The 3200 GT was announced in July 1998[3] and was presented to the press in September by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, in the presence of veteran Maserati racing driver Sir Stirling Moss and Giorgetto Giugiaro.

Introduced at the March 1999 Geneva Motor Show, it was equipped with a 4-speed conventional torque converter automatic transmission supplied by Australian firm BTR.

Limited to 259 units, 3 of which were special orders, it was available in three standard colours: Grigio Touring, Nero Carbonio and Rosso Mondiale; and available with a manual or automatic transmission.

[11] The interior featured black perforated Connolly leather seats with red stitching and 'Assetto Corsa' script on the sill kick panels.

Suspension was of the double wishbone type all around, with forged aluminium control arms and uprights, coaxial aluminium-bodied dampers and coil springs, and two anti-roll bars.

The gearbox was in line with the front-mounted engine, and transmitted power to the rear limited slip differential via a two-piece aluminium driveshaft.

The all-aluminium V8 engine (bore and stroke 80 mm) had two overhead camshafts per bank operating four valves per cylinder, two crossflow turbochargers, and a crossplane crankshaft; it featured "drive by wire" electronic throttle control.

[13][14] A true barchetta design, the 320S was a single-seater and was fully outfitted for competition with six-point racing belts, an exposed roll bar behind the driver, fire extinguishing system and racing seat supplied by Sparco; weather protection was limited to a small aeroscreen in front of the driver.