Maserati - Maserati 3500GT
Maserati had built a total of 140 road cars in the ten years between 1947 and 1957, which didn't account for many cars per year in the grand scheme of things, when Guido Alfieri was tasked with designing and building a new Maserati road car. The existing A6G2000 design was used as the basis and increased in capacity to 3,485cc which had resulted in an entirely new engine, because the A6 engine bored out for the Grand Prix 250F could be stretched out to not much over 3 litres (as used in the sports racer 300S cars) and that was the end of the road maximum bore size. To offset the cost and development of the new engine, and to save on costs generally, Guido Alfieri outsourced from England a Salisbury rear axle, Girling brakes (initially drum and later disc) and Alford and Alder front suspension. The ZF gearbox was sourced from Germany. Put all together and bodied as only Italians can do, by Touring, with their Superleggera process. The Maserati 3500GT was shown at the 1957 Geneva show and orders were so explosive that a new factory had to be made built to build them. Power output of the engines was improved as time went on and by 1961 the cars had the 5 speed ZF gearbox. The later 3500GTi model that came in 1960 had a fuel injected system. The Maserati 3500GT model was a fairly mass produced car, and all of them were bodied by Touring, whereas the convertible version was built by Vignale (to a Michelotti design) which had a steel body and often called 3500GT Spyder or GTi Spyder. The 3500GT was produced until 1964.
Maserati 3500 GT tyre size was originally 185R16. Blockley produces the perfect high speed rated steel belted 185VR16 tyre, with correct period tread pattern, which we guarantee will transform the handling and looks of the 3500GT - see full details of this tyre below.
