Let’s get something straight right off: I’m writing about this $60,000 shell of a 1960 Maserati 3500GT Coupe as a regular person, not someone who can buy a $60,000 car that still needs everything. If you’re the type that can, then just go look at the ad, here on eBay, and plunk down the sixty grand buy-it-now and don’t laugh at the rest of us. Once you do that, you’ll have to find your way to Wylie, Texas at some point to pick it up. There’s no engine or tranny to allow you to power it up and cruise away in it.
So what would a deep-pockets owner get for the money, and what would he or she still need? Well, no driveline, as was mentioned. And not much else, either, except a body shell and boxes and buckets of things that probably would be otherwise very hard to source. Maybe they add up to most of what’s currently awol. Maybe not, and so the parts quest will begin. This in service of a car that’s got a handsome front look, but is a bit awkward on the side view.
This one’s going to ask for a couple of years of your life and all of what’s in your wallet once you’re first in line at the resto shop you choose to use. Good news is that they’ll probably have one of those pod coffee makers in the customer waiting area. It’s the least they can do, given what they’re going to charge for their expertise in getting this shell back together and eventually on the road. And there’s the heart of it: This might be a good body to start on. It looks it except for possibly some suspect areas at the base of the fenders, which have either old putty or old leading which needs repair and smoothing. But there are empty spots where a lot of kinda crucial elements need to be, starting with the engine and extending to the floors and also the taillights.
Your first move after purchase, of course, is to try to put the jigsaw puzzle back together. What’s here? What’s not? How do I close that gap? The more interest and input the buyer has in this quest, as opposed to dumping the whole task on a resto shop, the less money will eventually flow out of his or her pocket. But no fear, if you’re busy doing whatever venture capital people do all day; an intern at a resto shop will be happy to superintend the project and find all the needed parts. Some will come from overseas, but that’s no biggie these days. No matter what, once the two-plus year project is over, the owner will be in possession of an iconic, classic sportscar. And everything will be new, since at the moment, all you see is old.
This will be hard to make work with a checkbook. Nice examples bring around 200k, and with only a couple of thousand made, lots of unobtainium.
Whatever you do, don’t LS it. At the very least this deserves a Hellcat swap, gotta be sure it’s able to do 185.
I am an ex Maserati owner and anything over the 250 HP range would be extremely dangerous as this car has neither the tires or brakes for that kind of power. In addition it would totally upset the balance and make the car far too front heavy. Maserati’s of this era are very well balanced cars and as opposed to the Race Bent Ferrari’s of the day were more about beauty and high speed touring from place to place for the very rich.
There is NO WAY that this car is worth the asking price The engine and other running gear will cost that in parts. Of NOTE and it is very important Maserati kept lists of what was installed or modified on each car. As there were so many variation of ancillary equipment. They did this so if you needed parts they knew what you needed. You would need to provide chassis number as well as engine and transmission numbers so they had a chance of getting you the right part.
That had the advantage of making these cars almost impossible to steal or even part out as you constantly needed parts and once the factory knew it was stolen they would keep a look out for those numbers. Largely unknown reason to get one. I loved mine. It was a slightly later version but all the six cylinder cars are similar. Lovely to drive on long trips or just around town. I hope that this one gets a proper restoration as when finished they are not beautiful but handsome and elegant.
Like the guy said-lost my license now I can’t drive.
I would use it for target practice.
I owned one – nightmare – after spending unknown sums, I sold it at a Kruse car auction in Anaheim Ca. for around $3.700.00 in 1976 or so.
Ditto – rear window broke and the price for which you sold your car was not enough to get a replacement.
Heck, Gas Monkey’s pal Dennis Collins is selling that car.
Back in the good old days Richard Rawlings would have his crew lowering and LSing that thing.
All in a week!
Yeah, the longest week in history! I loved the programme though.
🎸 🎶 I have a mansion, forget the price
Ain’t never been there, they tell me it’s nice
I live in hotels, tear out the walls
I have accountants pay for it all
They say I’m crazy but I have a good time
I’m just looking for clues at the scene of the crime
Life’s been good to me so far
My MASERATI does one-eighty-five
I lost my license, now I don’t drive
I have a limo, ride in the back
I lock the doors in case I’m attacked
I’m makin’ records, my fans they can’t wait
They write me letters, tell me I’m great
So I got me an office, gold records on the wall
Just leave a message, maybe I’ll call 🎶 🎵
I’d have a garage full of them, if I didn’t sell my drums in the 70’s for some pixy dust.
Fond memories of that 70s pixy dust
Joe would be proud.
I’ve done one of these. Looking at it.. the body itself is a hot mess. No glass. No Interior. Even the transmission tunnel is chewed up. There’s a transmission.
No remote brake booster… I didn’t see a gas tank…
The restorations on these are quite difficult. There were three different series of this car.. this is the earliest and probably nicest. In ’62 there was a transition series that had lots of weird sources, which introduced injection, and only ran about 40-50 cars ( I had one of these and there was zero documentation on them), and the final series that shared most components with the Sebring… I also did a Series one Sebring, which is a very beautiful car.
I did these before the internet. But here is my thought.
It will never be a concourse car because you’re not going to match numbers. Bumpers and other goodies are going to be super tough.
Just to get what you see restored in a condition to begin assembly, you’ll have to spend 50-60k, and then you’ll have to find a good 50k in parts that will probably need double that to put in the right condition.
A set of bearings for the crank was $900 8n 1987! A windshield was $2k! Hell, those are 165/400 tires. That’s a minimum of $2k for 5 of them.
It would cost more than $200k to make it a great driving #4 car. It will never be more than that, so take a $200k value for a show ready car.
Sometimes free is too much (The motto of antique aircraft restorers).
The only buyer of this car would be someone with a wrecked, but otherwise restored car. And 60k is still too much.
I had a series II Sebring andI agree with all of your comments. Thing like bumpers and many other parts are now being make from digital sources that can laser scan any part and using CNC machines make an exact duplicate. That is one of the tricks that Jay Leno’s group uses to make parts that are almost unobtainum and it works. Not cheap but it works but you are correct that the serial numbers are critical. On mine the first owner was a pilot for the USAF and had an accident where he lost a leg. He had a factory automatic transmission put in. I got very very lucky and found the original 5-speed and put it back in. Had to sell it to cover late wife’s medical bills. Miss both of them more than I can say to most people.
I currently have a 63 3500 GTI that was converted to proper Weber 42’s before I bought it. It is a wonderful highway car and when sorted quite a pleasure to drive. It has been to Meadowbrook, Ault Park, Concourso Italiano and shown at Amelia Island in 2014 (100th anniversary of Maserati) where it won the children’s choice award.
Having done a thorough restoration I can tell you that parts are quite difficult to come by and when you do, be prepared to spend $$
With all that said, There is no way this car is worth anything close to their ask. This would be an overwhelming project and as stated will never be numbers matching. Not quite sure how they came up with the asking price?
Dennis has all the information on cars like this in his head and can spout out details like you wouldn’t believe. He’s a true enthusiast when it comes to old, rare cars, amazing when you consider he sells Jeeps and off road equipment for a living. Lot of rust to deal with to go along with the comments above.
There was a wealthy guy in our city that had one of
these in Black.His last name was Hillficker,& he’s since passed
away.His had Lucas fuel injection,& I was told that there were only
10 cars equipped that way.
Many more than that. All cars from 62 on.
2 or 3 too many zeros in that pri$e.
I’ve owned 3 of these 3500 GT coupes back when a clean driver was struggling to break $10k. Not much love for them at the time. I also had a Vignale spider version with removable hard top which I sold for $50k and thought I did well (these now sell in the $500k – $800k range).
I don’t see the value in this one at the asking price as the restoration costs will easily surpass the finished value and it will never be matching numbers even if a correct motor can be sourced. I can’t imagine the frustration trying to track down or reproduce all the missing parts – it will take years before this one is ready for the road-
I’ve had my 3500 GT for some years, and I love it! I have many of the parts to complete this car; engine, transmission, bellhousing, etc….but even if I could obtain this car for free, I wouldn’t be able to afford it’s recommission, and that’s with no paint or body work, and myself doing all the work. Still, I like it though!
BTW, the transmission pictured in the back ground is NOT for this car.
Sometimes free is too expensive.
Looked rough topside, got worse when viewed from underneath. Another case of wishful thinking from seller. $600.00 is too much.
who has $ to burn.?
beezee right? He could put it on his $1/2B yacht.
bet he wouldn’t even give it a 2nd look.
These are great cars, but if you have that kind of money, I can think of better stuff, even from that era. How about a Lancia Flaminia Zagato?
I’d rather have that than even a Lusso.
I see a car like this and I see the perfect starting point for a vintage race car. You get to toss period correct out the window, no need to worry about unobtainium parts like bumpers or glass as it can all be made from Lexan, no need to find non-existent interior panels or gauges, no need to make the door windows roll up or down, instead solid Lexan with those sliding rally openings.
If this was priced right you could turn a roach into a rose. Built correctly it could easily gets its HTP papers making it eligible for all the cool vintage race events worldwide. Would you have more invested than its worth? Probably but then welcome to owning a race car. At least as a race car it has actual value that while not close to the street cars might surprise everyone.
I simply can´t believe all the positive comments about Maserati, especially the 3500 GT here on Barnfinds. I must have been missing something back in the day when I celebrated after getting rid of mine and I did that without uttering a word, just standing there at an auction. The only Maserati I´ve ever liked was the one everyone disparages and even hates, the Chrysler – Maserati TC.
Buy it and ship it straight to ICON. I see Derelict.
Since it is in this state and parts are impossible to find without big $$$, how about going electric? Craft your own vintage/modern interior and hit the show circuit.