1957 Maserati 450S Costin-Zagato
The 1957 Maserati 450S Costin-Zagato Coupé started life in 1956 as a convertible and was raced in Buenos Aires by Juan Manuel Fangio before being redesigned into a coupé in 1957 by Englishman Frank Costin. The car was hand-built to Costin’s specifications by Zagato in Italy (hence the hyphenated name) and was then raced at Le Mans by Stirling Moss, sadly the car failed to finish due to a mechanical breakdown.
The Maserati designers worked simultaniously on two different engines, a new 3.5 litre six cylinder and a 4.5 litre V8. A new chassis was designed to house both engines. The first engine was the six cylinder and it was taken out in a new, stronger chassis for the 1956 Mille Miglia. The ‘six’ proved underpowered for the heavy chassis and the combination was even outpaced by 3 litre 300S. By the fall of 1956, the V8 was ready and it was taken out at the practice of the Swedish Grand Prix.
Throughout the fall and winter of 1956, the V8 car was further developed and the engine output was raised from the initial 365 bhp to 400 bhp. With this immense figure, the quad cam, V8 engined 450S was the most powerful front engine sportscar. It was only surpassed by the Panoz prototypes in the late 1990s. The brakes were also revised to be able to cope with the enormous speeds expected from the 450S.
The fuel, oil, and oil dip stick tubes are visible, and interestingly, the fuel filler cap and collar are actually mounted to the rear window. Our model has the oil dipstick pull ring intact, a tiny and fragile part that many of these models have lost throughout the years. The rear deck lid features a row of applied chrome rivets and the roundel has its night running lamp attached. The front and rear jack forks are in place, and the recessed rocker panels accommodate side exit exhaust headers on both sides. This model is in superb condition with the only flaw being a slight portion of the driver’s side Maserati decal is missing.
The cockpit is nicely detailed with chrome-bezeled instruments, a gated shift lever, simulated wood rimmed steering wheel with machined metal column, hub, and spokes. Corrugated fresh air tubing twists its way from under the dash, and a full pedal set resides in the footwell. Сream-beige ‘felt’ covered racing seats contrast nicely with the aluminum colored interior.
Looking at this car, especially from the side, it’s hard not to wonder what happened to all this automotive design talent. Sure there are some great looking made cars made nowadays but nothing close to this. And remember, the 450S Costin-Zagato Coupé was hand drawn in 1957 by a man using nothing but a pencil and paper.
