Maserati 3500 GTi
The years of Italy’s economic miracle gave the era’s creations a dash of romance and unmistakable flair, turning heads far beyond its borders. The Maserati 3500 GT captures that spirit in mechanical form, wrapped in elegant coachwork by Carrozzeria Touring: even today, it speaks of Italy at its highest expression.
The year it was presented to the public at Geneva Salon, Juan Manuel Fangio won the German Grand Prix driving a Maserati 250F throughout the Nurburgring: even the 5-time world champion driver chose the 3500 GT as personal car during his italian sojourns.
It may seem natural that a racing driver such as Fangio would choose a Maserati in those years. Yet among the owners of the 3500 GTs were Prince Ranieri III of Monaco, Alberto Sordi and Elizabeth Taylor.
In 1957, Maserati officially withdrew from motor racing and shifted its focus to the production of road-going grand touring cars. The Maserati 3500 GTi was built in aluminum and mounted on a tubular chassis based on the patented Superleggera system. It was powered by a six-cylinder engine derived from the 1956 350S racing car and was noted for its strong torque delivery at low engine speeds.
The exhaust note of the "inline-6" engineered by Alfieri emerges charming and deep at the same time, expressing all of the vigour furnished by this engine, which, due to the replacement of the triple Weber carburetor with the Lucas indirect injection system in 1961, delivers 235 HP. As fitted on this example, front disc brakes and a ZF five-speed gearbox, instead of the standard four-speed, were available as options.
For what it represented to the ‘Tridente’, to Italy, and to the automotive world, the Maserati 3500 GTi was chosen as the symbolic car of Maserati’s centenary in 2014. It was also the car associated with the final public conference held in Milan on 12 April 2002 by engineer Giulio Alfieri to tell the story of the italian car manufacturer.
3500 GTi
Paint color Grigio Fumo Cascine (MM 12.832)
Interiors Neutro Connolly Leather (PAC.1544)
Retains its original, matching engine
1 of 441 GTi produced
Meticulously serviced and lovingly cared over the last decades
This Maserati 3500 GTi, as certified by the manufacturer, was completed on May 22, 1962 and sold on the 11th of June the same year, finished in Grigio Fumo Cascine (Max Meyer code 12.382) with a Connolly leather interior (Connolly code PAC.1544), and, according to the Maserati archive, optioned with a distinctive chrome accelerator pedal with a rubber sleeve.
The car spent most of its life in Germany, before being imported back into its homecountry, Italy, in excellent condition. Still sporting its factory colors, with original carpets and interior (besides the colors of the seats and door panels), the car is in perfect mechanical shapes, having just undergone an extensive service at a specialized workshop in Milan, including work on the radiator and water pump.
Ready to deliver joy to the future owner, this 3500 GTi was carburetors-converted in period for ease of use and maintance, as was the case with many GTi. The car comes with a reproduction toolkit and a Certificate of Origin released by Maserati.