"Dear Enrico,

Whilst cruising the internet a couple of days ago, I noticed your photos of the Tipo 63 now on display in the Panini Museum. The history of this particular car is a brief one, just like most of the other Tipo 63 and 64 cars. It participated in only two races: Le Mans 1961 [Vaccarella/Scarfiotti] and Pescara 1961 [Bonnier]. In both races it carried a V12 engine, although the car was upgraded at Pescara with a flexible de Dion, instead of independent rear suspension it used at Le Mans. In both races the car dropped out without running among the leaders.

This car was always raced with a glass windshield [coming from the Alfa Romeo SS model] and never with the plastic one that it has been given now. The confusion probably originates from the plastic-windshield equipped Tipo 63 cars that ran during the Targa Florio in 1961, but those were different [4-cylinder engined] cars altogether.

I enjoyed our [too brief] conversation tonight. Without giving away my entire research project on the Tipo 63, I want to put you into the right direction, as the text on your website is wrong. Which is not surprising, as there are no reliable sources on the subject!

Seven Tipo 63 cars were produced, and here is their listing, with original engine configurations [some of which were changed to a V12 configuration over time]:

002 [4-cyl], known as 'Muletto', the factory mule.
63.002 [4-cyl] for Briggs Cunningham
63.004 [4-cyl] for Scuderia Serenissima [Count Volpi]
63.006 [4-cyl] for Team Camoradi [Lucky Casner]
63.008 [4-cyl] for Scuderia Serenissima
63.010 [V12] for Briggs Cunningham
63.002 LWB [V12] for Briggs Cunningham

As you can tell, the number 63.002 was used twice by the factory, once for a SWB car and once for a LWB car, both for Briggs Cunningham. This was probably done to avoid U.S. import duties. Finally, none of the Tipo 63 cars were converted into Tipo 64 cars, as so many "historians" claim. The reason is that the Tipo 64 was a completely different and a brand new design. Plus..... all Tipo 63 Maseratis can be accounted for today [as well as the Tipo 64 cars!].

If ever you come across someone who is interested in sponsoring a book on the rear-engined Birdcages ([Tipos 63, 64 and 65], do tell him that I have written a complete history on these cars between 1961 and 1965, with all the races in which they participated in Europe, the US and the Caribbean. My manuscript contains 92,000 words and I cover the front-engined Birdcages, the competition, the T63 prototype, the owners [Volpi, Casner, Cunningham and Simone] and their teams, each individual race in which the rear-engined versions competed [with complete entry lists, complete starting grids and complete results, never published in the case of a lot of the U.S. races] and the more recent history of each car. Together with some 380 historical and mostly unpublished photographs, this will be a sizeable and serious book on the subject.

It is one of the most misrepresented parts of Maserati history, yet there is no publisher who is interested in bringing to market in book form. They all say the manuscript is too big and the market segment is too small to be profitable. I think your website proves them completely wrong!

Because of all the misinformation going around on these rear-engined Birdcages, it is a shame, as history is not served by the publishing world today.

Willem Oosthoek."

Willem's book has now been published. Under the title Birdcage to Supercage it is available from all leading motoring booksellers. Priced at around GB £80 and worth every penny!