It’s hard to describe the significance of the original 1959-1961 Maserati Tipo 61 “Birdcage” in terms of engineering. It was one of the most iconic race cars ever designed. Its beauty and performance can be attributed to the radical steel cage made with 200 tiny steel tubes. This made it light, quick, and quite stunning. Automotive designer Ken Okuyama, responsible for such beauties as the Ferrari Enzo and the Maserati Quattroporte V, recently unveiled his Birdcage homage known as the Kode61. It strutted its stuff at the famous Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este show.
The Kode61 retains the exposed trellis chassis in the cockpit, as well as the car’s blue and white colorway, big fenders and sweeping haunches. This time around, however, there’s a twin cockpit with rear cowls, a carbon fiber body, and high-mounted twin exhaust ports. There are no details on the power output, but we’re guessing it has the same 630-hp “Nettuno” twin-turbo V6 engine found in the new Maserati MC20. The car will be made in very limited numbers for some very special customers.
