Monza moments

Hawthorn should have been very grateful to the modified A30 gearbox on his Lotus. Had it not broken before the race he would not have driven for Ferrari, and he certainly would not have won with the Lotus.

The Oscas finished in immaculate condition, there was not a speck of oil in the cockpits or on the engines, while the passenger seats could really have been occupied, not containing fuel tanks, batteries or toolboxes like most sports/racing cars.

Out of seven Maserati 150S models, one finished ; two Oseas started and two finished; three Porsches started and three finished. Of 15 Ferrari 2-litres, only seven finished. Gordini started one car. and it finished.

Among the many private owners, some showed ability, others a complete lack ; one who might be worth watching is Garavaglia.

There has never been a noise issuing from a Maserati quite like the exhaust note of a well-tuned A6G six-cylinder 2-litre.

Notes on the cars at Monza

Of most interest were the new Ferraris of the factory team, these having the same chassis_ engine and axles as the produetion “Testa Rosa” models, but with a much sleeker body by Carrozzeria Touring. This latest 2-litre car from Maranello has is sturdy chassis of large tubes with a tubular superstructure, coil spring and wishbone ifs, a four-cylinder engine based on the old Formula II cars and a  4-speed gearbox in unit with this engine. The rear axle is a one-piece layout suspended on coil springs with radius rods and A-bracket location. This model is lighter and smaller than the original Mondial 2-litres which had a de Dion rear end. A sensible arrangement on the new cars is the fitting of the fuel tank above and behind the rear axle, with the spare wheel behind that in the extremity of the tail, thus providing the changeable weight nearer the centre of the car. Mechanically there appears to be little difference between the factory cars and the customers’, and the difference in power output cannot be very great, for Gerini was keeping pace with the leaders in his private car.

Maserati produced a new 200S with de Dion rear and 5-speed gearbox and the radiator closely ducted with the air-outlet under the car. This car had a chassis of lighter gauge tubing and a lower and sleeker body, but was unfortunately crashed by Farina. The engine was a four-cylinder twin-cam with double-choke Weber carburetters and a similar unit was fitted to an earlier experimental chassis with 1/4-elliptic rear springs to replace the crashed car. The Scuderia Guastalla also had a 1/4-elliptic-sprung model, and both these had the oil tank alongside the radiator with the filler under a hole in the bonnet and a dipstick protruding through. Two of the factory Maseratis had new types of bodywork with the head-fairing merged in with the rear offside mudguard, not unlike a Lotus, while wrapround windscreens of Perspex are normal wear.

The two Osca 11/2-litres were as used throughout the season by the factory, with coil-spring ifs, and a one-piece rear axle mounted on 1/4-elliptic springs. The chassis frame being a composite large and small diameter tube affair. Engine and gearbox are bolted together, and the former is a comparatively simple four-cylinder with gear-driven twin overhead camshafts, with two plugs per cylinder, while the universal twin-choke Weber carburettors are used. The fastest lap recorded by one of these cars was only seven seconds slower than the winning Ferrari 2-litre.