For the great Renato Rascel, born Renato Ranucci, the collection of the flaming Maserati 3500 GT Coupé Touring chassis number 101-080 directly from the Modena factory on 18 April 1958 was a moment of great satisfaction.
At that moment his career was at its peak - supported by the notes of songs like Arrivederci Roma, Venticello de Roma, Domenica è semper Domenica, Roma nun fa 'il stupida tonight - and the splendid 2 + 2 Touring bodywork was the the most luxurious Italian production car, and therefore also of great image.
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3500 GT Coupé Touring, Maserati masterpiece of the late 1950s
Now, almost 63 years later, this jewel of the Trident is back on the market through the online auction house Catawiki which has offered it a few days ago - after a careful evaluation in Madrid, the city where it is located - starting from 120 thousand euros, with the end of the offers (reaching 180 thousand euros) in 6 days.
The history of this car is very well documented as they tell - kept inside the old leather case with Maserati logo - all the manuals and documents on the 3500 GT model and those relating in particular to the ex Renato Rascel model.
Among other things, the buyer will also be given the French plates (the car has this registration today) and the original Italian ones.
Painted in an elegant color combination of Ischia blue with a red leather interior, this same 3500 GT was used by Maserati to take the photographs used for the brand's advertising in 1958.
The car auctioned by Catawiki had been rediscovered at beginning of the 2000s in poor condition and underwent a complete restoration in Italy between 2002 and 2007 (as evidenced in the photographic report that comes with the car) preserving the full originality of the car with the exception of the carpet.
This Maserati 3500 GT has driven just over 2,000 km since the restoration and was exhibited at the Concours d'Elegance in Chantilly in France in 2016 and was awarded at the Autoretro Concours d'Elegance 2018 in Barcelona.
Overall of the Touring coupe built between 1958 and 1964 about 1402 examples.
Born with the internal abbreviation Tipo 101, the 3500 GT was the first Maserati built on a large scale and used an in-line 6-cylinder signed by Giulio Alfieri which derived from the twin-shaft 6-cylinder in-line of the Maserati 350S racing.
In the final version, the 3500 GT was fitted with a 3.5-liter with aluminum crankcase and head, hemispherical combustion chambers, twin-cam timing and two spark plugs per cylinder.
Power was supplied by 3 Weber 42 DCOE double-barrel carburettors for a maximum power of 230 hp.
