Description
The Mistral, with its internal designation “Tipo AM 109” was developed under the guidance of the legendary Giulio Alfieri. The aim was to find an answer to the Jaguar E type. The new Maserati was first shown at the Turin salon in November 1963, then called the “Maserati 3500 GTI Due Posti”. The name Mistral was only used officially from 1966. The inspiration for this came from the French Maserati importer Colonel John Simone and refers to a wind called Mistral, well known in the lower Rhone valley. Thus, a new tradition was established which lasted all the way to the 90s to name Maserati cars according to famous winds. Initially powered by the 3. 5 litre inline 6-cylinder which had also been used in preceding models, in 1964 a new 3. 7 litre and from 1966 even a 4-litre version of the beautiful six-cylinder engine was available. The car offered here was ordered as one of only 46 vehicles built with a 3. 7-litre engine on the 6th of December 1965 through the “Auto Paris Barcelona” agency. It was completed on the 23rd of April 1966 and delivered directly to the automobile salon in Valencia. Here the 3. 7 litre spider in “Oro Longchamp” with a red leather interior caused quite a stir before it was handed over to the first owner after the fair. After some years in Spain, the Maserati ended up in Italy where it was repainted to silver. Later on, the spider was taken over by an Italian Maserati specialist who decided to repaint the car back to its original colour. The original interior was found to still be in beautiful condition and was left untouched. In 2015 the Maserati was taken over by its last owner who had a few small mechanical tasks completed and a new soft top installed. Later, the spider was shipped to the USA where, in 2017, it took a second prize in class at the Amelia Island concours d’élégance. After returning to our shores, the Swiss authorities mistakenly entered an engine capacity of four litres in the car‘s documentation. However, the Maserati is still equipped (as can be seen in the “Maserati Classiche” documentation) with the matching numbers 3. 7 litre engine. It presents itself in its original colour combination and is in very good condition with the last Veteran MOT completed in November 2024.
