3500 GT Spyder Vignale #925....

....was sold to a new owner from Austria to Chicago today.

Ciao!
Walter
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Beautiful car!

Was this a private treaty sale or public auction? I'll guess it was north of 170 Euros.

 

I brokered the car to "Windy City" and yes, it was north of Euro 170k ....very much north!!!

Ciao!
Walter

 

Elegance ....

 

...and the heart of it (carb-filter-box came with the car!).

Ciao!
Walter
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Thanks Bernard!

#925 if one of the best Spyder Vignale I ever saw!
Wonderful car and I was really hooked by its battleship-grey over maroon.

Ciao!
Walter
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Very nice Walter, if you have, could you please post photos of the rear + side, especially showing its exaust pipes... As you know am working on redoing mine and #925 seems original...

Many Thanks
Ciao
Charles

 

Carlitooooo,

here are the pics:
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After studing various pictures of new original Vignale Spyders, I believe there are at least three different exhaust pipe configerations. One is like this car #925, Another has the exhaust coming out straight with a valance around the rear of the car and half round cutouts for the pipes, another variation shows the pipes coming out straight and under the tail lights. This car # 925 does not apear to have the valance around the lower back of the car. It may just be the angle of the pictures. All three of thes variations can be seen on page 99 of the Crump book Maserati road cars 1946- 1979. There is a fourth variation that was on the late cars that had two pipes on the drivers side coming straight out. Of course with Maserati there may have been other variations as all of these cars were made one at a time.

 

Agreed that is the difficult part, seems all Vignale where built differently as they went in time... Mine I know for sure had this exaust set-up, which you do not see that often anymore.... Most people when restoring Vignale opt for the straight exaust sometimes without knowing if it was the correct setting, originality getting lost in time :((

Carlito

 

Fantastic, many thanks Walter and extremly helpful... Will soon visit #761 for measurments and precise info...

Ciao
Carlito

 

Germany!

Ciao!
Walter

 

....came from Italy to Germany and was forwarded in October 2010 by me to a new owner in in The Fatherland.

Ciao!
Walter
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Bernard,
great car your Alfa.
but no "highjacking" here, please....

Ciao!
Walter

 

Look forward to seeing it at local shows.

Tom Tanner/Ferrari Expo 2012-Chicago March 2012

 

Hi Walter,

Now I'm confused the pictures you posted is this #761 ?? because this is not the one I pictured, especially not the exaust I need to look after... I thought the hereunder is #761, can you confirm, would save me a long drive...

Thanks
Ciao
Carlito
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Carlito,
this is #761 when offered by THIESEN, Germany.

The photos in my post 17 -you refer to- are of #1035!

Ciao!
Walter
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I owned and enjoyed a 1961 Vignale Spyder AM 101 1051 for a number of years (sold it way back in 1986 to a buyer from Fort Lauderdale FLA (Baumgartner) for $25,000 USD !!. I had two items that I wasn't all that fussy about.
1. The seats have next to no bolsters - so if you drive it aggressively (even with a lap type seat belt) you are sliding around using the steering wheel as a grab bar !
2. It was a four speed (with the correct flat oval white gear knob) and as I also owned (and still own) a 5 speed 1962 3500 GTi AM 101 2074 - at speed on the highway the higher revs in the Spyder were annoying and somewhat noisier.
3. Other than that I wish to heck I hadn't sold it !
4. Both cars were purchase by me from the elusive (nowadays) Mike Adams (then living in Medford OR).
Cheers,
Colin

 

All these "flaws" are the charm of a classic, especially a Vignale... $25K what a deal for a Vignale....

Carlito

 

Ahhhhh Fantastic, I'm reassured :))))))))))))))))

Cheers
Carlito

 

Hello Walter,

Cosmetically it looks very nice under the hood but not correct. Pity that the cylinder head is not wrinkle painted as all classic Maserati's had when they left the factory, a typical Maserati trademark.
Also, I have never seen the gold colored coils with the resistor, I only know them in red.
The grill looks a little strange too: flat at the top and V-shaped at the bottom, can be caused by the angle of the photograph, though.

It is not easy to be a perfectionist...

Ciao,

Bart

 

Bart,
thanks for your "perfect" comment.

1. OK, I agree with you that it could be more "wrinkeled" but perhaps its now a little too perfectly done (the cam-cover were chromed for over 20 years prior to restoration!).

2. I know them in two other colors: this "gold" and black.
3. The front grill is correct although a little different than others. We found no traces of a later modification around the grill-opening.

I know of a Spyder VIgnale that has a 3cm longer and a little wider radiator grill. No 2 Vignale Spyder are 100% matching - and I believe you know this.

Ciao!
Walter

 

According to my records #925 was originally black with brown interior. Is that correct?

Ivan

 

Yes & no! Acording to the factory records the 1st owner ordered it in black/brown but changed his mind on very short notice to white & red! In this color-combo the car was delivered to him. Very confusing is, that the 3rd owner, who started the resto in 1999 told me that no traces of white had been found anywhere - but this battleship-grey. So he decided to go that way...

Ciao!
Walter

 

That makes it as clear as mud

What color was the car before the restoration in 1999?

The factory provides copies of the car's data sheet. This is the document that was completed during the assembly of the car and indicates many details such as type of gearbox, type of differential, brakes, fuel delivery, etc. Exterior and interior colors are also noted on the bottom right of the document. This is about as close as you can get to the source of accurate information since the document was hand written at the assembly line. Owner's of cars with a "muddy history" should take the time to try a clear things up a bit. This is a sample copy.

I like the current color combination but it would be even better if the color could be authenticated.

Ivan
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