Maserati Mexico by Frua – 1968
Marca : Maserati
Modello : Mexico
Versione : Coupè
Anno : 1968
Telaio N. : 112.1.103
Esemplari prodotti : 1
Designer : pietro frua
Carrozzeria : Frua
Motore : 8 cilindri a V di 90°
Cilindrata : 4.719 cc
Distribuzione : DOHC
Valvole Cilindro : 2
Alimentazione : 4 carb. Weber
Potenza : 290 CV a 5.000 giri/min
Top speed Km/h : 255
Questa Maserati Mexico, non ha nulla in comune con quella di serie. E' il frutto di un esercizio di stile del grande Pietro Frua, che ne realizzò due esemplari differenti.
Auction Result
2015 – Chantilly – Bonhams – € 621.000
The motorcar presente here however is no mere standard Mexico but a bespoke Frua creation, the most attractive of two one-offs with different designs. The relationship between designer Pietro Frua and Maserati was a long standing one and gave birth to a small number of bespoke creations which count amongst the handsomest one-offs ever to wear the Trident. After the two superb 5000GT's it was only logical that the Mexico would earn his attention. He created three cars, one of which used a modified Mistral body and is thus totally unrelated to the other two with similar bodies but totally different noses. Among these, the other one, ‘112.1.101', has a rather bizarre nose and headlight treatment and a 4.2-litre engine whereas the car offered here, ‘112.1.103', is and always was a 4.7-litre, contrary to recent mistaken news reports.
As research indicates it seems to have been sent in haste to Frua to be bodied; in fact, the engine was not yet in running condition according to the factory's long-time archivist and in-house historian Ermanno Cozza, as they were in a hurry up against the 1968 Geneva Show deadline where it had its world premiere on the Frua stand.
Its design came out more harmoniously than the standard car, retaining the general Mexico lines, but while the latter is more rounded and a bit Gordon Keeblish, the Frua is more sharply defined and in many ways recalls the Quattroporte I and that other creation which spawned its genetic traits, the Aga Khan 5000GT, of which it is the natural successor. Pietro Frua himself left no comments about what stands as one of his better designs: according to biographer Giuliano Silli, Pietro Frua worked alone and was a bit of a lone wolf in his modus operandi, hence there was and certainly is no collaborator left to interview (we do however have in the car's file his drawing of the first version). Its first paint shade was a delightful very light watery green, the one it has been returned to today, while the interior was in luscious Bordeaux leather which it retains to date.
