Posts Tagged ‘ Maserati mistral ’

In 1964 Colonel John Simone the French Maserati importer suggested that Maserati two-seater sports car should be named after winds and four seater coupes should take the names of race tracks. The ‘2 Posti’ was then renamed to Mistral after a strong cold wind in the Southern region. In 1968 the Mistral Spyder became the most modern car ever to win the Best in Show award at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elégance.

Peitro Frua of Turin styled the Mistral and it was a completely new design which was elegant and further enhanced in a convertible form. The Maserati Mistral is generally considered as one of the most beautiful Maseratis of all time and is also often confused to the very similar looking but larger and more powerful AC Frua, which was a Frua design as well. It had its air intake mounted underneath the front bumper and this did away with the standard grille. The tailgate was also premiered on the Mistral and the car was very spacious and airy with large windows. The early Mistrals were made of alloy but from 1967 they complete body except the bonnet and doors were made of steel. The chassis consisted of square-section tubes and a wheelbase of just 2.4 metres.

The Mistral was the last of Maserati’s  6 cylinder gran tourismos and was a hatchback.Masearti produced 120 spyders and 830 coupes. There were five Mistral models. The Mistral 4.0 and Mistral 4.0 Spyder (fitted with  4 litre engines), the Mistral 3.7 and the Mistral 3.7 Spyder (fitted with a 3.7 litre engines) and the earlier Mistral 3.5 Spyder that was fitted with a 3.5 engine that was thought to be enough for drop-top motoring. The engines had twin ignition and indirect fuel injection and offered exceptional power, smoothness and economy. All Mistrals had standard disc brakes and optional 3 speed auto transmission, air conditioning and a radio.