One to Buy: Acciaio Brunito 1 of 5 RHD 1961 Maserati 3500 GT Spyder
Unlike the more numerous Touring-styled 3500 GT Coupe, Maserati’s open top variant of the theme was based on a short wheelbase chassis with coachwork by Vignale.
In typical Vignale fashion, the 3500 GT Spyder was a more elaborate design than the comparatively restrained Coupe even though the two models shared some obvious DNA. However, despite its stunningly good looks and the prospect of open air motoring, less than 250 examples of the two-seat Spyder were constructed compared to over 1400 of the more practical 2+2 Coupes.
During the course of production, both the Fixed and Drop Head 3500s were subject to broadly the same mechanical updates, the most notable of which was a switch to fuel-injection instead of carburettors in 1961.
Currently on offer at the Classic Motor Hub showroom in Bibury, Oxfordshire, is an incredibly rare first series carb-fed 3500 GT Spyder, one of reputedly just five such cars completed in right-hand drive.
Configured in the stunningly good looking combination of Acciaio Brunito with Nero upholstery (a colour scheme it retains to this day), chassis ‘1297’ was completed on May 23rd 1961 and supplied via Arturo Tuena to an Italian-domiciled Englishman who later replaced the original steel wheels with the optional Borrani wires.
Exported to the UK a few years later, chassis ‘1297’ has more recently been restored to its original specification, since which time the car has been displayed at a number of Concours d’Elegance to include the annual Maserati Club event in 2016 where it was crowned overall winner.
Reprinted below is Classic Motor Hub’s description:
One of only five right-hand-drive cars built
Presented in its original shade of Acciaio Brunito
Fastidiously maintained by marque specialists and a multiple concours winner
The late 1950s were a halcyon period for Grand Touring cars and few were more stylish than the Maserati 3500GT Vignale Spyder. This particular example – chassis number AM101.1297 – is one of only five right-hand-drive cars built and was completed on 23 May 1961.
The Maserati is thought to have been sold new via Arturo Tuena in Genoa to an Englishman who was living in Italy – hence the right-hand-drive configuration. Finished in Acciaio Brunito with a black interior, it originally wore steel wheels but they were later replaced with the optional Borrani wires.
As a relatively early example of the 3500GT Spyder, it featured the four-speed gearbox. Not until later in the production run did Maserati fit a five-speed unit.
The car was in the UK by 1969, when it was acquired by Stuart Cawley, who had seen it advertised for sale in Motor Sport magazine. It had been repainted Cream but was still on Milanese registration plates, and having bought it for £1200 – against which he part-exchanged his Mercedes-Benz 190SL – Cawley drove it from London back home to Scotland.
Having used the Maserati for a couple of years, he drove it down to Italy in 1971 so that the engine could receive some remedial work at Autocorse – as recommended by the factory. Having not been entirely happy with the results, he returned in 1972 so that a more comprehensive rebuild of the straight-six could be carried out.
Cawley moved to Hertfordshire in 1975 and got to know marque specialist Bill McGrath. When Cawley later retired, he went to work for McGrath part-time, and in return Bill stored the 3500GT Vignale Spyder free of charge.
Having not had much use out of the car in the later years of his ownership, Cawley eventually decided to sell it in 2000 to Patrick Martin, who he knew as a customer of McGrath. Martin had it mechanically recommissioned and in 2004 used it for the Maserati 90th anniversary celebrations in Italy.
The following year, he sold the car to Edwin Faulkner, who commissioned a bodywork restoration by Jim Henshaw, during which it was resprayed in the Maserati shade of Avorio. A retrim was also carried out.
Faulkner kept the Vignale Spyder on the Isle of Man and, as part of the registration process there, had to replace the original kilometres-per-hour speedometer with a miles-per-hour version.
He sold it in 2010 to a UK-based owner who had it returned to its original colour of Acciaio Brunito by respected restoration firm Moto Technique. Three years later it passed to another UK enthusiast, and in 2014 it was used on the Maserati Club Scottish Tour as well as the Goodwood Road Racing Club’s Corsica and Sardinia Tour.
The Maserati was displayed at concours events and was runner-up in the Club Trophy at the 2016 Concours of Elegance at Windsor Castle. It was also part of the Earls Court display at the 2014 Goodwood Revival, and was first in class and overall winner at the 2016 Maserati Club Concours.
Now being offered for sale at The Classic Motor Hub in exceptional condition, this well-known and supremely stylish Maserati 3500GT Vignale Spyder has been maintained with no expense spared in recent years. In February 2022, its gearbox and steering box were rebuilt by McGrath and it benefits from electric power-steering. It also comes with a consignment of spares that includes five road wheels, a pair of front brake discs and a steering column, plus an original copy of the driver’s manual.
