Lot 230: c.1960 Maserati 3500GT Series 1 Coupé
Coachwork by Carrozzeria Touring

Despite numerous racetrack successes that included Juan Manuel Fangio’s fifth World Championship - at the wheel of a 250F - and runner-up spot in the World Sports Car Championship with the fabulous 450S - both in 1957, the marque’s most successful season - Maserati was by that time facing a bleak future. Its parent company’s financial difficulties forced a withdrawal from racing, and Maserati’s survival strategy for the 1960s centred on establishing the company as a producer of road cars. The Modena marque’s new era began in 1957 with the launch of the Touring-bodied 3500GT, its first road car built in significant numbers. A luxury 2+2, the 3500GT drew heavily on Maserati’s competition experience, employing a tubular chassis frame and an engine derived from the 350S sportscar unit of 1956. Suspension was independent at the front by wishbones and coil springs, while at the back there was a conventional live axle/semi-elliptic arrangement. The 3500GT’s designer was none other than Giulio Alfieri, creator of the immortal Tipo 60/61 ‘Birdcage’ sports-racer and the man responsible for developing the 250F into a World Championship winner. The twin-overhead-camshaft, six-cylinder engine was a close relative of that used in the 250F and developed around 220bhp initially, later examples producing 235bhp on Lucas mechanical fuel injection. Built initially with drum brakes and four-speed transmission, the 3500GT was progressively updated, gaining five speeds, front disc brakes and, finally, all-disc braking before production ceased in 1964, by which time 2,223 cars had been made.
This Series 1 3500GT has the easier-to-maintain carburettor engine, desirable five-speed manual gearbox, front disc brakes, Borrani wire wheels and electric windows, and is finished in grey with original black leather interior. The car was acquired by the immediately preceding Swiss owner in 1996 and benefits from an engine rebuilt in 1998 by Tralli in Maserati’s hometown of Modena. It was purchased by the current owner at Bonhams’ Les Grandes Marques à Monaco sale on 15th May 2004 (Lot 221) and was found to drive well on a recent test run. A landmark model from the famous Modenese manufacturer, the car is offered with Netherlands registration papers and is tax-paid in Switzerland, having previously been registered there.