Miguel Sánchez
PHOTOS: RM SOTHEBY'S
That a luxury car has to be profitable for the company as well as exciting for the public that is going to buy it… It is a basic rule of automobile production. However, we live increasingly accelerated times, where the profitability of brands must be increasing and greater to be able to compete with each other by developing models with an increasingly expensive pre-production, while satisfying the investment groups that now own them, which few ears lend to words like “legendary","exciting" or "Historical".
That is why even brands like Maserati they have opened up to the production of cars that have little to do with the tradition of sports car racing; cars like its recent SUV, the Levante, where the point of gravity and lightness are the antipodes of a classic sports design, not to mention that its subtle details "RetroThey are incapable of masking volumes typical of a military vehicle.
Partly this is not all bad, since It must be recognized that these cars are the ones that pay the bill that makes it possible to develop the sports cars that do continue with dignity the best identity of these brands dreamlike. After all ... If we spoke to the Porsche accountant, he would surely tell us that if today we can continue to admire new 911s, it is because the many Cayennes sold have propped up the brand's accounts. With Maserati ... Something similar will surely happen.
However, if you still have a piercing idealistic nostalgia for the times when the destiny of Maserati was with one wheel in the races and another in its elegant street sports ... selection of 6 wonderful cars of the trident brand that will be auctioned on next September 5 at Shoteby's.
SHEKS, ROCK MUSICIANS AND UNIQUE PIECES
If, like us, you are a confessed mythomaniac of many things ... We believe that the 5000GT from 1962 It is the one that will attract your attention the most. And not only because it is one of the most incredible GT models of all time thanks to its beautiful and elegant aesthetics and its engine 8CV V340 -equipped in not a few units with injection- and derived from the one that mounted the 450S devourers... But because in addition It is one of the 22 bodied by Allemano in Turin.
Quite a jewel, even more so if we consider that the 5000GT has a multitude of different kits and stories varying the unit, since it had the possibility of being highly customizable by the exclusive clientele that each of the units acquired. 32-34 units that were manufactured. In fact, curling the curl ... This was owned for a time by the guitarist of The Eagles Joe walsh. Although with the symphony that its engine can offer even the powerful riff of Life in the Fast Lane takes a back seat.
The three also stand out Ghibli SS 4.9, one of the brand's most famous sports GT, whose lines were drawn by Giugiaro in 1967. A 2 + 2 that, although it wasn't too light -1650 kgs- compensated with a V8 capable of smoothly handling its 335CV. An intense mechanic that will be able to enjoy with greater sound closeness whoever takes home the spyder unit, which was owned by the Emir of Qatar.
PRINCES OF PERSIA AND CHANGES OF COURSE OPERATED BY CITROËN
Another of the most important pieces of this lot is the Quattroporte '74 that belonged to Aga "Karim" Khan from Persia, which had already taken to the pleasure of ordering custom models from the brand since in the early 60s it acquired a 5000GT bodied by Pietro Frua. In this case it is a second generation Quattroporte, which was mounted on the chassis of a Citroën SM after the French brand acquired the Bolognese in 1968. Something that was not very good for the history of the Quattroporte since, in that evolution led by the French, it was the only moment where a front wheel drive instead of rear, which did not give more verve precisely to a behavior already diminished by an engine of less than 200CV and a hydropneumatic suspension.
As you can see, the shadow of Citroën did not sit too well with some Maserati models, although nevertheless it did make one of the “tridents”Most curious of this time: the Explore. A vibrant sports car since you see the design he made for him giugaro, endowed with a 8-liter V4 with 7 Weber carburettors capable of delivering 4CV. A rarity in Maserati due to its strictly sporty character, with only two seats and a central engine. A Citroën idea to compete with the DeTomaso Mangusta or the slightly superior Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer.
As you can see, the selection is not bad ... Counting on some of the most emblematic models of the brand such as the 5000GT mixed with unexpected creations such as the Bora. In short, if at some point your faith in Italian sports cars falters when you see how all the transalpine brands are falling one by one in the production of SUVs ... You may think that these models will surely continue to inspire the new Maserati genuine that are to come.
