The Maserati 3500 GT (''Tipo 101'') and the Maserati 3500 GT Spyder (''Tipo 101/C'') are 2-door
coupé
A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors.
The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...
and
convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers.
A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...
grand tourer
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either ...
s made by
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
car manufacturer
Maserati
Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
between 1957 and 1964. It was a seminal vehicle for Maserati as the company's first successful attempt at the Gran Turismo market and series production.
History
Background
In the early 1950s Maserati had achieved racing success and international visibility, thanks to cars such as the A6GCM; its 2-litre, twin cam inline-six engine had already been enlarged to three litre capacity on the
Maserati 300S
The Maserati 300S was a racing car produced by Maserati of Italy between 1955 and 1958 to compete in the FIA's World Sportscar Championship. Twenty-six examples were produced.
Background
The 3.0-litre (approx at 6200 rpm) engine was based on th ...
. Chief engineer
Giulio Alfieri
Giulio Alfieri (10 July 1924 – 20 March 2002) was an Italian automobile engineer, affiliated with Maserati in Modena, Italy since 1953, where he was central to the development of racing and production cars in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Alfieri ...
felt the next step was to design an all-new 3.5-litre engine; the resulting long-stroke six, designed foremost for endurance racing on the Maserati 350S, was ready in 1955. In the meantime Maserati's first forays into the
grand tourer
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either ...
market, the 1947 A6 1500, 1951 A6G 2000 and 1954 A6G/54, had proven that the business was feasible; but the A6 road cars were still built in just a dozen examples a year—hardly series production. A different approach was needed to build fully accomplished grand tourers.
Development
The main development efforts that led to the 3500 GT were carried out in 1956–57, despite the frantic activity required by Maserati's participation in the
Formula 1
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
world championship. Alfieri modified the 350S's engine to suit a touring car, e.g. by switching to a
wet sump
Within piston engines, a wet sump is part of a lubrication system whereby the crankcase sump is used as an integral oil reservoir. An alternative system is the dry sump, whereby oil is pumped from a shallow sump into an external reservoir.Wet sum ...
oil system and changing the engine accessories. He also made several business trips to the United Kingdom in order to contact components suppliers. None were found in Italy, as Italian taxation system and the industry structure forced manufacturers to design every part in-house; a daunting task for small companies like Maserati. Thus the 3500 GT alongside Italian Weber
carburettor
A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meterin ...
s and Marelli ignition, used many British-made components such as a Salisbury rear axle, Girling brakes and Alford & Alder suspension parts.
Next came the bodywork. According to Carrozzeria Touring's
Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni
Carlo Felice Bianchi "Cici" Anderloni (7 April 1916 – 7 August 2003) was an Italian automobile designer, known for several designs for the Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera company.
After studying at the Politecnico di Milano he joined his ...
it was Commendatore Franco Cornacchia, a prominent
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
dealer, that put in contact Maserati owner Omar Orsi with the
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
ese Carrozzeria.
The first 3500 GT Touring prototype had a 2+2 body, with
superleggera
Superleggera (Italian for ''Superlight'') is a custom tube and alloy panel automobile coachwork construction technology developed by Felice Bianchi Anderloni of Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. A separate chassis was s ...
construction and was white in colour; it was nicknamed ''Dama Bianca'' (White Lady).
Two 3500 GT prototypes were shown at the March 1957
Salon International de l'Auto
The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by the ...
in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
.
Both had a wheelbase and aluminium bodywork; they were Touring's ''Dama Bianca'', and another one by
Carrozzeria Allemano Carrozzeria Allemano (established 1928, discontinued 1965) was an automobile coachbuilder in Turin, Italy, owned by Serafino Allemano.
Allemano made various cars based on their own designs. They also built externally designed vehicles, such as th ...
.
Touring's proposal was chosen for series production; few changes were made to it, chiefly a more imposing grille.
Into production
Production of the 3500 GT started in late 1957; eighteen cars were built that year, the first handful leaving the factory before Christmas. All 3500 GTs had leather interior and Jaeger instruments.
A first Touring
convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers.
A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...
Carrozzeria Vignale
Vignale is the luxury car sub-brand of Ford Motor Company used in automobiles sold in Europe.Michelotti) shown at the 1959 Salon de l'Auto in Paris that went into production as 3500 GT Spyder. The Spyder did not feature Touring's Superleggera construction, but rather a steel body with aluminium bonnet, boot lid and optional
hard top
A hardtop is a rigid form of automobile roof, which for modern cars is typically constructed from metal. A hardtop roof can be either fixed (i.e. not removable), detachable for separate storing or retractable within the vehicle itself.
The ...
; it was also built on a shorter wheelbase, and weighed .
Front disc brakes and limited slip differential became optional in 1959, and were standardized in 1960; rear discs became standard in 1962.
The 3500 GTi was introduced at the 1960 Salon International de l'Auto, and by the following year became the first fuel-injected Italian production car. It had a
Lucas
Lucas or LUCAS may refer to:
People
* Lucas (surname)
* Lucas (given name)
Arts and entertainment
* Luca Family Singers, also known as "lucas ligner en torsk"
* ''Lucas'' (album) (2007), an album by Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities
* ''L ...
mechanical
fuel injection
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines.
All comp ...
, and developed . The 5-speed gearbox which had been an available option since 1960 was made standard. The body had a lowered roofline and became somewhat longer; minor outward changes appeared as well (new grille, rear lights, vent windows). From 1961 convertible 3500s for export markets were named 3500 GT Spyder and GTi Spyder.
In 1959, the V8-engined
Maserati 5000 GT
The Maserati 5000 GT is a 2-door coupé car, made by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati from 1959–1966. A total of thirty-four were produced with bodies made by eight different Italian coach builders.
The first car in the ''Tipo 103'' ...
was introduced using the chassis of the 3500 GT. Also based on the 3500 GT's mechanicals was the
Maserati Sebring
The Maserati Sebring was a two-door 2+2 coupé manufactured by Maserati from 1962 until 1968. Based on the Maserati 3500, the Sebring was aimed at the American Gran Turismo market and named after Maserati's 1957 racing victory at the 12 Hou ...
2+2 coupé, which entered production in 1962.
In total 2,226 3500 GT coupés and convertibles were built between 1957 and 1964.
The first year (1958) 119 cars were sold, while 1961 was the best-selling year, totalling 500. All together, 245 Vignale convertibles and nearly 2000 coupés were manufactured, of these, 1981 being Touring coupés, the rest were bodied by other coachbuilders:
Carrozzeria Allemano Carrozzeria Allemano (established 1928, discontinued 1965) was an automobile coachbuilder in Turin, Italy, owned by Serafino Allemano.
Allemano made various cars based on their own designs. They also built externally designed vehicles, such as th ...
(four coupés, including the 1957 prototype),
Carrozzeria Boneschi
Carrozzeria Boneschi S.r.L. (established 1919 near Milan) is an Italian coachbuilder, mainly of commercial vehicles. Until 1960, the company was mostly involved with automobile manufacturers such as Talbot, Rolls-Royce, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Fi ...
Pietro Frua
Pietro Frua (2 May 1913 - 28 June 1983) was one of the leading Italian coachbuilders and car designers during the 1950s and 1960s.
Early years
Frua was born in Turin, the centre of coachbuilding in northern Italy. He was the fourth son of Angela, ...
(two or three coupés, one spider) and
Bertone Bertone is an Italian surname meaning "descendant of Roberto". Notable people with the surname include:
* Alicia Bertone, American academic, researcher, and veterinary surgeon
* Catherine Bertone (born 1972), Turkish-born female Italian marathon r ...
(one coupé designed by
Franco Scaglione
__NOTOC__
Franco Scaglione (26 September 1916 – 19 June 1993) was an Italian automobile coachwork designer.
Biography
Franco Scaglione was born in Florence to Vittorio Scaglione, a chief army doctor, and to Giovanna Fabbri, captain of the ...
Zagato
Zagato is an independent coachbuilding company and total design centre located northwest of Milan in Terrazzano, a small village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy. The company's premises occupies an area of 23,000 square metres (250,000 sq ft)- 11,000 of ...
proposed a coupé in style reminiscent of their rebodied A6G/54 Coupé Speciale, but no cars were built.
Specifications
Frame and chassis
The 3500 GT was built on a tube platform chassis, constructed from tubes of square, round or elliptic section of
Superleggera
Superleggera (Italian for ''Superlight'') is a custom tube and alloy panel automobile coachwork construction technology developed by Felice Bianchi Anderloni of Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. A separate chassis was s ...
coil spring
A selection of conical coil springs
The most common type of spring is the coil spring, which is made out of a long piece of metal that is wound around itself.
Coil springs were in use in Roman times, evidence of this can be found in bronze Fib ...
anti-roll bar
An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) wheels ...
; at the rear there was a Salisbury
solid axle
Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structura ...
on semi-elliptic
leaf spring
A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, it ...
s, with hydraulic dampers an anti-roll bar and a longitudinal torque arm. Steering was of the
recirculating ball
Recirculating ball, also known as recirculating ball and nut or worm and sector, is a steering mechanism commonly found in older automobiles, off-road vehicles, and some trucks. Most newer cars use the more economical rack and pinion steering ins ...
type.
The hydraulic brakes were initially Girling 12-inch finned
drum brake
A drum brake is a brake that uses friction caused by a set of shoes or pads that press outward against a rotating cylinder-shaped part called a brake drum.
The term ''drum brake'' usually means a brake in which shoes press on the inner surfac ...
s front and rear; disc brakes were later introduced on the front wheels, and finally on all four.
The wheels where 16-inch steel disc wheels with 6.5". Early cars had Pirelli Stella Bianca tyres, and later
Pirelli Cinturato The Pirelli Cinturato is a Pirelli-developed car tyre that was the first example of a wrap-around radial tyre structure. It was used to good effect in motorsport, and most modern tyres are based upon the design. The five-times Formula One World C ...
radial ply tyres.
Borrani Ruote Borrani S.p.A. (established 1922 in Milan) is an Italian manufacturer of automobile and motorcycle wheels. They are known for supplying Rudge-Whitworth design centerlocking wire wheels to many Italian racing cars, sports cars and luxury cars. ...
knock-off
wire wheel
Wire wheels, wire-spoked wheels, tension-spoked wheels, or "suspension" wheels are wheels whose rims connect to their hubs by wire spokes. Although these wires are generally stiffer than a typical wire rope, they function mechanically the sam ...
s were optional, as well as wider 185x16-inch radial tyres.
DOHC
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...
, 12-
valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
straight-six engine
The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bala ...
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
engine block
In an internal combustion engine, the engine block is the structure which contains the cylinders and other components. In an early automotive engine, the engine block consisted of just the cylinder block, to which a separate crankcase was atta ...
cylinder heads
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head (often abbreviated to simply "head") sits above the cylinders and forms the roof of the combustion chamber.
In sidevalve engines, the head is a simple sheet of metal; whereas in more modern ove ...
were aluminium, with cast iron valve seats and
hemispherical combustion chamber
A hemispherical combustion chamber is a type of combustion chamber in a reciprocating internal combustion engine with a domed cylinder head notionally in the approximate shape of a hemisphere (in reality usually a spheric section thereof). An en ...
s. It was equipped with a mechanical Marelli ignition,
dual ignition
Dual Ignition is a system for spark-ignition engines, whereby critical ignition components, such as spark plugs and magnetos, are duplicated. Dual ignition is most commonly employed on aero engines,Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms ...
and dual fuel pump. It developed at 5,500 rpm when fitted with three twin-choke 42 DCOE
Weber carburetor
Weber Carburetors is an automotive manufacturing company founded in 1923, known for their carburetors.
History
Eduardo Weber began his automotive career working for Fiat, first at their Turin plant (in 1914) and later at a dealership in Bologna ...
, or at 5,500 rpm with
Lucas
Lucas or LUCAS may refer to:
People
* Lucas (surname)
* Lucas (given name)
Arts and entertainment
* Luca Family Singers, also known as "lucas ligner en torsk"
* ''Lucas'' (album) (2007), an album by Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities
* ''L ...
mechanical
fuel injection
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines.
All comp ...
. The transmission was a 4-speed ZF S4-17 gearbox, later replaced by a ZF S5-17 5-speed, and used an hydraulically actuated
Borg & Beck
'Borg & Beck'' is a British car parts company owned by First Line Ltd.
It was started as a tool company in Moline, Illinois, in the United States, bCharles Borgand Marshall Beck. In 1909 theinventedthe first practical sliding clutch. It merged ...
single-plate dry
clutch
A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...