MASERATI COLLECTION

Grani & Partners

No 5 - MASERATI 450 S G.P. Cuba 1958

Diecast

Scale – 1/43

Please inquire for discounts available for regular customers and with a multiple models orders.

This is a nicely detailed model that displays great.

This Maserati Collection was released in Italy a few years ago.  It called: “La Maserati I modellli che hanno fatto la storia”.   That in my understanding translated close to “Maserati Cars that make a History”

On a bottom of the information sheet it reads “QN” IL GIORNO il Resto del Garlino La NAZIONE.

“The Maserati 450 S G.P. Cuba 1958

This vehicle was driven by racing legend Stirling Moss in two Sport Car World Championship races in 1957.

This car competed in three of the seven 1957 World Championship races: the Mille Miglia (where Moss drove it), the Nurburgring (where Moss and five-time Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio were behind the wheel), and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In May of 1957 it was delivered as the factory works car for Stirling Moss and Dennis "Jenks" Jenkinson for Maserati in the Mille Miglia three days before the race. It led the race from the start and was retired after 12 kilometers due to a broken brake pedal.

In 1957 at Nurburgring circuit, it was driven be Fangio and Moss, after they were given 4505 as a replacement for their first car. It was retired leading with a broken half shaft that caused a rear wheel to leave the car, spinning out of control, then regained and brought to a stop without crashing.

In June of 1957, it was driven in the LeMans by Jean Behra and Andre Simon. Once again leading the race and retired after a U-joint in the rear failed which cased a hole in the gas tank.

It was sold to Temple Buell, Jr. in 1957 to race in the United States and Maserati upgraded the motor to 5.7 litres to better compete with the Chevrolet engine cars in the USA. Later in 1958 at the Cuban Grand Prix, it was entered by Temple Buell of Team USA as a factory entry and Fangio was slated to race the car. Fangio set the pool by later was kidnapped at gunpoint regime from his hotel lobby by Fidel Castro gaourilas in order to emberast Fulgencio Batista.  He was released harmless after the end of the race and it believed that this event may have saved Fangio’s life, as the race was red-flagged after only 12 laps due to excessive oil on the track and several accidents. A car had also burst its engine and one of the cars behind it skidded into the oil and then went into the crowd, killing some people. He had a bad feeling about the whole race and it seems for good reason.”

Last year a small US distributor who specialized in diecast models imported limited quantity of models from this collection from Italy.   It is virtually impossible to find these models on the US market, you can find it on sale in Europe but S&H cost will be expensive and risks of lost or damage while in transit is much higher compare to US domestic shipment.

The collection consists of 25 models.  It appears that Grani & Partners is the model maker company that produced models for this collection.  This company doesn’t use their own brand for models distribution but rather produce models for other companies accordingly their specifications.  They produced really nicely detailed series of military vehicles (now available in Germany under Schuco brand), and some Italian police / gendarmerie cars that were distributed by DeAgostini.

Most models from this collection can be described as a moderate quality, however many are good quality that display great.  The series provides good quality to price ratio and with my current low price it is an excellent ratio. 

While most car models presented in the collection are widely available from other model manufactures some are really difficult to find or not available at all.