Maserati Sebring

Maserati Sebring at a glance

The Sebring is the four-seat derivative of the Maserati 3500 GT. All models are listed in the Maserati catalogue, and the brand's story is in our history of Maserati.

The name: Sebring 1957 race victory

The car was named after one of Maserati's best racing results. On 23 March 1957 a Maserati 450S driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Jean Behra won the 12 Hours of Sebring after 197 laps, and a Maserati 300S driven by Stirling Moss and Harry Schell finished second, two laps behind.

The base: Maserati 3500 GT

The Sebring was built on the mechanical parts of the 3500 GT, Maserati's successful grand tourer. Two 3500 GT prototypes were shown at the Geneva motor show in March 1957, and production started at the end of that year. The 3500 GT had a 3,485 cc twin-cam straight-six derived from the 350S racing car, producing 162 kW (220 PS) with Weber carburettors and 173 kW (235 PS) with Lucas mechanical fuel injection. According to Wikipedia, the injected 3500 GTi of 1960 was the first Italian production car with fuel injection. In total, 2,226 coupés and convertibles of the 3500 GT were built, with sales peaking in 1961 at about 500 cars.

The Sebring, which went into production in 1962, shared these mechanicals but received a new 2+2 coupé body.

Design by Vignale

Giovanni Michelotti designed the Sebring at Vignale. The body is a 2+2 coupé with a 2,500 mm wheelbase; the car is 4,470 mm long, 1,665 mm wide and 1,300 mm high and weighs 1,520 kg dry. In 1963 Vignale also built a single two-seat Sebring spyder, which did not enter production.

Engines and gearboxes

The first Sebrings used the 3,485 cc straight-six (type AM101). An update in 1963 added 11 kW (15 PS), for 173 kW (235 PS). From 1964 a few Series I cars received a larger 3,694 cc engine, and later a 4,012 cc version followed as the 4000 GTiS with 188 kW (255 PS) at 5,200 rpm. Late in production the 4.0-litre was raised slightly to 195 kW (265 PS).

The standard gearbox was a five-speed manual from ZF. A three-speed automatic from Borg-Warner was also offered. The Series I reached a top speed of 220 km/h.

Series I and Series II

Series I (type AM 101/S). Shown at the Paris motor show in 1962 and at the Turin motor show in 1963. 348 were built between 1962 and 1965.

Series II (type AM 101/10). Introduced in 1965, it had redesigned headlamps, more modern bumpers, new front indicators and side grilles, horizontally mounted tail lights and a slightly narrower boot opening. The cars ran on 205x15 Pirelli Cinturato tyres. Wikipedia gives 247 Series II cars, but a parts marking reading "69 di 96" suggests that only 96 may have been made, which would make it very rare.

Legacy

The Sebring gave Maserati a comfortable four-seat grand tourer in the 1960s and kept the memory of its 1957 racing success alive. Jeremy Clarkson later placed it 77th in his list of the 100 greatest cars. Its successor was the Maserati Indy.