Japanese studio Ken Okuyama Design unveiled a roadster called the Kode61 Birdcage dedicated to the racing Maserati Tipo at the Villa d'Este elegance competition in Italy 61 in the early 1960s. The Kode61 Birdcage will be released in a limited edition to the very wealthy.
The Villa d'Este elegance competition on the famous Lake Como is a fairly closed event, unlike, for example, a similar American event in Pebble Beach, where there is always a lot of press and loitering. In recent years, the Italian competition has been held without too much publicity, many premieres here are held “by their own for their own” without any PR support, but thank you that at least from the pictures we can still appreciate the new masterpieces of automotive design.
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Famous Japanese designer Ken Okuyama chose Villa d'Este as the venue for the debut of his next small-scale sports car called Kode61 Birdcage, providing it with an extremely sparse description – they say that the car was entered as a concept in the competition, but then it will be released in a limited edition.
Ken Okuyama became famous for his work at Pininfarina from 2004 to 2006, when he worked closely with Ferrari: the Japanese designer made several outstanding models for the Scuderia, including the Ferrari Enzo, and today he runs his own studio that deals not only with cars , but also by trains, yachts, agricultural machinery, furniture, architecture, household appliances, bags, etc.
Okuyama's own car projects are usually visually light and very elegant spider/roadsters made using the components and assemblies of mass-produced cars. The Kode61 Birdcage is a typical example of the Okuyama school, inspired by the small-scale racing Maserati Tipo 61, which was based on a lightweight space frame made of thin steel tubes, reminiscent of a birdcage (Birdcage in English).
Kode61 Birdcage does not look like a historical prototype, but only conveys its spirit. The cockpit of the model is divided in two, which is emphasized by a contrasting blue stripe running along the center of the body from bow to stern. Instead of a traditional windshield, short cone-shaped windshields are installed. The wheels are borrowed from a modern mid-engined Maserati MC20 supercar. , but the interior details give out the donor: the instrument panel, the microclimate unit, the air ducts and the gearshift unit are borrowed from the Ferrari 550 Maranello from the early 2000s. The thin tubes that frame the front fascia and central tunnel are a modern take on the birdcage.
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Dynamic performance is anyone's guess: the original Ferrari The 550 Maranello was equipped with a 5.5-liter V12 with 485 hp. and could accelerate to 100 km/h in 4.5 s, the maximum speed is 320 km/h. Old Ferrari engines are easy to boost, and the Kode61 Birdcage weighs clearly less than the 1,690-kilogram Ferrari 550 Maranello, so the Japanese spider should ride briskly. The price will be cosmic and it is unlikely that we will ever know.
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