By the late 1960s, Maserati’s ambition to establish the company as a producer of high-performance road cars was fulfilled with a diverse range of products ranging from the Quattroporte and Mexico to the Sebring, and latterly Ghibli, and finally the Mistral.

Maserati debuted the Mistral prototype at the 1963 Turin Motor Show, with full production commencing in 1964.

At the suggestion of Colonel John Simone, the French Maserati importer, the car was named after the strong winds blowing from the Mediterranean coast in the South of France.

The Mistral was meant to invoke a sense of speed, and the car certainly lived up to its namesake.

While initially available as a coupe, an open-top spyder quickly followed.

During production three engines were made available: 3.5-liter, 3.7-liter, and 4.0-liter variants of Maserati’s famous race-derived Tipo 109 straight-six.

This would be Maserati’s last car powered by the renowned and well-proven inline six-cylinder, which had descended from the ...