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

"Hello.

I have a Maserati Biturbo from 1983. I want to change the timing belt but I don't know how. I sent pictures with my Maserati and a picture with an Maserati Engine.

Please help me! I love this car and I don't know what to do. My wife it's born a child today. It's my first child and I'm very happy. I will be honest and I will tell you where I'm from. I'm from Romania. I write before to another people on the internet but when I tell I'm from Romania nobody write me back.

Thank you for your interest and I will write you as soon as I can.

Regards from Cristi.

P.S. I have a book in my car but I think it's not an workshop manual it's a book about the car. It's a red book. Do you like my Maserati?"

"Ciao a tutti ragazzi ed un saluto particolare ad Enrico,

Mi sto riprendendo... mi sembra che sia andato abbastanza bene? Che ne pensate?

Intanto vi mando un po' di foto: siccome in totale sono 68 ognuna da 500 kb mi sa che ad Antonio e ad Enrico le manderò su CD-ROM via posta ordinaria.

Per Carlo: vuoi che ti mandi via mail o le vuoi tutte su CD?

Enrico mi dai il tuo indirizzo, please?

Devo fare una correzzione sui premi: il premio macchina più arruginita deve essere "spartito" tra Carlo e me stesso! Infatti Augusto e mio padre mi hanno fatto notare alla fine del raduno che sul mio cofano sono spuntate due bollicine! Nemmeno due anni! l'avevo portata a lamiera! Mi consolo... non sono da solo!

Ciao a tutti e a presto,

Roberto."

"Hello to you all and Enrico,

I am just recovering... I think it went quite well? What do YOU think?

In the meantime I am sending you a few photos: in total there are 68 photos of around 500 KB each so I will send Antonio and Enrico a CD-ROM via snail mail.

Carlo: would you like me to snd them via e-mail or on a CD?

Enrico, please send me your address?

I have to make a slight alteration to the prize giving: the prize for the 'rustiest' must be awarded jointly to Carlo and my good self! In fact at the end of the meeting, Augusto and my father pointed out two new 'blisters' on my bonnet! And that less than two years since I took it back to the bare metal! I console myself knowing that I'm not the only one!

Bye to you all, see you soon,

Roberto."

"Enrico,

The Ferrari Maserati Days at Spa were great!!!

On display: 222, 250F, 3200GT, A6GCS, Biturbo Spyder, Coupé, Coupé Gransport, Coupé Trofeo, Ghibli, Quattroporte V, Spyder, Spyder Vintage etc.

I hope your mail box is not exploding ... the rest of the photos will be send too you by mail after Spa Italia 27th of June.

The Trofeo races were great, there was only one race at sunday, but we loved it! The sound they make is really nice ... What really surprised me was that you could just enter the tent with the Coupé Trofeos, ... nice atmosphere, relaxed, ... They even had there own scooters, transporters, everything you expect from a real racing series, except for some grid girls ;-)

Very much in contrast with the 'you're not allowed to take close photos of the Coupé GranSport'!!! It was in a VIP-only area ... but trust me on this one it looks super, a follow-up for the Ghibli Cup that's for sure!

Gert."

"Enrico,

Attached you find two photos of Ghiblis. One is a Primatist it has got white blinkers, the other is a Ghibli GT with other rear lights, more red than normal!?

Do you know where these are for sale?

Gert."

"I am in North Carolina, US and looking for any Biturbos for sale.

Can you recommend a source for looking for them, US-wide?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

John."

"Hi Enrico,

It has been quite some time that I wrote to you but I guess it is time to contribute a bit to the community again. You may remember the disaster I had with the alternator and that I decided to opt for a new gel battery instead for a traditional one in order to avoid losing the battery again if it should happen to boil again (due to the faulty alternator). Well, it turned out that a gel battery was not such a good idea. After only 8 months of relatively scarce use one cell broke and left me standing in front of my garage, the Ghibli refusing to start. It tricked me so far as the starter did work and the voltmeter displayed 14v in the beginning, but the voltage went down quickly and after maybe four or five attempts the starter went silent. So I guessed it may be a problem of the fuel pump.

As my Ghibli was due for German MOT anyhow (TUV and AU) and my dealer offered to tow it to his workshop for free I let him fetch the car and take a look on it. He found out that one cell of the battery was broken so I had to buy a new one (guarantee on batteries in Germany is 6 months!), this time a standard one (no-name, by the way).

Very disappointed of the performance of the Bosch gel battery which is about 1.6 the price of a standard battery I checked some newsgroups on the internet and found out that there are many people complaining about these batteries. They hint that production quality is not stable.

I therefore strongly recommend using standard batteries.

The positive thing is that my Ghibli now runs trouble free, passed MOT easily and is a joy to run.

Have a nice day.

Regards,

Oliver."

"Enrico,

It was good to meet you at the Maserati Club Concours yesterday. We tried to find you before we left, but were unable to.

Regarding the front-spoiler modifications: I have taken onboard your comments and attached a file with three designs (plus the original).

I wondered if you might offer an on-line vote on your web-site (with a comments facility) to see what people think of the different designs and which is favourite?

Regards,

Simon."

Square headlight covers: BMW-style top grille with enamelled oval badge: slightly widened lower grille with circular lights either side. Large 'MASERATI' chrome lettering on central grille.

As No 1, but wider spoiler and full-width lower grille and oval indicator and parking lights. Fog lights to either side of the bottom air-intakes. Slightly smaller 'MASERATI' chrome lettering.

As No 2, but with circular indicators and parking lights. Oval headlight covers amd smaller 'MASERATI' chrome lettering. Also standard sized lower air-intakes.

Standard width spoiler (as 1 & 3), with slightly wider than standard lower grill and oval parking/ fog lights either side. Fog lights situated next to bottom air-intakes. Chrome lettering as No 2.

To assist Simon, please specify:

a) Your favourite and least favourite design.

b) Your favourite individual components (i.e. preffered light position, favourite grille design, preferred headlights etc.).

The most popular design will be applied to a Ghibli to provide a more modern appearance and improved air-flow to the intercoolers.