1966 Maserati Sebring – The forgotten Italian sportscar?
When talking about Italian sports cars the immediate assumption is the subject is a product of Maranello. Yet just up the road in Modena is a company with a longer history of building road and race cars. Early example are hard to find in New Zealand so when Andrew Bain said he was selling a Maserati Sebring in his Classic Motorhouse emporium just north of Christchurch I thought I should have a look for myself.
Produced from 1962 to 68 this is a Series two car, which has restyled lights and bumpers from the first series but underneath the car still runs the chassis of its predecessor the 3500GT. Sold new in South Africa makes this example a rare beast, one of only 98 RHD examples produced. Despite having the steering on the “wrong side” the Maserati went from South Africa to the USA before arriving in New Zealand 16 years ago. A full restoration was required and now the owner is looking for a new challenge.
The mechanical side of the Maserati was done by Auto Restorations in Christchurch and the 3.7 litre six cylinder looks and without much imagination, sounds like a 250F. If you want to sound like Fangio, this is a great place to start. Originally Lucas fuel injection was used but this was not noted for it’s reliability and like many Masers of the era, a trio of Webers now conduct the fuel to the cylinders. The power is transmitted through a five speed ZF gearbox and a Salisbury diff. Front brakes are the same as Jaguar E-type and rears Aston Martin DB4. Not even the instrumentation is Italian, being supplied by Smiths so the end result is a hand-
made Italian sports car but using mechanical component which are proven, robust and most importantly, not impossible to find or fix now.
When the Maserati arrived in New Zealand the Vignale designed body was not in a happy state, and certainly not as described by the seller and extensive work had been done on it to get it to the standard the current owner demanded. One change he did make was to change the colour from the original silver to a deep shade of metallic Rubino Rosso (Ruby Red for the rest of us), a colour which will highlight any flaws in panel or paint finish. I looked hard and I couldn’t find any at all.
All of the rubbers (doors, windscreen etc) have been replaced with new items. Apparently a small firm in Italy has laid their hands on all of the original moulds for Maserati and other local manufacturers and now has a great business making good quality reproductions which they are exporting worldwide to keep fussy restorers happy.
Since restoration the Maserati has done basically no mileage at all and to all intents and purposes, anyone who buys it is basically getting a new car, such is the standard of restoration. Taking it for a reasonable drive, I was impressed by the complete lack of squeaks, rattles or anything which would require attention inside or out. For a fast drive from one end of the island to another, I can think of many less comfortable ways to do it than in this car and as we drove down the motorway, i don’t know why, but this was a car which had small boys waving at us as we passed them, something which doesn’t happen like it used to!
If you are looking for a 1960s sports car which is exotic without being frighteningly complex, a car which once you get it home you don’t then spend the next six months and thousands of dollars to get it right up to top condition. Give Andrew Bain a call, you are going to have to be basically impossible to please if the Maserati dosen’t fit the bill.