The Maserati Monarchy

Over the past few months, we've seen classic cars quickly moving through the showroom including quite a few collections. Today we'll be highlighting the newest trio to the stables, a set of light blue Maserati and their roaring red compatriot. We'll be digging into a bit of Maserati design history and highlighting this unique trio going up for consignment soon.

For many years the Maserati brand played second fiddle to the Italian giants of Ferrari and Lamborghini. Across the board, Italian manufacturers create truly eye-catching cars but few have a range as vast as that of Maserati. From the bubbly-rounded designs of the 50s through the boxy bi-turbos of the 1980s, Maserati has had a varied design language.

Part of this design language can be attributed to their range of work with many body designers. Where Ferrari coupled itself to Pininfarina early on, Lamborghini did much the same with Bertone. Maserati was often the third wheel and worked with many body-makers from Ghia to Giugiaro and of course, Pininfarina to make sure their mechanical designs made it to the streets. 

This brings us around to the oldest of the bunch, a 1967 Maserati Mistral coupe. This car can trace its roots back to the successful run by Maserati in Formula 1 throughout the late 50's with cars like the 450S which Temple Buell Jr. ran during his short-lived F1 team. You can learn more about that history here.

Of course, that similar dual spark designed inline-6 powers this Celeste Chairo (light blue) masterpiece. This car was a Frua design, often regarded as one of his best automotive works, and highlights the rounded/curved styling of the era as car design worked towards the sharper angles into the 70s.

Being this Mistral was the oldest of the bunch, the engine hasn't been turned over in many years. When it first arrived at the showroom, it took plenty of muscle to get this one pushed into the building. Soon enough we'll move it over to the shop and ensure that this classic is properly overseen as we get those 12 spark plugs working in tandem.

From there we take just a short jump to the Mistral's follow-up, a name which would become synonymous with the brand, the Ghibli. While Ferrari was developing their front-engine V12 and Lamborghini was introducing the idea of mid-engine design with the Miura, Maserati was focused on the V8. Only around 1,200 examples of the Ghibli were produced in the brief six-year run. 

This brings us around to the Grand Tourer of the bunch, the 2005 Maserati Quattroporte. By this point, Maserati was working with Pininfarina, which created this design new for the Pebble Beach Concours back in 2003. This car is a fantastic early example with only around 50,000 original miles. The Quattroporte continues the V8 tradition of the Maserati. This example has the sought-after red cam covers which offer a sportier torque curve when compared to the later blue-cam models.

We feel incredibly lucky to be offering collections as of late, building these fantastic relationships with our customers is what we always set out to do. When we can help with the exchange of their icons and get to document these rarities, it's only that much more fulfilling. 

If you have a classic of your own, Maserati or otherwise, give the shop a call at 303-761-1245. If you're interested in any of these Italian classics, give our showroom a call at 720-588-8427. 

Don’t forget to keep up with us over on Youtube, Facebook, Linkedin, and Instagram for all the metal, paint, and icons moving through the shop and showroom. Thanks!