interesting week....on sat. i ran the bug as a shakedown before monterey...so my fingers were still tingling this morning when i happened to stop by a friends fabrication shop...he said he had some interesting cars inside...what to my totally amazed eyes should appear but ERA R2A and a 250F [chassis 2525]..both getting prepped for the historics.
offered the opportunity to check out "office" in each, i jumped!!!interesting comparison...the bugatti is essentially a 20's two man GP car...bolt upright seating,huge wheel in your chest and outside shift.lots of exposed stuff whizzing around your feet...pretty good visibility but generally uncomfortable...the bug also has a "heavy" feel to the controls [despite legend].

the ERA is like sitting in the living room sofa!..even higher than the bug but centrally with split footwells...with the pre-select the shifting is a small effortless endeavor..the controls,unlike the bug, seem light and delicate..with the contact patch of each tire within sight,the visibility is great but you still are aware of sitting rather high ..."crow's nest" indeed!!

well, then the maser...what a visual and tactile delight!!! your butt is right on the floor with both legs straight out but strangely splayed...with the gas and brake pedals on the right and the clutch to the left of the tunnel at the firewall...the driveshaft tunnel goes at a angle to the left rear,right under your left knee..disconcerting at first but not bad after a while...the gearlever sprouts out of nowhere on the right,the gate canted to normal.. the steering column goes a bit to the right as well...compared to the almost total symmetry of the other two,the 250 seems all askew,but exicitingly so!..the visibility is much more limited ...you can see the tops of the tires but not much more...i suspect to be driven more by feel than by sight...i could barely drag myself out..what a wonderful device!

sorry for the lengthly self indulgence but hey, i had to tell someone!!!..and as ferris bueller says,"if you have the means,i suggest you pick one up".

oh,did i mention the vast number of rivets on the masers tanks?..a bit like counting freckles on a stunning redhead.

2525 was of course one of the two cars built for the 1956 Monza race with canted engine and offset driveline

Been there, done that. The Maser fuel tank rivets I mean. Well on second thought, maybe.... uh, let's not go there.

The riveted fuel tanks were all different depending on the year and model. The first riveted '54's, the later '54's, '55-56, '56 offset, '57, '57 V-12, '58 piccolo and '58 refits. Plus a few one-off variants. To avoid the obvoius, I will mention that the very first '54 tanks were not riveted.
But without going into each model, you are looking at anywhere between 900 and 1200 rivets. Then there is the riveted oil tank.
Cheers,
Barrie

And the pipes that used to come adrift...