RE: Spotted: Maserati 3200 GT
Thursday 9th February 2012
The Maserati 3200 GT has always been an object of fascination for me.
Glam Italian cast spell on impressionable HarrisI 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.
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.
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.
Glam Italian cast spell on impressionable Harris
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!
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
Discussion
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.
Ok, I'm not an idiot, I know quite a bit about how engines work and where power comes from.
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!
PHMatt said:
Ok, I'm not an idiot, I know quite a bit about how engines work and where power comes from.
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!
MANY, MANY aspects come into that. Two very different philosophies on how to make an engine do what you want it to do and what you want the car to do with it. The M S54 engines are all about zingy high revving perfromance with torque higher up the range so as not to stress other components. The engine in the maser is much more low down grunt focused, the clue is kind of in the name of the maser 'GT', though the 4200 was a bit better at that role....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!
Stu R said:
Love 'em. I'd have one in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the stupid bills.
I'd take the 4200 as a compromise, but the 3200 with the boomerangs ticks every box that matters.
Get a good one and the bills are not outlandish at all, unless you count rear tyres. Had mine for 10 years and nothing has fallen off or gone wrong with it. 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
I saw these things being made once when my father talked his way into the factory. The boomerang lights are lovely, and it's a crying shame that Maser dumbed down that styling feature for the 4200.
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.
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.
A story about a 16 grand maser? Beware, people. This could degenerate rapidly into a sub 10 grand 3200 thread, and as we know, those conversations never seem to resolve themselves.
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