It's had quite the life too.
A 1961 Maserati 5000 GT Indianapolis Coupe just sold for a little over $1 million on Bring A Trailer. The vehicle, one of just 34 examples of the 5000 GT coupe ever produced, is one of only 22 with Carrozzeria Allemano bodywork by Michelotti. From there, it is a one-of-one “Indianapolis” model, which is a nod to Maserati's success at the Indy 500. A model that is as powerful as it is beautiful; it's a vehicle that truly deserves its monumental price tag.
The 5000 GT is a landmark vehicle from Maserati, even being called the “Car for Kings.” The first vehicle was commissioned by the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who reached out to the company and wanted them to build him a version of the 3500 GT with the V8 engine from the 450S racecar. Launched in 1959, the company produced these high-class models over the next seven years for buyers worldwide, including, in the case of this Indianapolis Coupe, even a business industrialist from the city of Pittsburgh.
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Chassis number 103.014 was completed in September of 1961 and was then subsequently photographed and put on the brochure for the 5000 GT along with the cover of Auto Italiana magazine before being sold to William H. Brown of Pittsburgh.
He took delivery of the model in Italy and drove it around Europe before shipping it to the States for a few years, sending it back to Italy for servicing. It was then sold to a Tuscan in 1967, back to an American in 1975, and shipped to Britain in 1980. In 1996, the model was bought by the Maserati collector John F. Bookout Jr, who put the vehicle through a full refurbishment in 2001. Finally, in 2016, it was sold to the last owner before it sold yesterday.
Quite the history, but then again, it's quite the car. As an “Indianapolis” model, it's set apart from other Allemano coupes by a horizontally barred grille and “Indianapolis” script on each fender. When it was refurbished, it was stripped to the metal before being repainted in the original shade of Grigio Montebello, and the entire interior was retrimmed in red leather.
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With that refurbishment of the body also came a refurbishment of the 4,941cc quad-cam V8, which itself had an interesting history.
It features an aluminum block, aluminum cylinder heads with hemispherical combustion chambers, dual chain-driven camshafts on each cylinder bank, Luca mechanical fuel injection, and twin-plug ignition, all mated to a four-speed manual gearbox. The engine was apparently separated from the vehicle in the 1980s, not to be reunited until the mid-90s. After the refurbishment in 2001, it underwent injection system rebuild and calibration in 2013 as well.
Selling for over a million dollars is nothing to scoff at for just about any vehicle, but in this case, it's actually somewhat unfortunate. That's because when it was last sold in 2016, it went for $1.6 million. It's not often a vintage sports car of this caliber drops $600,000 in just a few years, but perhaps it's an indication that the used car market really is starting to cool off after the last few years. Still, this is likely a better investment than a new Maserati MC20.
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Keyword: One-Of-One 1961 Maserati 5000 GT Just Sold For A Million Dollars