Text and Photos by Francis G. Mandarano or courtesy of the MIE Collection.

In 1963, the 3500 was redesigned again, this time by Frua, and introduced as the Mistral Coupe. First shown at the 1963 Turin Auto Show, the Mistral was a very handsome design, incorporating one of industry's first fastback designs with a rear hatch that lifts up. That feature became extremely popular in the '70s and '80s. The Mistral was produced in first and second series over a seven-year period, ending in 1970, and came equipped as follows:

The Mistral makes a great entry-level Maserati, as it is well balanced with excellent road manners. It's equipped with a superb in-line-six that Maserati has been perfecting since the days of the A6GCS. Sure, the fuel injection can be temperamental, but when set up properly the Lucas injection system will produce great results. An excellent 29-page, simple language, fuel injection tech manual is available from MIE; it is an English translation of the best Italian fuel injection tech manual available, with excellent illustrations.

However, if you long for simplicity, the injected engine can be easily converted back to the original Weber carburetor set up with a conversion kit also available from MIE.

A number of the coupes were equipped with alloy bodies that make them all a little more collectible. Some had automatic transmissions that were very undesirable.