Well I have finally caved, the editors have wanted me to feature a basically used car for months now and I keep dragging cars out of the 80’s to highlight. That’s probably because we really can’t gauge how a car will age and which ones will be collectible shortly after they are produced-it usually takes some time for them to “mature” so to speak. But this one is a no-brainer.
As soon as these came out I was anxiously waiting for the day when they would fall into the $20,000 range, and here we are. That’s right boys, you can now buy a world class Ferrari-engined sports car with all the modern bells and whistles for the price of a Camry.
The Spyder was first unveiled to the public at the 2001 Frankfurt Auto Show with the Coupé following at the 2002 Detroit Auto Show. Sales in the U.S. began in 2002. The Spyder heralded Maserati’s return to the North American market after an 11 year hiatus, and was selected by Forbes as the Best GT for 2001. Both were designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro of ItalDesign, who also designed the Maserati Ghibli. Both models utilize the shared platform based Ferrari/Maserati 4244cc engine (luckily chain driven) which develops 390 horsepower at 7000 RPM. The manual transmission is a six-speed with foot operated clutch or Cambiocorsa (Italian, meaning “race change”), an electrohydraulic manual transmission that uses an F1-type gearbox with shift paddles behind the steering wheel.
More of a Gentleman’s touring car than its Cavalino’ed brethren, these cars are quite comfortable, if not plush. The interior is beautifully finished in keeping with Maserati tradition. While the exterior a tad benign, it doesn’t attract as much attention from law enforcement, always a plus in an exotic car.
Prices will remain stable and move north as time progresses. You could literally drive this car for years and sell it for the same thing you paid for it – a “free car” if you will.