Maserati Indy 4700 ‘America’, 1972
One of just 12 examples built in RHD form, and one of an estimated 6 with the rare and desirable manual 5-speed ZF gearbox, this is an original UK supplied ‘America’ - this title in recognition of the fact the car has the more powerful 4.7 litre quad cam V8 and is Factory fitted with both power assisted steering and air conditioning.
Further equipped with an electrically operated steel sliding sunroof, and reunited after a lifetime of ‘personalised’ registration marks with its original and distinctive number, MJH 111K, this beautiful and extremely appealing Indy is still crucially fitted with its original, ‘matching numbers’ engine.
Finished in Rosso Fuoco, and boasting its original black leather interior, the car was first registered by Citroen (then owners of Maserati) in Slough on 30th June 1972 and supplied new to its first owner, one Mr Henderson, who would then have his Maserati serviced by them, and subsequently by the newly appointed London Maserati agent, MTC Cars.
The Indy was sold in October 1976 to a dealer and then in November 1976 to a Mr Tim Hewison, at which point the mileage stood at 19,000 miles, changing hands once more soon after, being acquired by Maserati aficionado Julian Selby-Rickards. Upon purchase, the car was entrusted to Alan Carmen at Sundridge Park Motors, an acknowledged Maserati service agent, where it enjoyed a significant amount of mechanical fettling. Ongoing maintenance continued to be carried out by both Alan Carmen and Bob Bradley.
In November 1989, MJH 111K was sold via Bill McGrath, following a major overhaul by this respected specialist, to a Mr Lindsay who owned the Maserati until February 1997 when it was acquired by the gentleman who would own it for the next 20 years.
MJH 111K boasts one of the most comprehensive history files, containing documentation from the 1970s as well as what probably amounts to almost every MoT certificate from new. Even the original invoice for the Ziebart rust proofing treatment applied when the car was very young is here.
Since 1989, the Indy appears to have been looked after almost exclusively by Bill McGrath / McGrath Maserati, with occasional forays to Autofficina. It is also abundantly apparent that the car has seemingly never wanted for anything, being maintained apparently without regard to cost. There is far, far too much to go into here, but this kind of detailed maintenance history is worth its weight in gold when acquiring a motor car such as this. Suffice to say here that the Indy has been serviced annually (and sometimes more) by McGrath over an extended period and has covered just 1,800 miles since its last service there.
This last visit to McGrath, in 2022, did not confine itself to the major annual service alone: it extended to a front suspension overhaul to include the fitting of new front road springs, steering system overhaul, braking system overhaul to include servo and master cylinder and more besides. The invoice for this last visit totalled £9,737.11.
More recently, the Indy has been part of my own collection. During my tenure, I have replaced the headlining, the original having yellowed with age. This was strictly to original specification in terms of both material and pattern. Whilst the headlining was removed, the opportunity was taken to service the electric sunroof, check and clean the motor and renew the relay, ensuring it would continue to operate as Webasto, Maserati’s electric steel sunroof supplier of choice at the time, intended. The dashboard top has also been retrimmed, in black Alcantara, this being the closest available material to the long since unobtainable original.
Further recent work has included the complete overhaul of the air conditioning system.
The Borrani road wheels are immaculate and shod (as one might hope for) with Michelin XWX tyres which have themselves covered only nominal mileage since being fitted and the original Blaupunkt radio works well with its directly linked automatic electric aerial.
The Indy has always been a particular favourite of mine, an underrated, powerful, understated front-engined Italian Grand Tourer in the classic manner and a car even now capable of crossing those proverbial continents rapidly. Supplied with its original driver’s handbook, tools and jack, can MJH 111K be described as the ultimate right-hand drive Indy? A highly specified ‘America’, with the 4.7 litre engine endowing the car with the performance it always deserved but which the 4.2 litre versions sadly lacked, with the most complete of service histories, desirable power steering, air conditioning, electric sunroof and of course the manual ZF transmission, always the choice of the discerning driver. But above all, this car has not just been looked after, it has been (and is) truly loved.
*****
PRICE
£ 74,500
07968 094741
The car is presently UK registered. It is supplied with a UK registration document and has a current MoT certificate.
