Maserati Mistral

Maserati
mistral
Production period:	1963-1970
Class :	Sports car
Body versions :	Kombicoupé , convertible
Engines:	Petrol engines : 3.5-4.0 liters (173-188 kW)
Length:	4500 mm
Width:	1675 mm
Height:	1250 mm
Wheelbase :	2400 mm
Empty weight :	1200 kg
Previous model	Maserati 3500 GT

Maserati Mistral Spyder

Maserati Mistral 4000 Spyder

Rear view

The Maserati Mistral was a luxury sports car produced by the Italian car manufacturer Maserati from 1963 to 1970. The car was initially called the Maserati 3500 GT 2posti and was available as a coupé and a convertible.

Technology and structure

The car, known in- house as Tipo AM 109 , was developed under the direction of Giulio Alfieri . The aim was to construct an answer to the Jaguar E-Type .

chassis

The car featured a separate chassis that was unrelated to the chassis of the Maserati 3500 GT . It consisted of tubes with a rectangular cross-section; the rear area was designed as a box frame. Its wheelbase was 20 cm shorter than that of the 3500 GT Coupé; It undercut the wheelbase of the 3500 GT Spider by 10 cm. The suspension and suspension corresponded to the 3500 GT.

Engines

Initially, the 3.5-liter in-line six-cylinder, which was also used in the previous model, served as the drive. It made 235 hp. In 1964 it was replaced by a 3.7 liter version that offered 10 hp more power. This engine remained in the program until 1969. From 1966 a 4.0 liter, 255 hp version of the six-cylinder engine was optionally available. The Mistral was the last Maserati with the company's classic straight-six; all later models had six or eight-cylinder V-engines.

body

The Maserati Mistral initially had a body made entirely of aluminum, since 1967 made of pressed sheet steel with doors and bonnet made of aluminum.

The body of the vehicle was designed by Pietro Frua . Frua repeatedly resorted to the Mistral design for later orders: both the British AC 428 and the Swiss Monteverdi High Speed ​​375 S are copies of the Maserati Mistral.

Initially, the Mistral was only available as a two-seater coupé with a large tailgate. This conception reflected the requirement to position the car in the niche of the Jaguar E-Type. Later, scarce emergency seats were installed in the rear of the car. From 1965, the coupé was accompanied by a two-seater convertible with the name Spyder , for which a hardtop was available as an option.

production

The vehicle was presented at the Turin Motor Show in November 1963 . On the occasion of the presentation it appeared with the model name Maserati 3500 GTI 2Posti. The name Mistral was officially used only from 1966. The suggestion for this went back to the French Maserati importer Colonel John Simone. The name refers to the wind of the same name , which is noticeable in the lower Rhône valley. It established the tradition of naming Maserati vehicles after winds, which existed until the 1990s.

Series production of the Mistral began in the spring of 1964 and lasted until 1970. During this time 828 coupes and 123 convertibles were built.

The production process was complicated. The engine and chassis were made at Maserati, while the sheet metal parts of the body were pressed in Turin by Carrozzeria Maggiora . The chassis were transported by truck from Maserati to Maggiora, where the body was welded to the chassis. The vehicles were then brought to the Officine Padane in Modena , where the painting work was carried out and the windows, the electrical system and the interior fittings were installed. Eventually the cars came back to Maserati. In a final step, the engine, suspension, gearbox and brakes were installed here.

reception

The Maserati Mistral was praised by testers in the 1960s. The British journalist John Bolster summed up in 1967: “Everything about the Mistral is so right that it is a real pleasure to drive this car”. In the USA, however, the car was received with skepticism. In 1964, Road & Track magazine, referring to the large tailgate of the coupé, commented: “An excellent shopping cart for the housewife in a hurry”.

The Mistral as a classic

With the introduction of the Maserati Ghibli designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1966, the demand for the Mistral fell sharply. In the classic market, too, the Mistral was long in the shadow of the eight-cylinder Ghibli. Only at the turn of the millennium did the used car prices for the Mistral rise, so that the coupés reached almost the same price level in 2013. Regardless, the Ghibli Spyder is still significantly more expensive than the Mistral Spyder.

Technical specifications

body	Six-cylinder in-line engine, DOHC
Bore / stroke (mm)	86 × 100/86 × 106/88 × 110
Displacement	3485/3694/4014 cc
power	173/180/188 kW (235/245/255 hp)
chassis	Steel tubular frame
suspension	Wishbones and coil springs in front; Rigid axle with trailing arms and leaf springs at the rear
Power transmission	Five-speed manual transmission (ZF), rear-wheel drive
Top speed	230–245 km / h

swell

• Martin Buckley: Maserati. Italian luxury and flair . Heel Verlag, Königswinter, 2012. ISBN 978-3-86852-633-2 .
• Cancellieri, Gianni, et al. (Ed.): Maserati. Catalog raisonné 1926-2003 . Automobilia, Milan 2003. ISBN 88-7960-151-2
• Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car. Zsolnay, Vienna, 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3 .
• Dean Bachelor, Chris Poole, Graham Robson: The Big Book of Sports Cars. The fastest, most expensive and most beautiful cars in the world . Erlangen (Karl Müller Verlag) 1990, without ISBN.

Web links

Commons : Maserati Mistral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Lange: Maserati. P. 21.
2. ^ ^{A b c} Buckley: Maserati, pp. 46-48.
3. ↑ Motor Klassik 4/2019, Maserati Mistral 1963-1970, from 150,000 euros , page 49.
4. ↑ Bachelor, Poole, Robson: The big book of sports cars, p. 20 (in the contribution to the AC 428).
5. ↑ Used car prices : See Motor Klassik, Issue 8/2012, p. 71.