Maserati 450S

This is a photograph I took at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's not mentioned in the programme of the event and as far as I can recall there was nothing on display saying anything about the car, but it appears to be a replica of a Maserati 450S. It's similar to the 300S but has a bulge on the hood to accommodate the V8 engine. The DVLA record unfortunately no longer recognises the registration number VNT450. Later in the day I took a photograph of what I assumed was the same car as it drove past me in the paddock:

It's a different car though, as it doesn't have a registration number on the nose of the car and has louvres in the bodywork behind the front wheel.

But there was a genuine Maserati 450S at the meeting which competed in the 1950s Sports Car race - that of Thomas Bscher which I featured on 28 July 2015.

1957 Maserati 450S

I took this photograph at Luffield corner during the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's Thomas Bscher in his 1957 Maserati 450S, and as with many Maseratis it's a bit of a conundrum. It seems to be either chassis 4505 or 4506 and originally had a 4½ litre V8 engine. The barchetta.cc history of 4505 says that it was renumbered to 4506 in 1957 and sold to John Edgar in June of that year. In July 1958 John Edgar had a 6.3 litre Pontiac engine installed in the car, but about 12 months later this was replaced with a 5.7 litre Maserati V8 unit. In 1980 when in the ownership of Peter Kaus a 6.2 litre Maserati marine engine was fitted and the car was acquired by Thomas Bscher around 1990. The programme of this Silverstone meeting showed the engine capacity to be 5,600cc.

Maserati 450S

This car was entered in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's Thomas Bscher's 1957 Maserati 450S, and as with many Maseratis it's a bit of a conundrum. It's either chassis 4505 or 4506 and originally had a 4½ litre V8 engine. The barchetta.cc history of 4505 says that it was renumbered to 4506 in 1957 and sold to John Edgar in June of that year. In July 1958 John Edgar had a 6.3 litre Pontiac engine installed in the car, but about 12 months later this was replaced with a 5.7 litre Maserati V8 unit. In 1980 when in the ownership of Peter Kaus a 6.2 litre Maserati marine engine was fitted and the car was acquired by Thomas Bscher around 1990. The programme of this Silverstone meeting showed the engine capacity to be 5,600cc. On 28 July 2015 I showed 2 photographs of the car at the Coys meeting at Silverstone in 1993 where the engine capacity was again said to be 5,600cc.

Maserati 450S

This car took part in the Champagne Charles Heidsieck Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

It's a 1957 Maserati 450S and was raced at this meeting by the owner, Thomas Bscher of Germany. The 450S had a 4½ litre V8 engine and was produced by Maserati to challenge for the 1957 World Sportscar Championship as the 3 litre 300S was considered to be too underpowered to have a chance of winning that series. Maserati finished in second place in the Championship winning 2 of the 7 races, the Sebring 12 Hour race and the 1000km Swedish Grand Prix at Kristianstad. Thomas Bscher's car was is variously described as being serial number 4505 and 4506 and was originally built for John Edgar of the USA, being fitted with a Pontiac engine at one point when the original engine was blown and returned to the works for repair.

Maseratis at Silverstone

These photographs were taken during a practice session during the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992. I don't remember taking the photographs, but looking at the circuit layout as it was then they're obviously taken from inside the paddock at some point between Priory and Brooklands corners.

This is a 1957 Maserati 250S driven by Robin Lodge

A 1957 Maserati 450S driven by German Thomas Bscher, one time head of the Bugatti Automobiles division of Volkswagen AG. Thomas Bscher won the 1995 BPR Global Endurance GT Series driving a McLaren F1 GTR and finished fifth in the 1999 Le Mans 24 hour race driving a BMW V12 LM.

A 1959 Maserati T60 'Birdcage' driven by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason