I just noticed that my 3500 is stamped at several place with matching numbers. For instance the front hood is stamped 701 my doors are 701 my rear truck lid is stamped 12701 and my front grill is stamped 01 Does any one have a complete listing of where one can locate all the numbers that stamped numbers on the 3500. It amaze me to see all these matching numbers on my car. I was under the impression that the Italians did not bother with with number marching.
It is all very logical if you think about or know how these cars were produced. Here is a very brief description of the "Touring Milan" build. So say you have 20 chassis at Touring Milan waiting to have the bodies built in various stages at the same time. Each chassis gets a "Touring number" for the build or production. Let's use 10798 as our example 3500 GT. Remember, each body is built by hand. No two cars are going to be exactly the same. Maserati car are bespoke, each is unique, so no two parts from different cars are going to fit each other. Touring had to number the parts of the cars to fit each individual car. The doors #798, or 98 following our "Touring number", the trunk #798 the fenders/wings 798, the hood/bonnet 798, the grill 798, the etc. etc. Also most of the bright work, the trim, the bumpers, the glove box door, the hood/bonnet latch, etc. etc. These were all numbered by Touring with the Touring body number as they were made and fit to THAT specific car. Our example car 10798. or 798 or 98. It's my experience that no two parts are really the same. Doors from 10798 may, or most like WILL NOT fit 098352. There is a lot more information to offer, but I think that should answer your question. This says nothing about the "Maserati Internal" number which is stamped on your engine, and apparently sometimes on your chassis. This is NOT the VIN number. Maybe, others can add to this.... Ciao and best! ~Trev
Correct ... on the early cars, such as the 3500GT, the "loose parts" were identified with a portion of the carrozeria body number. On later cars, such as the Ghibli, the loose parts were identified with a portion of the car's VIN. Ivan
Hello Trev's posting below is very helpful - by confirming that there are body numbers stamped on many parts. Is anyone able to tell me where I should look to find these? I've looked under the hood and under the boot lid but don't see any stampings. Both panels on my car appear to have been coated with noise insulating paint - so it would be really helpful to have an idea of where to look exactly before I start to remove it. Many thanks John
From what I have seen during Sebring restorations, the stamping are found on the various places. This was Vignale build but I understand that Touring was the same : tail light housings, window chrome surrounds door window frames grill bonnet scoop trim door sill plate and surround There is a small aluminum tab plate about the size of a postage stamp that is stamped with the body number and is screwed to the sheet metal in the engine bay just underneath turned aluminum finish piece that the vin tag is attached to. So if you remove this finish piece you will find the original body tag underneath. front and rear bumpers drip rail chrome interior metal pieces that are covered in leather or vinyl on the door pillars, glove box, etc. Also written in a chalk pencil on the inside of the seats, back side of the rear seat, the metal pieces of the seat bottoms, back side of door panels, and quarter panels, back side of the leather that covers the rear transmission tunnel... This list goes on!! Chris
Many thanks Chris. The reason I'm asking is that the Carozzeria Touring plate on my 61 3500GT doesn't tally with Modena's records - but I can't believe the body has been off and replaced. So far I've looked at the glove box door and that ends in 12 - whereas the Touring body number ends is 12149. If I can establish that all other body components end in '12' codes then it would seem the Touring plate is from another car (though why anyone would fit it is hard to understand). I'll work my way through your list and see what I find. Thanks again John
Hi, My car is 12718 touring number, and number 18 is stamped everywhere on the upholstery, other things like glove box, fuel cap, hood, bonnet and door are stamped 718. Ludovic
Hi Ludovic - many thanks for your reply. Could you tell me exactly where on the bonnet or hood the number is stamped or could you post a photo of the location? (Otherwise I will have to scrape all the sound-proofing off the panels to find it. Many thanks John
