Beschreibung:

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 Sportscar 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 eventually forced a withdrawal from racing and Maserati's survival strategy for the 1960s centered 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 model built in significant numbers. A luxury '2+2', the 3500GT drew on Maserati's competition experience, employing a tubular chassis frame and an engine derived from the 350S sports car unit of 1956. Its 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. Built initially with drum brakes and a four-speed gearbox, the 3500GT was gradually improved, gaining five speeds, front disc brakes and, finally, all-disc braking. A car possessing such impeccable antecedents not unnaturally attracted the attention of Italy's finest carrozzeria: Allemano, Bertone and Frua all created bodies for the 3500GT chassis. Most coupés were the work of Touring, while all but one (a Frua-bodied example) of the much less common Spyder version were the work of Carrozzeria Vignale. Introduced in 1959, Vignale's Maserati 3500GT Spyder was the creation of Giovanni Michelotti, at that time the company's star designer. Built on a slightly shorter wheelbase - 250cm as opposed to 260cm - than the coupé and constructed of steel panels rather than the closed car's aluminium, the Spyder lasted in production until 1964, by which time only 245 cars had been made. This left-hand-drive example, chassis number 101.1295, is fitted with a set of desirable Borrani wire wheels and presents splendidly in red with tan upholstery. The odometer reads just over 60,000 miles, which our vendor believes to be accurate. Having been treated to a ground-up, body-off restoration performed by Auto Stangl in Prague in 2004, 101.1295 then returned to the United States and promptly won a 2nd in Class award at the prestigious Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance in May 2008. One of the most exclusive GT cars of the 1960s, the Maserati 3500GTs – Vignale Spyders especially – are increasingly sought after, thus presenting discerning collectors with an exciting opportunity to acquire a quite exceptional example of this most sophisticated classic Maserati.