Spotted: Maserati 3200 GT
An affordable taste of Italian exotica? Harris is tempted, very tempted
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.
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...
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
I dont however understand how with 2 more cylinders and 2 turbo's this thing makes barely 10bhp more than a normally aspirated 6 cylinder M3 CSL?
I get that it makes shed loads more torque over more of the rev range and no doubt has more power lower down etc etc etc.
I just dont understand how it can have a twin turbo charged V8 and "only" make 375bhp?
They sound insanely good though. A friends uncle had one and he drove into a mates house in a col du sac once, the noise just reverberated around and all the guys got wet pants!
I dont however understand how with 2 more cylinders and 2 turbo's this thing makes barely 10bhp more than a normally aspirated 6 cylinder M3 CSL?
I get that it makes shed loads more torque over more of the rev range and no doubt has more power lower down etc etc etc.
I just dont understand how it can have a twin turbo charged V8 and "only" make 375bhp?
They sound insanely good though. A friends uncle had one and he drove into a mates house in a col du sac once, the noise just reverberated around and all the guys got wet pants!
I'd take the 4200 as a compromise, but the 3200 with the boomerangs ticks every box that matters.
last time I looked it definately had a v8 under the bonnet
While in the factory, they showed us an engine on test (a marked difference from Ferrari the day before). We saw power & torque outputs, and we also saw it blow its air intake hose off the manifold because it hadn't been fitted properly. Power dropped rather suddenly.
The engineer shrugged the Italian for "Meh," and then said "This is why we test the engines." It was a refreshing, engineering-led, approach to building cars.
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