Perhaps the nicest looking car I ever had was a 2004 Vintage Edition Spyder. Funny, the Ferrari attracted guys. The Maser attracted gals. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Beautiful car - and very nice color! Are those side vents original? Never seen/noticed them before...
Yep, it was part of the vintage package. I brought and sold the car in 2005 for $65K. Wish I had it back though. The color combo was great! Much better than Ferrari.
They're great cars, that's why I have my 6MT. They're great bargains as well. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Very nice wheels on yours. I believe they were originally introduced on the 3200GT Assetto Corsa. (photo from autogespot.com) Image Unavailable, Please Login
I like the original 2002-2003 Spyders look like Tony H's the best, never really liked the rear/side windows on the coupe...Very classic look, and at todays prices will only go up in value. 6MT is rare and your best bet. A Maserati designed by Ferrari when Ferrari owned them. What else can you ask for
I'll look for a better pic of the interior. It had the nicest color combo of burgundy piping and cream leather. Everybody loved it, particularly the clock. Plus, the car was very comfortable on the street, not so much on the track. I liked it because it was smaller than the coupe. I've heard some have issues with the top. Frankly, if I see this car again, I'm buying.
They are THE best value out there right now and they look great inside and out AND the engine looks like an ENGINE, not much plastic under there either! Your color combo of burgundy with cream and piping can't be beat! lovely.
Maybe the Spyder is not a track car but maybe it's just the driver? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMHW_CmDXUE
HaHaHa! I had forgotten about that video. Yes, it most certainly is the driver. But that's no big deal to me because I can use a race car for the track. The Maser is for the real world.
I don't see it that way... The design is Guigiaro's, and the car is basically a development of the 3200GT, which was definitely not designed by Ferrari, although certainly improved by Ferrari's involvement in the management of Maserati in that period. Yes, the F136 engine is a Maserati-Ferrari cooperation - actually first used in, precisely, the Maserati Coupe and Spyder - but the Maserati and Ferrari engines are not the same, although they are all produced in Maranello. The engine in the Maserati is a Maserati engine. Finally, Ferrari's ownership of Maserati must surely be considered mainly as a pragmatic corporate arrangement, probably a sensible one at the time, given the need to ensure getting benefits from scale and scope economies, knowledge transfer, etc. Both Ferrari and Maserati had then Fiat as their common owner. To me, the Spyder is a Maserati, designed, developed, and built by Maserati at Viale Ciro Menotti in Modena.
Let's not have the inane "are they the same" discussion again. Yes one has Maserati on the cam covers and one has Ferrari, so they must be totally different! And Enzo Ferrari said "I don't sell cars; I sell engines. The cars I throw in for free since something has to hold the engines in."
I bought one of the first ones to come into the US back in 2001. I had the car for 12 years. I liked it. Very comfortable. Mine was pretty reliable after they got through the initial clutch and F1 pump problems. Very pretty car with a great interior and some of the most comfortable seats of any car I've owned. I gave mine up and traded it in went the strap in the top broke and the top would not go up or down anymore. The dealer said it was like 6 grand to fix. The gearbox is similar to a Ferrari 360 F1 so I always felt the negative comments on the Maserati were overblown because so many like the 360. Some cars have a timeless look. This original design goes back like 20 years and still looks good today. If you want low production good looking REAL Italian car with a wonderful engine and topless driving, a Maserati Spyder is a great choice Just go into it knowing that the price to fix it can might be much as it cost you to buy. But show me a Lotus and Aston Martin of the same era that isn't.
I have had a couple over the years, and I ran one for an ex girlfriend as her company car, which cost more in fuel in a couple years than the actual car I think! Had a silver 2003 and a black 2005. Both were really nice, easy cars to drive, the noise was awesome, and in all the masers I had from 3200 up, never had any mechanical issues at all! I find the maser gets nicer attention than a Ferrari is similar, seems people see them as 'automotive royalty' rather than a 'playboy' car
I had a Ferrari/Maserati sales guy tell me the biggest knock on the Spyder was the top. Not only did they have a tendency to break, but Maserati doesn't make the parts anymore. Can anyone else confirm this?
They designed the drivetrain which saved both Maserati and Ferrari by getting rid of belts and valve lash adjustments but that cambiocorsa ... not so great. The original body and car itself began with DeTomaso. Too bad they didn't keep the 3200GT's taillights ... Otherwise they certainly made a much, much better car of it. I think I'd prefer a coupe though, the spyder has a lot of cowl shake and I got trapped in a spyder once for about 10 minutes when the battery disconnected after we got in the car. That was the fault of the owner I guess? He had the wrong battery cable or battery in the car as it couldn't be tightened on the post. A paper clip fixed that quickly but getting out took a bit of muscle to force the door glass over the seals.
I wish they hadn't made the coupe a 2+2. That also goes for the Grandsports, too big. Cowl shake is no problem when you're cruising. Well I was rollin' down the road in some cold blue steel, I had a bluesman in the back, and a beautician at the wheel. We're going downtown in the middle of the night We was laughing and I'm jokin' and we feelin' alright. Oh I'm bad, I'm nationwide. Yes I'm bad, I'm nationwide.
Frankly, the exterior and interior are the best I've ever seen in a Maserati or Ferrari, not to mention a Porsche. The Vintage twist was for 2004 only, if my memory holds. In 2005, they came up with a anniversary edition, I think that's what it was called, and all those cars were blue. Great looking car, but not as nice as the burgundy. Give me some time, I have better pics of the interior somewhere.
Agree Maserati has never made Sports Cars for the road. They always built a Gentleman's Grand Touring cars.
Well, they built sports cars (also for the road) in the 1950s, but I would agree with you that since then the only obvious one is the MC12.
The Spyder GT with 6 speed is a great car. Considered one along with a DB7 Vantage. The great V12 won over the also great V8. Both cars are inexpensive to buy classic exotics. And both can potentially present repair costs that make you think twice about the value. Still worth it in the end for most of us who know what the rewards of ownership are...
