Thursday 9th February 2012

Spotted: Maserati 3200 GT

An affordable taste of Italian exotica? Harris is tempted, very tempted

---

The Maserati 3200 GT has always been an object of fascination for me.

It was the last pre-Ferrari Maser, mechanically a throwback to the Bi-Turbo days, just with less use of the set-square in the clothing department. It was, and still is, a handsome car, all the more so for those gorgeous boomerang rear-lights and a set of proportions that had many people wondering if the Porsche 911 was about to take a beating.

Glam Italian cast spell on impressionable Harris

I was young and green when I first drove the 3200 GT. The Autocar test car was ferried over from Italy by Peter Robinson and then headed straight to the Yorkshire Moors to be matched against, if my memory hasn't failed me, a 996 C2 and a TVR Cerbera Speed 6. What I remember is how obviously the 3200, on full-boost, in second gear, on a damp Yorkshire road was beyond my abilities. The TVR was a puppy-dog by comparison. I found it utterly terrifying and nearly spanked it twice. It was this furious, terrifying mix of boost, aggressive LSD, quick steering - oh, and knowledge that Autocar had already binned a pre-series car on the launch.

It had the excitement thing nailed though. It whooshed and surged like nothing else I'd driven before, it looked and smelled expensive and it had my full attention at all times. The irony was the Maser went home without a scratch on it while the Porsche wasn't quite so lucky...

Money pit? Possible - prove us wrong!

It didn't actually matter that the later 4200 was a better car in every way. It lost the lights, it lost the off-boost wheeeeesh - a bit like a dog cured of rabies, it lost the suspicion of being a man-eater. I know nothing about running these things, but I know for certain that on the rare occasion that I see one, I have a sudden urge to make what would surely be a wallet-crippling purchase. I welcome all owner-experiences that prove this assumption to be pure BS.

Why a yellow one? Because that original test car was yellow.

---

MASERATI 3200 GT
Engine: 3,217cc V8 twin-turbo
Power (hp): 375@6,250rpm
Torque (lb ft): 362@4,500rpm
MPG: 16.3 (combined)
CO2: N/A
First registered: March 2010
Recorded mileage: 30,300
Price new: £60,765
Yours for: £16,990

See the original advert here

 

 

[HeMightBeBanned]

I saw my first one of these in the late '90s in the Waitrose car park in Henley-on-Thames. In a car park chock full of tasty motors, the silver Maser stood out a mile. Such was its draw, a small crowd of "Maseristi" had gathered around it to make cooing noises. The general concensus (on looks alone) was that this was a long overdue return to form for Maserati. Noone cared that it would end up biting your leg off whilst forcing you to remortgage your second and third homes to run it. For those of us assembled there on a cold Oxfordshire morning, it looked right so it was right.