Lot 541: 1958 Maserati 3500GT Coupé
Coachwork by Touring, of Milan

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.
This early 3500GT was originally ordered by an Italian businessman who died before he could take delivery. The car then remained at the Maserati factory for three years before being sold, by which time it had been upgraded with the front disc brakes standardised on the Series 2. In the current owner’s possession for the past eight years, chassis number ‘512’ was fully restored in the USA while in the previous owner’s hands and comes with a massive file of related bills totalling circa $120,000, close inspection of which is recommended. Presented in excellent condition throughout, with nicely patinated original leather interior, the car is offered with current road fund licence, MoT to April 2009 and Swansea V5C document.