Lot 162: 1958 Maserati 3500GT Coupé

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.

The odometer reading of this left hand drive variant is 56,181 kms and we are advised that its engine is in running condition. With demand for similar period Ferraris and Aston Martins ever growing, comparable Maseratis look good value.

Le compteur de cette voiture à conduite à gauche affiche 56 181 km et nous savons que le moteur est en état de fonctionnement. La croissance de la demande en faveur des Ferrari et des Aston Martin de cette époque ne peut que favoriser le succès et la rentabilité de ces Maserati ô combien comparables.