Bargain No More: ’64 Maserati Sebring
We have always had a soft spot for the Sebring influenced by the fact that we could actually have afforded one. Sadly those days of bargain Maseratis are gone. Unless you want one dreamed up by Lee Iacocca. This was the first Maserati to be given a name to celebrate Maserati’s success in the 1957 Sebring 12 Hours; one of the premier road racing events in the world, it was won by Fangio and Behra in a Maserati 450S. A total of 600 Sebring cars rolled out of the Modena factory. These were powerful GT cars and that power came from the same 3.5-liter engine used in its predecessor, the 3500, although fuel injection was now fitted as standard – peak power remained the same 220 hp. Fuel injection gave benefits in both torque and fuel consumption. A five-speed transmission was fitted, and a contemporary road test recorded a 0-60 mph time of 8.5 secs. Maserati showed that it was on the leading edge by equipping the car with disc brakes on all four wheels. Today’s featured car has been in collections for some time and hasn’t accumulated much mileage in the past 12 years. That isn’t necessarily a good thing. When the current owner purchased the Sebring, he embarked on making it into a very nice driver quality car. He restored the interior using original colors and materials, cleaned up some rusty floor pans, polished the Borranis and generally made a very nice car. It is said to be mechanically sound and the engine is running Webers instead of the original fuel injection. That should be considered an upgrade but purists might want the cranky Fuelie system back in place. We prefer a car that runs reliably. Remember we started out by saying “affordable”? At one time, you could pick one of these up for $10,000 and have a decent runner. Hagerty has the ’64 Sebring pulling between $76,000 and $115,000 depending on grading. This one could be a #2 or #2- so that puts it in the $80 grand range. The eBay auction isn’t on fire yet with an opening bid of $50,000 still vacant. The seller may have some luck selling when he takes it to Monterey for Concorso Italiano. Click here to see the eBay Auction listing.