 60 n. 2465 (2000cc engine) ex Menato Boffa in restoration in the UK, at Ted Bailey’s shop in the Midlands, and asked if I would like it when it was finished. I scratched around to find enough money to see if I could afford it and a few months later, I was able to consummate the deal with Joel. The price was $15,000 ready to race. This was a long stretch of the term ready to race!

 

 

When the car arrived, I had to redo it completely because the quality of the work was really substandard. I raced the car for a year with great success until my friend, Chris Cord, asked me if I would sell it to him which I did because, Joel had offered me a type 61 (2900 cc), which had a great history, including Stirling Moss as its driver.

 

 

The car was at Joel’s house, in Ridgefield Connecticut, and was completely disassembled. Joel sent me a list of the missing parts and I had a good think about this. So I decided to go ahead with the purchase anyway. I wired the money and booked a flight to go and pack it up for the shippers to collect it.
Joel kindly invited me to stay with him, which would make my job of packing up the car easier. I had been to his house before, so I knew that he had a vast store of Maserati parts in a storeroom in his basement.
I arrived on a Friday afternoon and began packing up the parts for my new car. The following morning, Joel told me that he was going to take his daughters to Temple as we go to church on a Sunday. This was my chance!

 

 

As soon as Joel and his family left for Temple, I rushed to his storeroom and found all the parts that Joel had told me were missing for my car. This was often the way with him and you had to be careful. I took all that I needed and put it into boxes and taped them closed, so he couldn’t see the contents. By the time he returned, my job was finished and I had a complete car. The Shippers arrived on Monday morning and collected the car and all the boxes, and I returned to Berkeley, California: success!!!
Over the next few years, I did a full restoration and won 1st overall on its maiden voyage to Sears Point Raceway, in Sonoma Calif. The car caught the eye of a friend, Don Orosco, who made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.