FEATURE – 1961 Maserati 5000 GT Ghia
Words: Mike Ryan
Photos: copyright Robin Adams, courtesy of RM Sothebys
We’ve all heard of ‘barn finds’, but how about a ‘desert find’? Just such a car, wearing the patina of decades spent in the sands of Saudi Arabia, resurfaced last year and went to auction at RM Sothebys’ Monterey sale.
The car in question is a 1961 Maserati 5000 GT; a model that had been born two years earlier.
Shah’s Special
In 1958, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi test drove a 3500 GT, and while he liked the car, he wanted more power. ‘Mohammad who?’ you ask. You may know him better as the Shah of Iran, the dynastic ruler who was ousted in 1979 after an Islamic Revolution, that had been brewing for years, finally boiled over.
Something of a playboy and jetsetter, especially in his earlier years, the Shah was also an avid car enthusiast and had amassed a large collection, both before and after his 1963 ‘White Revolution’ of social and political reforms had started what would lead to the Islamic Revolution.
Those cars included the usual Rolls-Royce and Mercedes saloons you’d expect of a head of state, but the Shah also liked “driver’s cars” and his garage included such exotics as a Ferrari 500 Superfast, Porsche 911 Turbo, Lamborghini Miura and Countach, Jensen Interceptor and Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada, to name a few.
The Maserati commission preceded all of these, though, and arguably set the template for the Shah’s taste in personal cars.
A 3500 GT with a more powerful engine was easier said than done, essentially requiring an all-new car to be engineered and built. Leading the project was Maserati’s technical director Giulio Alfieri, who built the new car around the 5.0-litre V8 that had already been created for Maserati’s 450S sports racing machines.
Built to the Shah’s request, what was a one-off at the time featured a 16-valve DOHC V8 with four twin-choke Weber carbs, producing 325hp (242kW) and matched to a 4-speed manual transmission. Coilover front suspension and leaf spring/tele shock rear suspension, power-assisted front disc brakes and rear drums were other features, while the body for the bespoke tube frame chassis was produced by Touring. Styling was said to be influenced by Persian architecture, while gold-plated trim and detailing inside suited the Shah’s rich tastes.
Developed throughout 1959, what became known as the ‘5000 GT’ debuted at that year’s Turin Motor Show. Its positive reception saw two more cars in the same specification ordered immediately, despite a price tag around double that of a 3500 GT.
After some modification to the original design to make it more practical for regular use on the road, more were built to a similar pattern. The performance, price and exclusivity of the 5000 GT attracted an equally exclusive customer base, including Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli, American racer and car builder Briggs Cunningham, Mexican President, Adolfo López Mateos and, ironically, Nizari Islamist leader Karim Aga Khan.
Body by Sergio
While the 5000 GT was popular enough for Maserati to make it into a production model, it wasn’t THAT popular. The high price tag meant that, in total, only 34 were built between 1959 and 1965. Of that amount, 22 were bodied by Allemano, with Frua and Touring producing a handful each. One-off bodies were produced by Pininfarina, Bertone and Michelotti, while the car featured - chassis #018 – was the only example designed and bodied by Ghia; specifically Ghia’s head of prototyping, Sergio Sartorelli.
Designer of the Fiat 2300 coupe, Sartorelli had also completed the ‘razor edge’ Karmann Ghia Type 34 (perhaps his best-known design) for Volkswagen when the commission for a Maserati came in. That commission came from Ferdinando Innocenti of Lambretta scooter and Innocenti automobile fame. Whether the Fiat or VW designs had inspired Innocenti to choose Ghia is unknown, but what is known is that Sartorelli had previously designed some prototype scooters for Innocenti and he was impressed enough to insist that Sartorelli personally, rather than Ghia generally, design the body for his 5000 GT.
Compared to other 5000 GTs, Sartorelli’s body for #018 (which despite its chassis number was actually the ninth 5000 GT built) featured a similar overall profile, but a significantly different grille design, mismatched wheelarch openings and a shallower slope to the rear windscreen, amongst its many individual design features.
The position of the parking lights and indicators gave the front end a quad headlight look (the Shah’s example had genuine quad headlights), while another distinctive design element was the kinked wrapround treatment of the front and rear bumpers.
Finished in silver with a black interior, Sartorelli’s 5000 GT Ghia for Innocenti debuted at the 1961 Turin Auto Show, but before it was delivered, Maserati loaned it to US car magazine Sports Car Graphic to test. Bernard Cahier, editor of Sports Car Graphic, noted: “I have driven many fast cars before, but never did I feel such power coming on so fast, so fast indeed that when I shifted from 3rd into top gear on the first little straight, I found that the car was already doing 135 mph!”
The Maserati covered a standing kilometre in 26.6 seconds at 135 mph (217km/h), the fastest sprint time Cahier had ever recorded to that point.
Fortunately, Cahier didn’t bend the car before it was delivered to Innocenti, but the scooter magnate only owned it for a few years, after which it passed through a handful of Italian owners (including one who repainted it blue). In the early 1970s, 5000 GT chassis #018 was purchased by Saudi Arabian car enthusiast Rubayan Alrubayan.
Death in the Desert… Almost
Unaware of the car’s significance as a one-off design, Alrubayan left it outside and unattended for decades. Even in Saudi Arabia’s dry desert climate, rust managed to get into the car and cause significant damage, particularly to the bonnet, bootlid and rear valance. By the time it was rediscovered a few years ago and moved indoors, some panels, most noticeably the bootlid, had almost entirely dissolved.
Maserati enthusiasts and historians had thought the car lost forever before it resurfaced in early 2019. Auctioneers RM Sothebys say that a message spray-painted on the passenger door in Arabic indicated the car was abandoned and due to be scrapped, so it did indeed came close to being lost forever, but fortunately, it was saved.
Desert Survivor
Despite spending nearly 50 years outdoors, chassis #018 was largely complete when discovered and consigned for RM Sothebys Monterey auction this past 15 – 17 August.
Having never been vandalized or disassembled, only a few parts were broken or missing (including one windscreen wiper and smashed tail lights), the original glass remained in extremely good condition, the engine was mostly complete and the unused spare tyre was still in the boot.
That being said, bringing this car back to original condition would present a significant challenge, as so many elements are unique and certain parts of the body were well beyond salvation.
Despite the significant expense a restoration would incur, RM Sothebys were confident the Maserati would find a new buyer. Maserati aficionados agreed, believing the car to be worth at least US$500,000 and possibly even US$750,000 (AU$662,000 to AU$993,000 approx.).
While it was far from the top-selling car at Monterey (that went to a 1994 McLaren F1 ‘LM Spec’ that went for US$19.8 million, if you were wondering), the Maserati still sold for US$533,000 (AU$706,000 approx.).
At the same auction, one of the other one-off Maserati 5000 GTs, this one bodied by Michelotti and originally owned by Briggs Cunningham, was passed in at US$600,000 against a US$700,00 - $850,0000 estimate.
For more information on this car and further details for the 2019 RM Sothebys Monterey auction, go to https://rmsothebys.com/
5000 GT at 60
On the eve of the 2019 Turin Motor Show, Maserati marked the anniversary of the launch of their 5000 GT at the same show 60 years ago.
With bodywork by Carrozzeria Touring, the first 5000 GT received the nickname "Shah of Persia” in honour of the customer who had commissioned the build.
The style of the Shah’s car led to two more being built to the same pattern. But subsequent cars were built with bodywork by Allemano, Pininfarina, Monterosa, Ghia, Bertone, Frua and Michelotti for Vignale.
Like most halo cars, 5000 GTs attracted prestige clients, including Prince Karim Aga Khan (bodywork by Carozzeria Frua), film star Stewart Granger (Carrozzeria Allemano) and Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos (Carrozzeria Allemano).
And like most halo products, the 5000 GT lost money for Maserati, despite its high price tag. The car was also hard to handle for unskilled drivers, leading to a ‘Series 2’ version being developed after the first three Touring-bodied cars had been built. These subsequent 5000 GTs featured slightly less power and a flatter torque curve, due in part to the switch from carb induction to fuel injection. Changing the cam drive made the engine quieter, while the gear ratios were modified, too.
Later, a 5-speed ZF gearbox became standard and disc brakes were fitted all round.
When Maserati ended 5000 GT production in 1965, just 34 examples had been built. Scattered around the globe, but usually in high-end garages means there’s a healthy number of survivors from that total. And being a high-end Maserati means enthusiasts have been willing to spend money on refurbishment and restoration.
Prices for these cars hovered in the low six-figure range for years, even into the start of the new millennium, but ramped up more recently, with two examples selling for over US$1 million in the past three years, which explains why the ‘desert find’ car sold for US$533,000 at Monterey.
