2008 Maserati GRANTURISMO 4.2L

The car’s first owner was a Mr. Crown of London. Clearly a man of impeccable taste given the colour combination he opted for, the GranTurismo was supplied to him by Maranello on the 15th of March 2008 and he kept it for five and a half years 

It has been in the care of the vendor since October 2018 and he’s treated it very well in that time, splashing out on a full service and spending a small fortune on fettling some of the little things that most of us would have been tempted to ignore.

Only being sold to fund the purchase of a classic 1960’s Italian sportscar, the GranTurismo is being offered with a sensible reserve price. So, if you’ve ever fancied getting your hands on one of the best all-purpose Italian sportscars of the 21st century – and if not, why not? – then your moment has come.

The Grigio Nuvolari paint, which has a light purple tint to the underlying metallic grey colour, looks stunning. The GranTurismo is an achingly pretty car anyway but the hewn-from-solid appearance that the hue, tight and consistent shutlines, and good panel alignment give elevate it further still.

As does the condition. Maranello replaced the Amourfend clear paint protection film in September 2012, and the car’s succeeding owners have clearly looked after it because it still presents very well all these years later.

The 20-inch OE ‘Birdcage’ alloy wheels are also fabulous. They were professionally refurbished in February 2020 and fitted with new badges and new wheel bolts, and so are still minty fresh.

The owner tells us that the tyres have approximately 7mm of tread on the front pair of Hankook Ventus S1 tyres, and 6mm on the Pirelli P-Zeros on the rear axle.

Of course, there are some stonechips most noticeably on the bonnet, front bumper, and door mirrors. Many have already been touched-up, and for what it’s worth, we don’t think any of them detract from the car’s appearance and could, we might argue, even be liberating as they free you to drive the car as Maserati intended without having to worry about incurring the odd mark.

The Avorio (‘Ivory’ in Italian) cream leather interior is a real highlight. Designed with comfortable, long-distance touring in mind, the GranTurismo is more luxuriously appointed than is the case with most Italian sportscars.

It’s in fine fettle too. Beautifully stitched and embossed with the Maserati logo on their headrests, the four individual leather seats are as comfortable and supportive as you’d expect of a 400bhp sportscar. The front seats are also heated, and are electrically adjustable with a three-position memory switch.

The cream leather extends across the full width of the dashboard and down through the front and rear centre consoles. It’s in equally great shape and looks like it’s only a couple of years old rather than a dozen with only light cracking to the base of the driver’s and passenger’s seats betraying its age and mileage.

The carpets are good too, as are the door cards, headlining, and controls. Italian cars might have gained a reputation for the fragility of their interiors with good cause, but the condition of this one should lay that lazy stereotype to rest once and for all.

The ‘Jukebox’ media system allows you to upload your favourite CDs to its hard-drive, and while the sat-nav might be a little old-fashioned now, it still works as it should.

In fact, it all seems to work in there and the only flaw we can find is the air-conditioning system, which works but is atypically feeble. It might just need recharging but that is impossible to substantiate without further investigation.

The boot is very clean and beautifully appointed with the factory tool kit and air compressor, both of which have the Maserati blue fabric cases and look to be unused.

A Cobra Tracker has been fitted but isn’t currently registered, and the over-mats are new.

Last serviced in July 2019 by marque specialists Emblem Sportscars, the work included a full service, fresh brake fluid, coolant, and power steering fluid, a new cabin filter, and new drive belts.

The brakes were also stripped down and refurbished, a new track rod end was fitted, and a four-wheel alignment carried out. Other miscellaneous fettling included sorting out the electronic seat adjustment, fitting a replacement mirror switch, installing new undertray clips, and plugging it into the Maserati diagnostic system.

Meticulous in the extreme (for example, the coolant cap was criticized for not being an OE item…) the work might have cost a whopping £1,624 but it has left the GranTurismo fighting fit.

Giallo previously serviced the car in November 2017, fitting rear brake discs and pads plus some droplinks at a cost of more than £2,300.

A summary of the service history is:

• 03.07.19 and 62,641 miles at Emblem Sportscars

• 30.11.17 and 50,411 miles at Giallo

• 16.12.15 and 37,966 miles at Giallo

• 03.04.14 and 24,315 miles at Giallo

• 18.05.12 and 12,606 miles at Maranello

• 06.01.11 and 5,874 miles at Maranello

A comprehensive type-written record of the service history is attached. The owner reports that the car has “performed flawlessly” during his time with it, and has given him “no problems”.

We’ve driven it and can report that it is a “cracking drive”, “goes well” and that the flappy paddle gearbox, with its wonderfully engraved shift levers, is much slicker in operation than those of the earlier cars.

The engine looks magnificently analogue and we especially like the way Maserati has left the engine itself exposed, restricting the use of black plastic covers to the periphery. The engine bay itself is very clean.

The underside does show slight scuffing to the leading edge of the front undertray, and some of the metal sheet work and suspension components have developed light surface rust too. However, the underside is solid and still neatly undersealed from the factory.

Problems? Well, the exhaust has been fitted with a custom bypass valve with a remote control function. This hasn’t been used recently and appears to be stuck. Still, it’s not like the GranTurismo doesn’t make a lovely noise anyway, is it?

The Maserati’s MOT certificate expires in November 2020 and the online MOT history doesn’t show anything of real concern.

The GranTurismo also comes with a number of expired MOT certificates plus a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years. It also still has its original owner’s handbook, book pack, and wallet plus a sales brochure and the remote controls for the aftermarket exhaust.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to a very good standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

NB. We know that many of you will be limiting your social exposure over the coming days and weeks, so if you’d rather not come to see the car in person, please give us a call and we can shoot a personal video of the car honing in on any areas you’d like us to concentrate on.

A Maserati GranTurismo is often seen as being a fundamentally flawed proposition, with some arguing that it lies uncomfortably between a sportscar and a grand tourer. Neither fish nor fowl, if you like.

We don’t agree. Where many hard-edged sportscars only come alive at high speeds on twisty roads - and a lot of inter-continental bruisers are unsurprisingly inert when you want to have fun, - the GranTurismo manages to be as enjoyable on your daily commute as it is wafting down to the South of France or around your favourite circuit.

Comfortable enough to use for family holidays and days out, with the Sport button engaged it is also sufficiently engaging to raise the hairs on the back of your neck when you’re on a solo dawn run while the rest of the world sleeps.

But, perhaps best of all, they’re cheap. Really, really cheap. This one will sell for somewhere between £17,000 and £23,000, which is silly money for a Ferrari-engined V8 semi-supercar that’ll rev to 7,200rpm and is finished in what might be the very best colour combination of them all.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Footman James for classic car insurance Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car and AnyVan for transporting it.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Also, localized paint repairs are common with collectable and classic cars and if they have been professionally carried out then they may be impossible to detect, even if we see the car in person. So, unless we state otherwise, please assume that any vehicle could have had remedial bodywork at some point in its life.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.

Please note that this is sold as seen and that, as is normal for used goods bought at auction, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 does not apply. See our FAQs for more info, and feel free to inspect any vehicle as much as you wish.