Well, this is becoming more and more interesting.
Where to start.
The picture in Stubbo's post is a '55-56 Maserati... the body shape is the same. However, Moss's car has '54 bodywork, which has louvres... but the nose is wrong... it did not have a blue surround at the front. (At least I don't think it had....) Other than that, it seems correct... As an aside, I am thinking about doing the car using a Strombecker body, which is the '56 car with no louvres... I have seen an ad in a model railway magazine that a company is producing decals of louvres for use on locomotives... if they are, and the decals are any good, I may be able to back date some 250fs. That's all I know about them. The other alternative is, of course, a resin '54 shell.
Now, I have taken a closer look at the picture I have, and I am glad I did, because I have noticed details which I didn't see before. (I actually think we may well be looking at the same picture.) The nose appears to still have the red, white, and blue surround that it had earlier... but the stripe comes from that straight up the bonnet. There may or may not be a roundel... but the stripe has a curve at the top and bottom where the roundel would be. It is sometimes hard to write something that the reader will perceive as the writer means it, if that makes sense. I did and do not mean the stripe is curved... that when the roundel is placed in the center of the stripe the top and bottom of the stripe has a curve, something like this:
___________________________ _________
__________________________( roundel/number )_________
I hope the above came out... I've edited it twice, and if it doesn't work, than so be it!!!
I made the curve comment so that you would know that when the stripe stopped for the number it wasn't a straight edge. If I were doing a model (or perhaps I should say when) if I use a decal I would use a compass to indicate where the roundel was, but I wouldn't use a roundel because I think the stripe would be seen under it. I also don't think there was a roundel... or maybe I think you don't need one since I think the car was white... but yes, looking at the picture I can see there may be a roundel... more and more interesting!
I also think, just considering the photo, which is in black and white, that we are bringing our own perceptions to it... ie: I am seeing a white car with a blue stripe because I think that is what it is, and because John Fitch said as much in his biography that I quoted in my first post. You are looking at it for all the good reasons stated above where you see a grey car with a dark stripe, either blue or black. I also think we may be looking at a white car, where the white is slightly darker than the white of the roundel so we seem to see a roundel in the picture. It must also be remembered that Fitch rented the car from Moss for the Italian GP, so it makes sense that he (they) repainted the car because they wanted a satisfied customer! They were both driving for Mercedes in sports cars at the time, as you know.
I would really like to know what reference that the model company in Stubbo's post used for a reference. It is the nose band there that "throws" me! Other than that, as far as I am concerned, the color is correct. Except that the blue stripe has a straight edge above the number!
Like you, I am picture posting challenged! So there is no point in you sending me the picture. I do, however, have a friend who has an extensive motor sport library, and I think he has the Oct. '55 Motor Sport. I will check with him to see if he has it, and if so I will have a look. It may be a week or more before I can see him. But as I said above, I think it may be the same picture. Arron and Hughes used many pictures from the LAT archive, so it well may be the same. If you are not familiar with their book, it has a photo of every car that took part in a WC race... well, not all, because there were some they couldn't find! It is by driver, so they show a picture of a driver in the car, then give the race numbers for that driver in that car in each race. There are a few pictures where the car/driver combination is in a non-championship race, but they give the other data... and since Fitch only drove one race in '55 as you pointed out, there is his picture.
As I said at the top of this post, this is more and more interesting! I hope we can get the correct answer!
