Up for auction at Brooks' sale of important classic cars at the Historic Festival at Monaco in May 2000 was a very important Maserati with an interesting history. Since January 1967 it had been locked away and left unloved in a dusty garage in Egypt. Fortunately for Maserati enthusiasts everywhere, it resurfaced, and much to the delight of the auction house, Brooks, the sale of this historically important car was placed in their hands. The car to which I refer is of course a 1962 Maserati 5000GT with coachwork by Pietro Frua. About £100,000 was the estimated selling price but this masterpiece eventually went to an unnown collector for over £200,000.

The Maserati 5000GTs were no ordinary cars and were produced to order by some of the wealthiest gentlemen around. Powered by a 5-litre 4ohc V8 engine descended from that used in the Tipo 450S sports racer. This 350 bhp classic was capable of speeds in excess of 270 kph.

This 5000GT (# AM103.048) started life in March 1962 and was displayed at the Geneva Motor Show where it is said to have received minimal press attention owing to its late arrival on press day. It was painted in metallic gold and the interior was trimmed in deerskin. It was then used by Colonel John Simone, Maserati's French importer, who later displayed it at the Paris Motor Show of the same year. On this occasion it received the plaudits of the press. On seeing #103.048, Karim Aga Khan ordered Maserati and Frua to build a similar car, (#103.060), trimmed in beige leather. Of #103.048, England's The Motor noted "Frua. . .has achieved an ingeniously low waistline. . .with a screen of exceptional depth." Road & Track added "Maserati showed a monster 5-litre V8 Frua coupé with suede interior, which could only with justification be driven by a luscious redhead, nude except for a sable coat. . ." (excerpt from the noted motoring publication Automobile Quarterly March 2000).

#103.048 was returned to the factory in October 1963 where it was completely overhauled that included a metallic ruby-red 'paint-job' and renumbered AM103.064. It was bought by a director of a Roman-based pharmaceutical company, Istituto Farmacoterapico in 1963. The car returned to the factory in 1966 when it was traded in for a new Maserati.

in 1967, after a general overhaul, #103.064 was bought by Prince Majid Bin Saud of Saudi Arabia for his father, King Saud of Saudi Arabia, who at the time was living in exile in Egypt. To avoid Egyptian customs duties, the car was shipped to Egypt as diplomat luggage. Later that year the exiled King was forced to leave Egypt for Greece. The car, however, remained in Egypt, impounded by customs for non-payment of taxes. After many years, the Egyptian government auctioned the car to a sports car collector, which kept it in a garage in Cairo until May 2000.

Although the car had only around 13,000 kilometers on the clock it was in a delapidated state and in need of total restoration. This work is at present being carried out by specialists in Modena and we all hope that #104.064 will be shown to the Maserati world in its original condition quite soon!