One to Buy: ex-William Brown 1961 Maserati 5000 GT
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Buyers for super high end Grand Tourers in the early 1960s needed to look only in one place: Italy. Between them, bitter rivals Ferrari and Maserati had the market for truly customisable 160mph-plus road cars sewn up.
From Maranello came the 400 Superamerica while, over in Modena, Maserati offered the 5000 GT. Although immensely powerful and incredibly fast, neither model was conceived for competition use. Rather, they were created as flagship road cars for the firm’s wealthiest clients.
Famously, the 5000 GT was powered by a V8 engine derived from the 450 S sports racing car. The first two examples (built in 1959 and ‘60) ran four enormous Weber 45 IDM carburettors and the racing engine’s complex gear-driven overhead camshaft system. Peak output was 340bhp at 5500rpm.
Subsequent 5000 GTs displaced 4941cc, used Lucas fuel-injection and quieter, simpler, chain driven overhead camshafts. These cars produced 325bhp at 5800rpm.
34 cars were manufactured in total between 1959 and ‘64, no two of which were 100% identical.
22 units from the production run were dispatched to Carrozzeria Allemano in Turin for bodywork. The first of these was chassis 014 which is currently on offer at the Fantasy Junction showroom in Emeryville, California.
The car, which features a number of unique cosmetic details, was completed in October 1961 and finished in Grigio Montebello with a red interior. It went on to star in Maserati’s brochure for the 5000 GT and also appeared on the cover of Auto Italiano magazine.
Chassis 014 was ordered by William Brown, an industrialist from Pittsburgh who collected his brand new Maserati from the factory and proceeded to drive it around Europe. Having been returned to Maserati for some final tuning, 014 was shipped to the US where Mr Brown drove it to his ranch in Arizona. It was retained until 1967, at which point the handsome Maserati was sold to the first of several subsequent owners. Today the car is being offered in wonderful restored condition.
