Touring Superleggera Maserati 3500 GT History

The Maserati 3500 GT was the car that transformed Maserati from a pure racing constructor into a viable road-car manufacturer. The first prototype — a white 2+2 Touring berlinetta nicknamed 'Dama Bianca' (White Lady) — was presented at the 1957 Geneva Motor Show with full Superleggera construction. Its elegant long-hood, short-deck proportions set the template for the production series.

Touring bodied the 3500 GT in coupe form throughout its production life (1957–1964); a Spyder variant was also produced, styled by Vignale. The coupe was Touring's most numerically significant commission: approximately 2,000 to 2,200 examples were completed, making it far more commercially important than the bespoke pre-war and Ferrari commissions that preceded it.

The 3500 GT was offered with a twin-cam 3.5-litre inline-six derived from Maserati's racing engines, later updated to direct fuel injection in the 3500 GTi variant. It established the Italian grand tourer formula — front-engine, rear-drive, handsome steel-tube/aluminium coachwork — that Touring would refine on subsequent commissions for Ferrari and Lamborghini.