by Mike –
A while back Tony Olissoff from New Zealand sent me photos of a Maserati Tipo 151 race car which I later learned no longer exists because it was crashed.
Only three Tipo 151s were made to begin with and out of the three only one survives. This sets up the perfect reason to create a new one – a recreation of the Maserati Tipo 151 – this is Tony’s goal.
Below he describes what he is doing and shares some recent photos of this fascinating project.
The Maserati Tipo 151 had the makings of a great race car but suffered from back luck. Maybe on the historic racing circuit a recreation will have more success.
Maserati Tipo 151 – Practice at LeMans – April 1964 (photo by Willem Oosterhoek; Sicard Collection)
Text and photos by Tony Olissoff
It can’t be a ‘real’ Maserati, even if it has a Maserati motor, close as correct gearbox/transaxle, and built with the correct period parts and layout, faults and all.
But the hell with it, if the spirit is built into it, she shall be all Maserati to me.
Hope you enjoy these photos Mike. In the photo below is Paul Dunkley, of Dunkley Racing Developments who has caught the bug (more badly than me) to build this iconic masterpiece with all the passion that you can afford to impart.
As much as we can, the chassis is in the same shape, style, layout and tube dimensions as the original, but we hope a bit stronger (and maybe lighter).
Last thing for development in this will be the motor.
Have already cut the sump off to make it suitable for dry sump and to get the carbs under the hood. Then we can think about injection with the crossover runners.
Cheers and all the best,
Tony Olissoff
There were many interesting comments on the original Post, including this one from Peter Brock when he read about Tony’s plans to recreate the Tipo 151,
Look forward to seeing your 151-3 recreation. I consider that car the best design of a GT for that era. Others have tried to recreate it but none have yet succeeded. It needs to be done and seen correctly! When is the expected completion date? and where?
Peter Brock
Good luck to Tony Olissoff and Paul Dunkley in New Zealand!
What a great project. I expect it will turn out well. Another exciting project is being done up at Fournier Enterprises as Jeff rebodies an Aston Martin DB 1/2. The buck was made from scans off the only other 1/2 race car.
Interesting project! I watched the earlier-shape Tipo 151/1 racing at Goodwood Revival last year, and it went really well. Ended up a worthy 2nd in the 1 hour GT race. Notice the prototype Iso A3/C #201 in the background in the first pic??