Maserati celebrates 70 years of the GT this year, and its presence at the Revival echoes that birthday in graceful form. In the Earls Court Motor Show, a 1960 3500 GT Vignale Spyder resides on the Maserati stand, alongside the far more modern Levante SUV and Ghibli.
The 3500 GT display is inspired by Maserati’s stand at the Geneva Motor Show in 1957, when it was launched to the public. The roadster version - the Spyder Vignale - followed in 1959, designed by Giovannu Michelotti, the leading stylist at Vignale, the renowned coachbuilder.
The soft-top version had a shortened wheelbase and more prominent chrome front grille and Trident badge, as well as a “kick-up” in the line behind the doors, the first of many models from competing Italian marques which followed suit with the idea.
The Spyder had a steel body with aluminium bonnet and an optional hard top sainted of the coupe’s superleggera construction.
Just 242 examples of the Spyder were built between 1959 and 1964, when the Maserati 3500 GT was succeeded by the Maserati Sebring.
Outside the Jackie Stewart Pavilion, meanwhile, there’s a glorious tribute to the 1957 Nurburgring Grand Prix, perhaps the greatest GP of all time. The Fangio-winning 250F will take part in a live demonstration on Friday and Saturday, and will be positioned in the themed pits when not on the move.
Maserati fans can get their fill of racing cars with Maseratis competing in the Goodwood Trophy, Sussex Trophy, Freddie March Memorial Trophy and Richmond Trophy.
Revival
Revival 2017
Maserati
2017