You might be tempted by any car wearing a Maserati badge that you can buy for just £10,000, but I have to warn you that there is, alas, no such thing as a bargain.
To keep said Maserati on the road for even the most minuscule of annual mileages and running even reasonably well will cost you more than a small nation’s annual GDP, but could it possibly be, if we put the vulgar subject of money to one side for a moment, actually worth it?
Well, there are few car badges with as much cachet. Chuck your car keys down on the bar at the Dog and Duck and all your friends will swoon. This cut-price 3200 GT may have been launched in 1998, but it still looks pretty neat today, with its handsome Italdesign styling and boomerang rear lights and lavishly leathered interior.
Under the hood and at the heart of the 3200 GT is a 90deg, DOHC 370bhp twin-turbocharged 3.2-litre V8 incorporating Formula 1-style drive-by-wire throttle technology. It’s a punchy unit powerful enough to push the Maserati from 0-62mph in 5.1sec (5.7sec in Automatica form) and on up to 174mph, or 168mph for the four-speed automatic.
The 3200 GT also came with a six-speed manual transmission, a quirk being that it uses power-steering fluid as gearbox oil. Our testers actually favoured the automatic, even though it’s a relatively simple four-speeder. The heavy clutch and engine’s ferocious delivery make the manual harder work.
Nearly all UK 3200 GTs had a Sports package suspension too. This was a computer-controlled active ride system that used servos to stiffen the front Bilstein dampers under braking and the rear ones under acceleration. It could also increase roll stiff ness in the bends. A Sport button made the whole lot even stiffer.
So, despite a few reservations about some of the very early examples we drove, it was launched to mostly positive reviews and ran until 2002, when it was replaced by the similar-looking but more or less entirely different 4200 GT.
We liked the 3200 GT, too, mostly, calling it the best Maserati for 20 years. It was undeniably firm in the ride department, but what do you expect? Bumps that wouldn’t have fazed a Jaguar XKR could send shudders through the bodyshell, added to which road roar above 60mph could become intrusive.
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There are so many warnings under the title Buyers beware that I suspect Maserati stands for Amazing or rotten, both for the enthusiast with spare money and nearby specialist workshop.
Yes, you need to be very brave. And prepared to hand out heaps of cash!
Just too cool, and unfathomably cheap (to buy). I think we've all been tempted by one of these over the last 10 years.
A moment of silence for the tragic loss of the tail lights. And spare a thought for poor Frank Stephenson being forced by his corporate overlords to destroy this masterstroke detail by one of his favourite designers. Poor Frank :-(