Maserati 3200 GT

Maserati 3200 GT at a glance

The 3200 GT links Maserati's classic grand tourers, such as the Maserati 3500 GT whose name it recalls, with the modern Maserati GranTurismo. All models are listed in the Maserati catalogue.

History and launch

The 3200 GT was announced in July 1998 and presented to the press in September 1998 by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, with Sir Stirling Moss and Giorgetto Giugiaro present. Its public debut followed at the Paris Motor Show in October 1998. Deliveries began in March 1999, the automatic GTA was added at the Geneva Motor Show the same month, and the 1,000th car was built in June 1999.

Maserati had first wanted to call the car "Mistral", a name it had used in the 1960s, but dropped the idea when it found that Volkswagen owned the rights to the name. The chosen name instead honours the 3500 GT, Maserati's first series-production grand tourer.

Design

The exterior was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign, who had earlier drawn the Maserati Ghibli, Bora and Merak. The interior was the work of Enrico Fumia and was completed by 1995. The drag coefficient is 0.34.

The best-known detail is at the rear. The tail lights are made of LEDs arranged in a boomerang shape: the outer part works as the brake light and the inner part as the indicator. Wikipedia describes the 3200 GT as the first car in the world with full LED tail lights.

Engine and gearbox

The AM 585 engine is an all-aluminium V8 with a displacement of 3,217 cc, two overhead camshafts per bank, four valves per cylinder, a cross-plane crankshaft and two turbochargers. It has electronic drive-by-wire throttle control and weighs 221 kg. The same basic engine was used in the Quattroporte Evoluzione, but with 246 kW (335 PS); in the 3200 GT it was tuned to 272 kW (370 PS), or about 85 kW per litre.

The manual cars use a six-speed Getrag 226 gearbox. The GTA has a four-speed torque-converter automatic from the Australian supplier BTR; Maserati said the engine was calibrated specially for it. The automatic adds about 30 kg.

Chassis

The body is a steel monocoque with a tubular front subframe carrying the drivetrain and a rear subframe carrying the suspension and the differential. All four wheels are suspended by double wishbones with forged aluminium arms and uprights, coil springs, aluminium-bodied dampers and anti-roll bars at both ends. A two-piece aluminium propeller shaft drives a limited-slip differential at the rear.

Brembo brakes with ventilated, cross-drilled discs and four-piston calipers are fitted all round, supported by four-channel ABS and Bosch ASR traction control.

Assetto Corsa and the 320S concept

In 2001 Maserati presented the 3200 GT Assetto Corsa at the Geneva Motor Show. It had a handling package with a 15 mm lower ride height, stiffer springs, a thicker front anti-roll bar, Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres on BBS wheels and special brake ducts. It was offered in three colours — Grigio Touring, Nero Carbonio and Rosso Mondiale — with black perforated Connolly leather and red stitching inside. Weight and performance were unchanged. 259 were built, 163 with the manual gearbox and 96 automatics.

At the same Geneva show, Italdesign presented the Maserati 320S, a single-seat racing barchetta concept based on the 3200 GT. Its wheelbase was 22 cm shorter, and it used the same engine and six-speed gearbox, with six-point safety belts, an exposed roll bar, a Sparco seat and a small aero screen.

Driving and ownership

Hagerty's buying guide describes a car that is quick and comfortable rather than nervous. Both turbochargers deliver a strong push from about 2,000 rpm, the throttle is sensitive — small movements of the pedal have a big effect, especially in the wet — and the steering turns in sharply. The suspension is supple and copes well with poor surfaces, which makes the 3200 GT a relaxed car on long journeys. The six-speed manual has a slightly long throw but a positive action, and the automatic suits the grand-touring character; most cars were sold as automatics. Two adults fit in the rear seats, and the boot is generous.

The same guide lists the points to check on a used car:

• Timing belts and water pump — to be replaced every three years or about 50,000 km; a rear chain is due at about 110,000 km and is often neglected because the job is expensive.
• Crankshaft end float — a known and costly fault.
• Throttle body — can fail; the original part is expensive.
• Front suspension — the lower ball joints are only sold together with a new wishbone.
• Electrics — the boomerang tail lights are hard to find and expensive; the red master key is needed to code replacement electrical parts.
• Leaks — damp carpets can point to a blocked drain or a leaking heater matrix, which means removing the whole dashboard.

Hagerty also notes that many healthy standard cars show more than the quoted output on a rolling road.

Legacy

The 3200 GT was the first Maserati developed under Ferrari's ownership, and it took the brand back into the four-seat GT class. Its successor, the 4200 Coupé and Spyder, used a Ferrari-derived 4.2-litre V8, and the concept later continued in the GranTurismo. The background of the brand, from the Maserati brothers' racing cars to the modern range, is told in our Maserati history.

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