Maserati 5000 GT Frua

The Maserati 5000 GT was born from the Shah of Persia’s request for a more powerful and exclusive grand tourer. Introduced in 1959, it combined a V8 derived from Maserati’s 450S racing car with bespoke coachwork. Only 34 examples were built, with Touring, Allemano, Pininfarina, Ghia, Bertone, Monterosa, Vignale and Frua each creating their own interpretation of the 5000 GT chassis.

Pietro Frua gave the model a long, flowing silhouette and restrained detailing. Three Frua-bodied cars are identified in the Registro Pietro Frua and later specialist histories: AM103.064, AM103.060 and AM103.100. Some earlier accounts describe only two. The first car originally carried chassis number AM103.048 before Maserati rebuilt and renumbered it AM103.064 in 1963.

AM103.064 — The first Frua coupé

The first Frua-bodied 5000 GT made its debut at the 1962 Geneva Motor Show as AM103.048, finished in gold with a deerskin interior. Maserati repainted it blue-grey before its appearance at the Paris Motor Show that October. Rebuilt and renumbered AM103.064 the following year, it was registered to Antonio Alecce in Rome.

The car returned to Maserati in 1966 and received a ruby-red finish. Prince Abdel Majid bin-Saud subsequently purchased it for his father, King Saud, in Cairo. After being impounded by the Egyptian government, it eventually resurfaced in Monaco, where John Bookout acquired it in 2000.

Bookout commissioned a four-year restoration, completed in time for Villa d’Este in 2004. A later owner returned the exterior to its King Saud-era ruby-red metallic colour, while subsequent mechanical work included a complete engine rebuild. The car also received two awards at Schloss Bensberg in 2013.

AM103.060 — The Aga Khan’s commission

Commissioned by the Aga Khan, AM103.060 was delivered in August 1962 and initially registered in France before moving to Switzerland. Its later history took it through collections in the United States and Japan.

Alfredo Brener acquired the car in 1997 and commissioned a restoration informed by surviving traces of its original Penombra Metallizzato paint. It earned Second in Class at Pebble Beach in 1999 and later appeared at Chantilly, where it received a class award in 2015, and at The Quail in 2019.

AM103.100 — The final Frua-bodied 5000 GT

AM103.100 is documented as the third Frua-bodied example and the final official Maserati 5000 GT. Delivered through Auto König to architect Engelhardt on 20 June 1966, it was finished in Marrone Cangiante. Its recorded specification includes a 4.7-litre V8 producing 320 PS, distinct from the earlier Frua cars’ fuel-injected 4.94-litre configuration.

Henk de Vries acquired the car in 2016 after following it for approximately twenty years. Scuderia Azzurra completed a three-year restoration in 2020, returning the exterior to its original colour. The interior was deliberately reinterpreted in grey suede with chromed instruments, replacing the factory dark-brown suede and gilded instruments.

The restored car won Best in Class at Soestdijk in 2022, appeared at the Antwerp Concours in 2023 and was shown at Villa d’Este in 2024.