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1964 Maserati Mistral Spyder 3500 Heads to Auction
A rare 1964 Maserati Mistral Spyder 3500, one of just 27 built with the 3.5-litre engine, is offered for sale in New York after a life spanning Germany, the US and the UK.
By Edward Beaumont · 4 min read
A 1964 Maserati Mistral Spyder 3500, one of only 27 examples built with the larger 3.5-litre engine, has been listed for sale by a dealer in North Salem, New York. The car, chassis 033, is one of 125 Spyders produced over five years and carries a documented history that stretches from its original German owner to a recent refurbishment in the United Kingdom.
The Mistral Spyder was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1964, sharing the 2,400mm-wheelbase box-section frame of the Mistral coupe that had debuted in late 1963. Both cars wore styling by Frua, with the open variant distinguished by a raked trunk lid in place of the fixed-roof model’s hatchback panel. Construction combined a steel body with aluminium doors, hood and trunk lid, while a body-colour aluminium hardtop with buttressed rear window was optional.
Chassis 033 was ordered by Auto-Konig, Maserati’s importer for Germany, and specified with that removable alloy hardtop, air conditioning, tip-up seats and a passenger grab handle. It was delivered in December 1964 to Hubertus Liebrecht, a member of the shareholder family of the Boehringer Ingelheim pharmaceutical company. Ownership changed hands in the late 1960s, and the car later crossed the Atlantic to the United States, where it was stored for an unknown period before being sold at auction in 2017.
That year it was relocated to the UK, where refurbishment work was carried out, including a repaint in dark blue. The car had previously been returned to Modena in 1965 following accident damage, when a number of rear panels were replaced before a full repaint in its factory shade of Bleu Sera. It was later painted red at some point before the blue finish applied after 2017. The selling dealer notes that flaws in the current finish are visible in close-up photographs.
Under the bonnet sits a 3,485cc inline-six descended from the powerplant used in Maserati’s 350S sports racer. It features an aluminium block with cast-iron cylinder liners, an aluminium cylinder head with hemispherical combustion chambers, dual overhead camshafts, twin-spark ignition and Lucas mechanical fuel injection, the latter reinstalled in 2017. Factory output was rated at 235 horsepower. Drive goes to the rear wheels through a ZF five-speed manual transmission.
The chassis runs on Borrani knock-off wire wheels secured by three-eared hubs and fitted with Pirelli Cinturato tyres, with a matching spare wheel in the trunk wearing Michelin rubber. Girling disc brakes with twin servos handle stopping, while suspension comprises a coil-spring double-wishbone front setup and a leaf-sprung solid rear axle with telescopic shock absorbers all round.
Inside, the cabin is trimmed in tan leather with beige carpets and black leather on the dashboard. Equipment includes a wood-rimmed EFFPI steering wheel, Jaeger instrumentation with a 300-km/h speedometer and 8k-rpm tachometer, a Blaupunkt push-button radio and a Jaeger clock on the glovebox door. The optional air conditioning system has been removed, and various components are included in the sale. Tears are present along the upper dashboard trim.
The five-digit odometer shows 74,000 kilometres, roughly 46,000 miles, approximately 20 of which were added by the selling dealer. The car is offered with a report from Maserati historian Dr. Adolfo Orsi containing factory documents including build sheets, shipping notes and invoices, along with an Arizona title. It is now available through a BaT Local Partner in North Salem, New York.
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