One-off Maserati Spider for sale

Pretty, isn't it? This, people of The Internet, is a Maserati 150 GT Spider, and it is one of the rarest cars... in the world. And you have to feel a little bit sorry for it; it's like Cinderella but without an invite to the ball.

You see, it was born in the decade when Maserati was enjoying life in the motorsport world, originally constructed in 1954 as an A6GCS sports car prototype and campaigned throughout the year. This made people at Maserati happy. And when a racing car makes people in a car company happy, they want it to do more.

So this A6GCS racer was modified as a second prototype, this time serving as the base for the Maserati 300 S sports car, which itself finished 2nd overall in the 1956 world sportscar championship. More happiness, more development, this time for public consumption.

Because after its two-part racing career as a Maser works car, the company decided this little prototype would be the first of a new generation of road cars derived from the racing circuit, showing off Maser's engineering know-how. The result is the car you see above: the 150 GT Spider.

Sadly, some accountants got in the way. The competition-based prototype was deemed too expensive for production, and Maserati eventually moved onto the 3500 GT car (itself a rather beautiful motor), and thus, this 150 GT was left to ponder its existence.

It has since been fully restored and mechanically rebuilt by a man called Steve Hart, who saw fit to retain the original 195bhp engine and A6G/2000 gearbox, 250 F Grand Prix brakes and splendid Fantuzzi coachwork. The ruddy thing only weighs around 860kg too, so even with that ancient engine, it's still pretty nippy.

And it's coming up for sale in January next year at Gooding & Co's Scottsdale Auction. The estimate? Around £2.5 million. Possibly more. Like it? Bit of a throwback to a time when Maserati could count drivers such as Juan Manuel Fangio and Sir Stirling Moss in its roster...

Photos: Mathieu Heurtault