One to Buy: ex-Mohammed Abdul Bakr Bakhashab 1961 Maserati 3500 GT
/
Up until the late 1950s, Maserati’s road car division was focused on low volume coachbuilt models that did not generate sufficient income to cover the firm’s expensive Formula 1 and Sports car racing endeavours. What the Modena-based firm required was a machine that took advantage of more standardised production techniques.
That car, dubbed the 3500 GT, arrived in prototype form at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1957 and set a new benchmark for what could be expected from a 2+2 Grand Tourer.
Based around a conventional tubular steel chassis with independent front suspension, a live rear axle and drum brakes all round, the 3500 GT was powered by Maserati’s formidable dual overhead cam 3.5-litre straight six hooked up to a ZF four-speed manual gearbox.
Perhaps the 3500 GT’s most appealing attribute though was its handsome bodywork fashioned from aluminium by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan using their patented Superleggera construction method. Inside, the luxuriously equipped cockpit was trimmed in high end materials and offered plenty of space for long distance journeys.
Thanks to its elegant lines and perfect proportions, the 3500 GT looks good in practically any colour, as evidenced by this gorgeous Bianco / Rosso example currently on offer at the Thiesen Automobile showroom in Hamburg.
Delivered new in 1961 via official agent Automar Srl to Sheikh Mohammed Abdul Bakr Bakhashab in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as a last-of-line carb-fed 3500 GT Thiesen’s superbly restored machine came with the desirable front disc brakes introduced mid-way through production.
In recent years the matching numbers car was the subject of an exacting body-off restoration and now looks to be among the best examples of its type.
Bellissimo!
