Lot 117: Maserati Indy

During the 1960s Maserati gradually gave up the idea of motor racing and turned more to road cars, although these harked back to the marque's days of glory on the race tracks. Nowhere is this dichotomy better illustrated than in Maserati's V8 models. The engine was commissioned with the intention of winning the Indianapolis 500 but then the commissioner ran short of funds and withdrew from the project. Maserati could not allow a wonderful large-block, quadruple camshaft, engine to gather dust and so gave it gainful employment in the 450S sports-racer which almost won the 1957 World Sports Car Championship. The front-engined cars originating in the 1960s shared the same basic floorpan although crucial dimensions changed according to whether it was to support the lithe Ghibli or the corpulent Quattroporte. By 1968 it was felt that the road car designs were rather plain so shortly after the exotic Ghibli the Indy was introduced, a striking gran turismo with four seater coachwork by Vignale. With servo-assisted disc brakes on all four wheels, monocoque construction, a 260bhp quadruple camshaft V8 engine and five speed gearbox this was, for its day, a thoroughly modern and potent motor car, capable of a claimed maximum speed of over 150mph. In 1970 a larger, 4.7 litre engine became an option, with improved performance and greater refinement A 4.7 litre model, chassis number 116098 was manufactured in 1973 and first registered in Great Britain in 1980, before being acquired as part of a prestigious private collection in 1989 where it has remained since in a heated environment with full time staff devoted to the upkeep and maintenance of the cars. As a result, the car is in fabulous condition throughout, and represents a very good example of this classic Maserati. Finished in red with a distinctive beige interior, the car in most respects looks as good as it must have done when rolling off the production line. An excellent opportunity to acquire a piece of Maserati history.