Maserati 450S Replica

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After many years of secretly coveting this car while it was in the hands of fellow Club member (and bon viveur) Roger Stones, by one of life's happy coincidences I happened to be talking with Roger at the precise time he decided to sell it. Negotiations were swift and the car is now mine. The picture above was taken at the 1999 Auto Italia Festival at Brooklands where I thoroughly enjoyed 'demonstrating' the car with youngest son Leo alongside. If your PC is multimedia capable, click here for a video clip (788kb) of the car on track or here for another video clip (568kb) of my attempt to overtake the Ferrari BB512LM NART car that was in my way. Almost made it too!

Picture and video clips are here courtesy of the racecar web site (well worth a visit).

The car is one of nine replicas which have been constructed by Chris Lawrence of Wymondham Engineering in Norfolk since 1982. It has an authentic chassis, faithfully copied from original chassis no. 4506 clothed in replica, hand-beaten aluminium bodywork. The car is both road and race legal.

The original 450S used a twin-plug V8 which saw use only in this model and subsequently in the 5000GT road car. The transmission used a Maserati transaxle. Brakes used huge cast drums specially made for the 450. All these components are almost as rare as hens' teeth so part of the difficulty in creating these replicas was to find suitable replacements which honour the car's heritage and preserve its feel.

Specification

The engine in my car is derived from a Quattroporte Series I unit with uprated internals, retaining its 4.2 litre capacity. Fuel is currently via four Weber 38DCNF carburettors and ignition is single plug. Power output is in the region of 320BHP which compares to 400BHP of the original cars. The early Maserati V8 head castings contain the second plug casting - only the final drill and tap for the second plug remains to be done. Internally, the two engines are quite different - eg, the 450 unit has gear driven cams while the later road car engines use chains; the 450 had two distributors driven off the cams while the road engine has a single distributor geared off the crank.

Of the nine cars Chris has made, six have used a modern Getrag five speed gearbox (as used in the manual Jaguar XJ-S and BMW M5) and two have been fitted with Porsche 928 transaxles. This car is unique in using the ZF gearbox from a Maserati 3500GT which (though marginal in its ability to handle the V8's torque) provides a sweeter change and a better balanced feel to the car.

Suspension is independent coil and coaxial shocks all round with specially fabricated arms at the front and Jaguar derived axle at the rear. Geometry is fully adjustable. Brakes are disc all round (inboard at the rear). Wheels are 15" Borrani wires with knock-on spinners and I use 215/70VR15 Michelin XWX and Yokohama A008 tyres (anyone know where I can get some more Yokohamas?).

I stand 6'4" (1.97 metres) tall in my socks so I'm fortunate that both previous owners are almost as tall and the car was fitted with a reasonably long pedal box from new. Still, to get a comfortable driving position I have found it necessary to remove the seat and sit on a cushion on the floor with a simple upholstered and curved backrest on the back bulkhead. A steering column extension was fabricated to bring the wheel into a comfortable 'crooked elbow' position.

Race history

Of the nine cars produced, six were exported to the U.S. and Japan with three remaining in the UK - the last one produced (with transaxle) has been retained by Chris Lawrence and the sister car to mine has been owned since new by Edwin Faulkner. Of the exported cars, Chris believes only two or possibly three survive, the others destroyed in accidents.

Both Edwin's car and mine have been raced regularly - most notably in the Isle of Mann (Britain's oldest race circuit) during the Manx Classic weekend where my car held the Willaston Circuit speed record for three years and Edwin has been a frequent podium visitor. Both cars have been involved in accidents at Governor's Bridge - my car turned end over end by Roger in a horrific looking accident which wrecked both front and rear bodywork and the supporting framework yet - staggeringly - failed to distort the chassis by a single millimetre!

Driving impressions

What can I say? Every drive in this car is a personal Mille Miglia experience.

From the driver's seat, the view through the low perspex windscreen framed by wing and the power bulge covering the carbs simply lifts my soul. At idle, the side exhausts sound for all the world as if you have parked between two very large garden lawn mowers - a loud 'chuffing' sound as each cylinder is heard individually. Press the throttle and the mowers are left way behind as the engine develops a deep growl tinged with a harder note from the induction. As revs rise, the sound becomes a hard edged bark - loud enough to make the hairs on your neck stand to attention (and to require ear plugs to avoid hearing damage - my ears didn't stop ringing for two days after an afternoon long drive early in our relationship!)

As a road car, its performance is phenomenal. I have no idea what the 0-60 time is but it can easily embarrass modern supercars and I don't find it necessary to change down from fifth gear to dismiss any other traffic. The engine's torque curve appears to be flat from tickover to the 6000rpm red line and is quite sufficient that, for road use, any gear will do. It is perfectly possible to pull away from rest using no throttle - and with the usual 500rpm tickover speed falling by only 50 revs and then for only a moment. On public roads, handling is neutral and grip is very high. In the dry, wheelspin is an option in the first three gears if you are brutal but, as ever, a smoother take off is faster and kinder to the machinery. In the wet, caution is advisable but the car is far from being a handful. My first drive was through a blizzard over the High Pennines and I had no real problems.

Ride comfort is surprisingly supple and nowhere near as harsh as expected given the tiny amount of suspension movement. There is no sign of chassis flex I have completed a number of 300 mile drives in the car without becoming tired.

On track, we are still finding our feet as far as set-ups are concerned. As currently set up, the car is very forgiving with any over-exuberance out of a corner easily controlled with a bit or arm twirling. Entry to a corner is typified by understeer (too much at the moment) and the car is neutral under power but oversteer is never too far away if the right foot becomes too heavy.

Picture and video clips are here courtesy of the racecar web site (well worth a visit).

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Last modified: 13 January, 2003