Design Firsts

In the early days of the 20th century four brothers who were all involved in automobiles began building and racing cars. By 1926 they had created their own brand name, Maserati. After about a decade they sold their shares but stayed with the firm as engineers, seeing the company they started move to Modena, Italy and continue to have racing success.

After a tragic accident at the 1957 Mille Miglia, Maserati "retired" from factory racing and concentrated on building for other teams. But a new concept crept into their collective imaginations, the design of a 2 plus 2 prototype called the 3500GT. The car was shown to the media that year and sporting high praise Maserati put it into production.

Two years later another prototype was built. Seen here is the prototype of the 3500GT Vignale spyder. This was the first convertible ever produced by Maserati. With a 3.5 liter straight six engine the car could hit speeds of 120 miles per hour.

The car was fairly successful. Though only 243 of the Vignales were manufactured, close to 2000 of the 3500GT coupe were made and sold.

This car, which was on display at the recent Keenland Concours d'Elegance, is an enduring example of the beauty and performance of a design first.