1967 Maserati Sebring Series II (4.0-Litre) ●

Having spent extravagantly on their motor racing program over the years, Maserati's coffers were a little depleted and their survival strategy for the 1960s centred on establishing the company as a volume producer of road cars. The Modena marque's new era began in 1957 with the launch of the Touring-bodied 3500GT. A luxury 2+2, the 3500GT drew on Maserati's competition experience, employing a tubular chassis frame and an engine derived from the Alfieri-designed 350S sports racing car unit of 1956. Suspension was independent at the front by wishbones and coil springs, while at the back there was a conventional live axle/semi-elliptic arrangement. Power output of the twin-cam six was around 220bhp initially, but later examples produced 235bhp on fuel injection. Built on the shorter wheelbase but otherwise similar chassis of the Vignale-bodied 3500GT Spyder, the Sebring 2+2 coupé arrived to much acclaim in 1962 and is now widely considered to be one of the most elegant and understated of the 1960s Grand Tourers.

Introduced in 1965, the Series II (Tipo AM 101/10) featured redesigned headlamps, modernised bumpers, new front indicators and new side grilles replacing the lower extraction vents used hitherto. At the rear, apart from the squared-off bumpers, the taillights were now mounted horizontally rather than vertically and the boot lid opening was narrower. A 3.7-litre version (lengthened stroke which enlarged it to 3,694cc) was offered later in production and eventually a 4-litre (4,012cc) car towards the end of the model's life. Known as the 4000GTi, the 4-litre car produced 252bhp with an uplift to 261bhp right at the end. Numbers, as always with Italian cars of this era, are unconfirmed, but it's believed that 247 Series II cars found homes of which 96 were 3.7-litre and 4-litre variants (combined), however we don't believe that there are more than a handful of 4-litre cars currently in the UK.

On offer here is indeed one of those rare 4-litre cars. It was finished in December 1967 and exported to New York where it was sold to its first owner by Bob Grossman Foreign Cars. Coincidentally, a later owner asked Bob Grossman to sell the car for him in January 1995 and it was purchased from there by its current owner, our vendor, who shipped it to the UK.

In 2001, it was subject to extensive recommissioning by renowned marque experts, McGrath Maserati, with an engine rebuild and a fresh coat of its original Celeste Chiaro. Full details of this work are in the history file and the car has been looked after by them ever since. Our vendor moved to Spain in 2012 and took his beloved Maserati with him, so it is currently Spanish-registered and will be subject to a reduced Import Duty of 5% should the car remain in the UK. The current indicated mileage is just 2,539.

Sitting on gleaming, tightly-laced Borranis wearing confidence-inspiring 205 Blockleys, the Sebring’s stance is taut and purposeful - athletic even - and the light metallic hue emphasises the crisp, almost geometric lines of the panel-work softened by the gently descending classic GT roofline. The Sebring looks like it means business with no need for the voluptuous, curvaceous lines of its mid-1960s Grand Touring rivals, a car for the discerning, well-funded owner with no need to prove it.

The interior is equally masculine with inviting black leather everywhere and the dashboard looks functional and businesslike in comparison to the random arrangement found in mid-1960s Ferraris and 911s. The rear seats look like they have never been sat in, which is probably the case, and this fabulous cockpit is enhanced by a classic 3-spoke wood-rim wheel and a period-correct (possibly original) Becker Grand Prix push-button radio. The engine bay is, as you would expect, neat, tidy and dry with areas of gentle patination, a classic McGrath sympathetic restoration.

This is an exquisite example of the rare 4-litre Sebring with the bonus of two decades of maintenance by the UK's leading Maserati specialists. A very good-looking GT from Maserati's 'Golden Era'.