In 1926, Alfieri formed Officine Alfieri Maserati SpA, Bologna. Alfieri then took over the foundering grand prix efforts of Diatto, the upscale Turinese automaker. He renamed the Diatto racer Maserati 26 and won his class in the Targa Florio. Success came slowly, with both Alfieri and Ernesto driving, although Alfieri later died in 1932. Ernesto succeeded him as chief designer, Ettore joined the family firm as a business manager in 1930, and Bindo became a sales manager two years later. Maserati soon became the car of choice for privateer competitors.

In 1938, the brothers sold the company to Adolfo Orsi. They were retained on a 10-year contract, and after World War II, Ernesto designed a road going sports car, the Tipo A6, which was unveiled at the 1947 Salon Internationale de l’Auto at Geneva. With their contract fulfilled, the Maserati brothers departed at the end of the year to found OSCA, leaving Orsi’s son, Omer, to concentrate on the production of road cars.

From 1952 through to 1957, Maserati cleaned up on the race track, winning seven World Championships and dominating Formula One, in large part due to lead driver Juan-Manuel Fangio. Emphasis then moved to road cars of the gran turismo class when the 3500 GT was introduced in 1957 at Geneva. The 3500 GT was powered by a 220-brake horsepower, hemi-head, 3,485-cubic centimetre inline six-cylinder, and it was available as either a 2+2 coupé or convertible. The coupé was wrapped in an aluminium superleggera body by Touring of Milan, whilst the convertible body was by Vignale.

In 1960, this fantastic 3500 GT left the Modena workshop clothed in elegant Touring coachwork and was destined to Murray Motors of Fleetwood, who, at the time, were Maserati Concessionaires for the United Kingdom. The Maserati was delivered in grey with a red leather interior, and it is believed to be one of thirty right-hand-drive examples and the second such car built. Based on correspondence on file, this car was delivered to Mr Rinald Whitehead, a resident of Lancashire. Mr Whitehead kept the car for two years before passing it on to a Mr Bolinbroke. It was then acquired by Mr Pope, of Warickshire, who purchased the car at Nottingham-based auction house Walker, Walton & Hanson in 1986.

Once retained by Mr Pope, the 3500 GT was restored at Corley Motors, and invoices on file suggest that the car was fully restored, which included having the engine rebuilt. The Maserati then passed to Mr Miles Kitchen, of Altringham, Cheshire, sometime in the mid-1990s, and he kept it until 1997. Additional invoices on file suggest that the car was routinely maintained and serviced by specialists at Autoshield Maserati. Under the current ownership, the car was cosmetically restored, which included a bare-metal repaint; new headlining, carpets, and tyres; and a general service. The car presents very nicely in its two-tone livery.

In the words of Grant Gregor, founder of Autosport: “This is a masterpiece, offering high-speed travel with luxurious comfort…one of the most fascinating high-performance cars of our time”.