From the order of the Shah of Iran to the warehouse of Cairo; Granting a certificate of authenticity to a rare Maserati

A car that was buried in a dark warehouse in Cairo for 30 years has now returned to its rightful place in the history of the world's automobile industry by receiving an official certificate of authenticity from the Maserati Classic Department. Known as chassis number 103*064, this car is the first example of the rare 5000GT model, which wears a bodywork handcrafted by the legendary designer, Pietro Froa.

A car that was buried in a dark warehouse in Cairo for 30 years has now returned to its rightful place in the history of the world's automobile industry by receiving an official certificate of authenticity from the Maserati Classic Department. Known as chassis number 103*064, this car is the first example of the rare 5000GT model, which wears a bodywork handcrafted by the legendary designer, Pietro Froa.

Amir Masoud Abedin: The creation of the 5000GT model came out of a royal request; When the Shah of Iran drove a Maserati 3500GT, he fell in love with it and asked the company to build a more impressive and powerful car for him. This request prompted Maserati engineers to install the gigantic 5-liter V8 engine derived from the 450S racing model on a road-going Grand Tourer. Of this unique masterpiece, only 34 units were made, of which only three were hand-crafted by the Furoa workshop.

From the rulers of the Middle East to the detention in the Egyptian warehouse

According to the motor1 report, the construction project of chassis number 103*064 was finished in 1962. This car with a special body color and smoother lines and larger windows than the previous models was first used by the factory for technical tests and then it was displayed at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show. It was in the same event that Karim Aga Khan IV, seeing it, fell in love with it and made a similar order.

After some time, this prototype went to Rome and was bought by the Saudi prince Majid bin Saud in 1966. He gave the car to his father, King Saud; A gift that was the beginning of the strangest and darkest chapter of this Maserati's life. When the Six Day War broke out in 1967 and the king left Egypt, the Egyptian authorities confiscated the car and this Italian masterpiece was locked in a dusty warehouse in Cairo for three decades.

When the car was pulled out of storage in 2000, it had only covered about 7,900 miles and thankfully all of its original parts remained intact. A collector from Texas bought the car and brought it back to its original home in Modena, Italy. The exact restoration process of this Maserati took four years and it was finally unveiled in 2004 at the prestigious classic car festival "Concorzo Delganza Villa de Este".

Now receiving the official Maserati Classic certificate for this historic chassis is a confirmation of its unquestionable authenticity and structural soundness; A valuable certificate that is issued with the support of the factory archive and detailed technical checks to keep the twisting and wonderful history of this legend sleeping in the Cairo warehouse in a deserved way.