During the middle of last century, it took Argentina’s president Juan Perón to transform an awkward-looking roadster, with a custom body by Italian coachbuilder Zagato, into arguably one of the most beautiful Maserati examples ever built. At the 1955 Geneva Salon, among the throng of VIP guests was sports-car enthusiast Perón. Catching sight of the Maserati stand, he reportedly fell for the A6G/54 2000 Spyder Zagato making its debut.

While he agrees to buy the car, it’s on condition that Zagato incorporates a few key design changes. He suggests a new grille with a more prominent Maserati Trident logo, a new hood with raised air intake, a taller, more elegantly curved windshield, and the addition of straked chrome vents. Yet before Perón can take delivery, he is unceremoniously ousted from power and sent into exile. Naturally, the order for the Maserati is cancelled.

Fast forward to August of 2024, and this fully restored Maserati A6G/54 2000 Spyder Zagato was presented at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Perón’s requested design changes helped this unique automobile not only win a special Maserati class award, but the coveted Jules Heumann Special Award for the Most Elegant Open Car at the famed concours. Now, this singular Maserati is being offered in a sealed bid, online auction from RM Sotheby’s.

“This is, without doubt, the pièce de résistance of 1950s Maserati touring sports racers, and a nearly unfathomable icon of period Italian design,” says Harvey Stanley, director of Private Sales for RM Sotheby’s.

The car’s current owner is Southern California–based real-estate investor Chris Shane. He bought it at the RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction in 2022, paying $2.995 million, then immediately entered it in that year’s Colorado Grand 1000 road rally. After the drive, he sent the vehicle to Fast Cars, in Redondo Beach, Calif. The team, specializing in Italian sports cars, gave the Maserati a no-cost-spared, full mechanical restoration that included the first-ever rebuild—in 67 years—of the car’s numbers-matching gearbox.

“What is so cool about this car is that while it is obviously beautiful, you can really get on it. It has a race-bred engine that makes it a heck of a lot of fun to drive,” explains Shane in an RM Sotheby’s supporting video. “There are cars out there that look pretty but are not great to drive. This is not one of those.”

As for the car’s considerable provenance, it started life as a prototype for the motorsport-based Maserati ASG/54 coupes that would follow. Along with being the only example of the model to feature this one-of-a-kind open-top body by Zagato, it was also the first to include a new version of Maserati’s 2.0-liter, dual-overhead-cam inline-six racing engine that was reimagined for road use.

Following Juan Perón’s order cancellation, the car, with its Zagato modifications, was sent to the 1956 Paris Salon. But with no immediate takers, it returned to the Maserati factory in Turin and was relegated to storage.

Put up for sale at the end of 1958, it was acquired by Louis W. Schroeder, an American diplomat working at the U.S. embassy in Paris. In 1960, it was sold to Sharrod Santos, a U.S. Air Force lieutenant-colonel based in France, who returned stateside to Langley Air Force Base in November of 1963, bringing the car with him.

The Maserati, repainted red, eventually ended up in the hands of Angelo Ferro, owner of the San Francisco–based Genoa Racing Team. Rarely using the car, Ferro mothballed the Spyder Zagato, and it stayed tucked away for almost 30 years. Emerging from slumber in 2001, it was restored to its 1958 configuration by the race team. The work included a full engine rebuild, a repaint in the car’s original Blu Algisto Scuro color, and a retrim of the entire interior.

Rebuild complete, it then began a tour of top-level concours d’elegance events, including Pebble Beach in 2003. At the Quail, a Motorsports Gathering in 2004, it won first place in the Post War Sports Car class, then took Best of Show at the 2005 Concorso Italiano.

In October of 2010, the Maserati was acquired by prominent U.K.-based Ferrari collector Brandon Wang, and went on to be displayed at the Museo Panini in Modena for nearly 18 months before becoming the only Maserati to be shown at the then newly opened Enzo Ferrari Museum. It was auctioned in 2013 through RM Sotheby’s, going to prominent U.S. collector Oscar Davis, who paid $4.455 million. After the passing of Davis in 2021, the Zagato was acquired by Shane.

“It goes without saying that this breathtaking Maserati should appeal to any sports-car enthusiast,” says the auction house’s Stanley. “But for the Zagato completist or Trident diehard, it is quite simply and undeniably an obligatory must-have.” That opportunity ends May 20, when the bidding closes at what’s expected to be north of $4 million.

Click here for more photos of this 1954 Maserati A6G/54 2000 Spyder Zagato.