Maserati Enthusiasts' Page

The Enthusiasts' Page

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	All things 'Maserati'. News of forthcoming models, owner's cars, tips, 'Marque' reunions and the odd touch of humour! In fact anything of interest to the 'Maseratista'. So if you have any news about Maseratis or have anything owners and enthusiasts should know, send details to maserati123@btopenworld.com	Grille trident on the 2005 Maserati Quattroporte

You can click on some pictures for a better view!!





This interesting vintage Maserati steering wheel wristwatch was recently put up for sale on eBay.





From Jean in Portugal Things to loook out for when buying a used Ghibli GT!!! "Viva amigo, Hoje levantei o carro e lá recebi uma prenda....que acha disto?? Acha que me resolve isso??? Abraço, Jean." "Dear Friend, Today I got my "new" Ghibli GT up on the ramp, and to my surprise I got this present...What do you think about it? Do you think you can help me? Regards, Jean."





From Jonny in The Netherlands "Hi there Enrico, I thought you might find this story interesting and maybe worthy for passing on to other Maserati drivers? I had the good fortune to go along to the Dutch Top Gear magazine media event (my wife works in the media industry and she managed to get me invited along with her) where I got to drive the Ghibli on a couple of skid pans... a 50m straight one for practicing breaking and avoiding obstacles and then a 30m diameter circular track for practicing understeer and OVERSTEER control. It's a brand new facility in Lelystad in The Netherlands run by a company called Prodrive Training (www.prodrive-training.nl), with an epoxy surface that is kept very wet, equivalent in slippiness to a compacted snow surface. The straight track was interesting... my Ghibli has no ABS or traction control, which made things fun. I could control the car up to speeds of 40km/h, but above this it got very tricky and I invariably spun or hit the cone obstacles. The circular track was great fun... I got pretty good at controlling the oversteer, almost managing twice to do a full lap in opposite lock by controlling the throttle position, with only minor corrections required from the steering wheel once oversteer had been induced. it's a very strange feeling driving around in second gear with the wheels spinning and only doing about 10-20km/h! I'd thoroughly recommend organising one of these day events to learn how the car responds in these conditions... it's great fun and certainly made me much more confident driving my car in the wet knowing where the limits of the car lie and how to react when the car does break traction. Since the event was organised by Top Gear magazine, they managed to get the infamous Stig from the BBC Top Gear show to come along and take us out as a passenger in a new 400hp Corvette around a coned out circuit on a wet tarmac surface. The guy is an incredible driver... he went around the entire circuit twice completely in opposite lock, switching from left to right slides with a spin of the steering wheel. All this was done while listening to Elvis blaring out of the stereo system and tapping his hands on the steering wheel in time with the music. This is while I was being thrown from side to side in the passenger seat... my knees were a bit sore when I stepped out of the car, but the big grin I had on my face more than compensated for that! I also got to go 'round the 3km banked oval circuit that they have there in the passenger seat of a race prepared Lotus Exige (the 250hp supercharged one) with the driving instructor, which was interesting and just before we left I got to drive the Ghibli around that track... not very fast though since it was raining, but still a very interesting feeling driving at a 30-40 deg bank at 160km/h. I had a great day! I've attached some pics, but unfortunately didn't get to take any of the Ghibli. I'm the one kissing the Stig. I'm going to try and organise another day there through my work and will make more of an effort to get some pics of the Ghibli at work then. cheers... Jonny."





Is this Maserati's 'Coupe de Grâce'? Maserati are now back with a vengeance, selling more cars last year than ever before. Unconfirmed reports suggest that plans are afoot to replace the GT that has made it possible, and here is what appears to be the new 2+2 GT Coupe. In recent weeks a prototype has been spotted during testing at Ferrari's private Fiorano track in Maranello. No news of the power plant yet, but hopefully it will be a V8. Let's hope that it will also come withn a fully automatic transmission if they really want to make a success of the highly important US market. Another feature sure to win even more admirers will be the powered retractable steel roof. If the photo is anything to go by, 'The future is very bright indeed!'

Photo by www.popularmechanics.com





From Andrea in Italy "Dear Enrico, Firstly, congratulations for your extremely interesting website. Secondly, I'm an Italian collecter and I have recently added to my collection a nice 1963 Maserati 3500 GTI imported from the Netherlands. The chassis/engine number is AM101*2574 and the Touring identification plate is 12725. The body is painted in 'Grigio Albany metallizzato' and the interior is in black leather. The car is in quite good conditions, the mechanical nedeed some repairs to the leaking radiator and to the Lucas fuel pump. I've decided also to fit an original exhaust system in substitution of the non-original existing one. Now the car sounds and runs very well. The body paint was old and partly faded, although the aluminium bodywork is still in very good condition and no works are needed for the steel bottom section and the substructures. So I decided to repaint the car in his original colour, including the repainting of the wheels in original met. grey (I don't understand why they are red and the spare one is in a very light green). In the meantime I've found new badges and scripts, original turn signal side lights and wheel caps. Now the works are in progress. The attached pictures are taken before the woork, I'll send you new ones after the restoration, I hope before Christmas. About the history of this car, I only know that was delivered the 17 of February 1963 in Naples and that the car was imported into the US (New Jersey) in a very early stage of its life. The Jaeger gauges are still in miles and indicate that has covered only 14.000 miles since new. Then I know that the car received an Italian plate (it seems that was owned by some member of the Zagato family) and after a Netherlands plate when the car returned back in Europe. That's all. I would appreciate to learn as more as possible about the history of my car. Best Regards, Andrea."









"Maseratisti, If there is anyone out there who can supply Andrea with any further information concerning the history of #AM101*2574, please contact me at maserati123@btopenworld.com. Thank you for your co-operation, Enrico."





From Patrizio in Italy "Buona sera, Ti avevo inviato la foto per inserirla nella Galleria dei Maseratisti ma mi sono accorto che ci sono stati problemi nella trasmissione del form. Adesso lo ho ritrasmesso e spero che tu lo abbia ricevuto regolarmente. Sulla vettura posso dirti che mi appartiene da 15 anni e ha 110.000 km. percorsi senza nessun problema particolare. E' stata immatricolata nel giugno 1984. Sabato scorso ho ottenuta l'omologazione ASI e adesso e' auto storica a tutti gli effetti. Purtroppo la uso poco per problemi di lavoro. Ero presente a Modena al Memorial Marco Turci e con molto piacere ho visto che hai fotografato la mia vettura. Spero nel futuro di poter partecipare ad altri raduni e che possiamo conoscerci. Ti saluto cordialmente, Patrizio." "Good evening, I sent you the photo for posting in the 'Galleria dei Maseratisti' but I noticed that there were problems whilst sending in the form. I have now re-sent my email and I hope you have received it. As far as my car is concerned, I can tell you that I have owned it vnow for 15 years and have covered 100,000 Km without and serious problems. It vwas first registerd in June 1984. Last Saturday I gained official homologation from ASI so now it is officially an historic vehicle. Nowadays I don't use it very much because of my work commitments. I was at Modena for the Marco Turci memorial Rally and I was very happy to see that you photographed my car. I hope that in the future I will be able to participate in more rallies and that we can get to know each other. Best regards, Patrizio."

"Grazie mille. Enrico."





From the Argentine The cover of an 'El Grafico' magazine from March 18th 1949 with Juan Manuel Fangio in a Maserati 4CLT/48 at Mar del Plata in Argentina. Fangio, whose Maserati 4CLT/48 was sponsored by the Argentinian government, finished ahead of Prince Bira of Siam in another 4CLT/48. In fact, Maseratis took six of the top eight places in this race. It was following this win, that Fangio went on to establish a formidable reputation in Europe.





From Patrizio in Italy A photograph of his excellent looking Biturbo S. "Grazie mille. Enrico."





A Ghibli Open Cup in Japan? "Hi, Bob in the USA has informed me about this Ghibli Open Cup in Japan. Does anyone out there have any information on this Ghibli Open Cup seen here at a track day at the Tsukuba circuit in 2000? Thank you. Enrico."





From Enrico in the UK "Hello, I thought Biturbo owners might be interested in this new model from Alezan in France.



This model can be ordered through Stegny Johann at autoshow@aon.at Enrico."





From Gert in Belgium "Hello Enrico, In the attachment you find photos of the Ghibli SS which was on the parking place at the 'Retromobile' event in La Louviere (Belgium) ... And photos of the Auto Moto Italia event in Houten (Holland) two weeks ago ... You can put them on your website if you want ... together with the 'Retromobile' photos. Gert."

A Ghibli SS at 'Retromobile' in Belgium

The Bora		The Mexico

The 4.24v.		The 4.24v.

The 422		The Quattroporte IV

The 2.24v.		The Racing

The Shamal		The Spyder





Maserati Club UK at the NEC, Birmingham The Maserati Club stand excelled yet again with some superb examples of both race and road Maseratis at the International Classic Motor Show. It was without doubt the most visited stand at the show. Star of the show was the crafted MC12 and I reckon that if I had a £ for every photograph taken of this car, I would be sunning myself on the beaches of Barbados right now. Also on display were a 1951 A6GCM (#2033), a 1953 300S (#3055), a 1953 OSCA Mt4, a GranSport, a Mistral Spyder, a Merak SS and a 1995 Ghibli Open Cup 'Evo'. On the Friday, visitors would have seen Sir Stirling Moss visiting the stand to be re-united with 300S #3055, his works car for the 1956 season. Sir Stirling chatted with stand organiser Simon Lees-Milne about his exploits in #3055. Later he was kind enough to sign an old photograph I had just purchased taken at the Nurburgring. It shows Moss chatting with Italian race driver Piero Taruffi having just got out of his Tipo 61. Hardly surprising that the Maserati Club won the award for having "The Most Interesting Selection of Cars". This is the second year running that the Club have won this award. The first time in the history of the event that this feat has been accomplished. Bravo the Maserati Club UK!!!!

The trophy awarded to the Maserati Club

Bravo the Maserati Club UK!!!!

Early Friday morning and the cars are still under their covers		Early morning visitors admire the MC12

The MC12 -'The star of the show'		Tipo 300S

A6GCM		OSCA Mt4

Ghibli Open Cup Evo		Mistral Spyder

The GranSport		Merak SS

The Maserati Club stand		Maserati Club regalia on sale

The 2-litre straight six engine of the A6GCM		The beautiful brass Maserati radiator cap

Sir Stirling Moss and his wife Susie		Sir Stirling, Simon and the 300S

My signed photograph of Sir Stirling Moss		The MC12 on the programme cover





How to get a "Harder Ride" Did you know that you can improve the road handling and lower the ride height of your Ghibli II by some 2 centimetres at the same time? This can be done very reasonably by simply fitting the red Eibach springs normally fitted to the Ghibli Cup? Below you can see the literature that comes with these springs. The part number is 366602010.





From Anonimo in the UK "Enrico, come promesso eccoti una lista dei pezzi intercambiabili per Ghibli II e Quattroporte IV: "Enrico, As promised here is a list of interchangeable parts for the Ghibli II and Quattroporte IV: - Pasticche ABS, GT e Quattroporte (non brembo) - BMW 840. ABS brake pads for Ghibli GT and Quattroporte (non Brembo) are the same as those for the BMW 840. - Testine sterzo esterne (sui mozzi) - Fiat 131 (a parte l'estetica ed il dado un po' piu' grosso sono uguali: £5.99 invece che £22.50 + IVA!! - Tie/Track Rod Ends - Fiat 131 (apart from the shape and the nut is a little larger they are the same: £5.99 instead of £22.50 + VAT!! - Filtro benzina - FIAT Cinquecento anni ~90. Bisogna prendere l'originale marca FIAT pero'. - Fuel filter - FIAT Cinquecento '90. You must purchase a original FIAT parts. - Cuffie sterzo - Quinton Hazel 2200 (£6.99 invece di £29.60 + IVA) oppure Peugeot 406, ma non compratele dalla Peugeot che la qualita' e' scadente. - Steering rubber gaiter/boot - Quinton Hazel 2200 (£6.99 instead of £29.60 + VAT). Alternatively Peugeot 406, but don't buy them from Peugeot as the quality is poor. Divertitevi a non rimanere in mutande dai concessionari! Enjoy yourselves and don't be ripped-off by the concessionaires. Anonimo." Anonymous."





From Phil in Australia "Dear Enrico, I love your site and it has been truly fascinating to read other enthusiat's stories. I have recenlty imported into Australia from the UK the first RHD Ghibli built - AM115094. I have a verification letter from Bill McGrath and Maserati to confirm it is the 1967 Earls Court show car. Andy from McGraths was very helpful in assisting my purchase endeavours and alerting me to its foibles. The car had a very sound body but had some mechanical issues when it arrived in May 2005. I have had all the oil leaks repaired, electronic ignition installed, all the tappets re-shimmed, the cooling system upgraded with thermatic fans to suit Australian weather conditions, the cannister oil filter system converted to screw-on type, new belts, hoses, clamps, a new alternator, a full service, the air conditoner replaced with a high end unit, rear exhaust repaired and an electric water pump installed after the original unit failed not long after the alternator was replaced. A related circumstance I understand. Finally, the car goes like a charm - after some adjustment on the electronic ignition. Just last weekend I travelled 500kms to an Alfa Club sprint day at Winton race track (Northern Victoria) with my Dad. (I am on the committee with the Alfa Club). Unfortunately, I am about to move to New Zealand for a minimum of two years and will now store the car, with professionals. Anyway it is very interesting to compare this car with my 1980 4.2 Kyalami I sold to help fund the Ghibli project. The Kyalami is a very underated car and a good one is a very sound performance car buy in my opinion. The Ghibli is quite "agricultural" in comparison. But it is undoubtedly a vastly more beautiful car and this makes up for any other foibles. My brother-in-law has both a GranSport and a 360 Challenge Stradale and I find them both very artificial. They drive you! Paddles, computers etc etc. Give me the notchy ZF gearbox, calf buckling clutch of my 67 Ghibli any day. At least I feel like I am in a real car and not some computer generated illusion. My car has some interesting features. Please note the Borrani wheel spinners, it has a twin plate clutch (somewhat strange at first) and a twin front brake calipers. I have touched base with some other Australian Ghibli owners, one has an original spyder, a 4.7 coupe, an SS in the UK (that McGrath is restoring) and a beautiful Bora! Please find attached some pictures for everyone's amusement. Best Regards, Phil"





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