Maserati Enthusiasts' Page

The Enthusiasts' Page
	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 enricomaserati@btinternet.com	The Trident mosaic that greets visitors to the Panini Museum

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

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From Enrico in the UK

"What we Maseratisti have known for a long time!" The Sound of A Maserati Really is a Turn-on New clinical research, carried out by the psychologist David Moxon and released by specialist insurers Hiscox, has revealed that 100 per cent of woman tested are sexually aroused by the sound of a Maserati, with the roar of the Italian legend’s V8 engine producing a primal, sexual response, with 50 per cent of men also reacting sexually to the sound of a Maserati. Participants of the clinical study were exposed to a recording of various super-car engines being revved. They listened to the roaring engines of a Maserati, a Lamborghini and a Ferrari; and they were also exposed to a recording of a Volkswagen Polo, to ensure a fair comparison of arousal was measured with an every-day vehicle. After 20 minutes their response was measured by the levels of the hormone, testosterone, secreted in their saliva, a clear indication of sexual arousal. The results showed: The Maserati had the biggest impact on women with 100% of the female participants showing a significant increase in testosterone secretion. 100% of female participants showed a significant decrease in testosterone in reaction to the Volkswagen Polo. (We all knew this already!) 50% of male participants showed an increase in testosterone in reaction to the Maserati." (The other 50% were probably deaf!) Text from www.scoop.co.nz.

I had to laugh at one comment in response to the above research on jalopnik.com. A gentleman who goes by the pseudonym of "Chaparral" posted: "I find this study highly dubious. I spend most of my time in bars making car sounds and no women will talk to me." He was obviously not Italian. It works for me!






From Oliver in Hong Kong

"Dear Enrico, I read with interest about Simon in Hong Kong's problem (scroll down) with lack of engine braking on his automatic transmission, not because I know anything about transmissions, but because I am also a Quattroporte IV owner in Hong Kong! As far as I know, there are only 4 or 5 of us. Would you mind passing my email address to Simon in case he wishes to get in touch? I'd very much like to meet him and, more importantly, his car! I did a quick bit of transmission research on the Internet just now and found the following on www.canadiandriver.com: "Many automatic transmissions use overrunning or one-way mechanical clutches to transmit power through the transmission. These devices make upshifts smooth because only one clutch has to apply during a shift instead of one applying and another releasing (the overrunning clutch releases automatically). The disadvantage of overrunning clutches is that they can only transfer torque one way so they provide no engine braking. When a driver places the gearshift in a lower gear, extra clutches are applied inside the transmission that lock the overrunning clutches so engine braking is possible. The gear reduction added to the engine braking can assist in slowing the vehicle and prevent brakes from overheating on long downhill stretches." Given the service manual reference to engine braking, it would appear to be the case that Simon's tranmissions has some sort of fault. Keep up the great work! Best regards, Oliver."






From Giovanni in Italy

"Ciao Enrico Thought this might be of interest to other Maseratisti. I spotted this article in the August 1990 issue of the Italian car magazine "Quattroruote". By the dates, I must assume that the magazine were referring to the soon to be announced Maserati Chubasco. Interesting to see how "way off" they were with their artwork! Note the early reference to a collaboration with Alfa Romeo. Was this correct? Saluti Giovanni."



Mid-engined Maserati The new mid-engined Maserati granturismo should make its bebut this month. The car, with a break from the past, was designed by Marcello Gandini, already a designer of other Maseratis, and should be fitted with the 237 kW-322 bhp V8 engine of the "Shamal". Also collaborating in the project were Alfa Romeo.

The approved design drawings of the Maserati Chubasco that appeared in the April 1991 issue of 'IL TRIDENTE', the official magazine of the Club Maserati

The Maserati Chubasco The stunning mid-engined Maserati, designed by Marcello Gandini, that never was!






From Fernando in France

"Enrico hello, Can you inform me of the distance between the wheels of my 220 bhp 1990 Maserati 422 (ZAM332B00JB207652)? A big thank you, Fernando."









"Hi Fernando, Thank you for your email and the photos of your Maserati 422. I hope the following images will be of some help to you. All the best, Enrico."






From Enrico in the UK

"Ciao Maseratisti, When I saw this 1966 Maserati Mistral #AM109402 advertised for sale on eBay.com, I couldn't resist asking the seller for his permission to publish his photos. You see, the Mistral is one of my favourite Maseratis! Dee was kind enough to grant me permission, and here it is! It sold for US $60,000. Looks like a very nice car for the money! Described as: "A very nice Maserati Mistral with great history and no accidents. It has been restored very well. The interior is done to a very high standard and is correct and expensive and is show quality. The dash is perfect. The engine is lightly detailed and the underside is detailed as well. It has been tuned with new plugs, wires, rotor arm and cap, and whatever was needed. The exterior has been stripped and painted and polished to a very nice final finish. All the bright work has been re-chromed and polished to a show finish as well. The wheels are very nice as you can see. The spare is a Borrani as well and has the correct knock-off hammer. There is no rust whatsoever in the car or underneath, nor has it had it or repaired. For example the spring leaves are treated with a custom leather cover to protect them from the elements and the fluid jars have new caps etc. The list goes on. The exterior side mirror comes with the car but I have not mounted it, as this Mistral did not come with one from the factory. I just placed it with tape so you can see if you like one there. It comes with a clean California title. It is sold as is, where is, as all classic cars without a warrantee. Also the license plate says 1967 (just show plates). This 1966 car has covered only 79,543 miles, and is located in the USA." Enjoy! Enrico."






From Simon in Hong Kong

"Dear Enrico, First of all let me tell you how brilliant your website is....it's easy to spend hours there just soaking up the essence of all that is Maserati...! I have a question that has bugged me for ages - I have owned my right-hand drive Quattroporte IV Series 2 V8 Automatic now for just over 2 years, and have always wondered why there is no engine braking when going downhill. To be strictly accurate, there is a very slight amount of braking effect when in Drive (D), however if the gear selector is in either 1, 2, or 3 position the rev counter needle simply goes to idle when the accelerator pedal is lifted, thus leaving the car coasting in effect. When the accelerator is re-applied, then the revs simply "catch-up" to where they should be and one is back in gear again. Gear positions 1, 2, and 3 do work only to the extent that they will hold the maximum gear corresponding to the selector position and not change up beyond that. I have asked the main dealers here in Hong Kong, Auto Italia, about this issue and they tell me that this is normal on the V8 version of the Quattroporte IV, which had a different gearbox from the V6 version. Apparently the V8's gearbox was sourced from BTR Engineering in Australia and developed specifically for the V8. I've tried getting in touch with BTR in Australia, however they've either moved or been absorbed as there is no longer any contact details for them in Albany where they used to be based. I did however speak to an Albany based gearbox reconditioner who seemed to think, like me, that he'd never come across an auto box that didn't have engine braking capability. To further confuse me on this, I recently had the cam belt service done by Auto Italia, and when I went to collect the car the service manager presented me with the car's original Owner's Manual complete with it's beautiful leather wallet, which had not been with the car when I bought it; he said he'd found it when clearing out some old filing cabinets! (English versions of these are next to impossible to find now). Whilst I was thrilled to finally have this, I immediately looked up the section on the gearbox, found that there are separate sections that deal with both the V6 version gearbox and also the V8 version gearbox as they are different, and it clearly talks about using the 1, 2 or 3 positions for engine braking on downhill runs under the V8 gearbox section. My question therefore is, have you come across this issue? Is the lack of engine braking something that was intentional in the design with the V8's gearbox, or should it in fact have engine braking capability, meaning something within the gearbox is not functioning properly? If it should have it, is it something that can be rectified? In my opinion, the automatic gearbox on these V8's is the single most annoying feature of what is otherwise a fantastic car, and whilst one gets used to the very sensitive inputs required when using Power Mode in order to avoid the violent and unsubtle downshifting that'll almost break a neck, it's that lack of engine braking on hills (we have a lot here!) that really detracts from the driveability of this very fast and reliable car, as one has to use the brakes continuously on every downhill stretch of road. To make matters worse, the brakes on these cars squeal very loudly when hot, and I'm told by Auto Italia that brake squeal was another known issue with these cars that cannot be effectively eradicated. A manual gearbox would undoubtedly transform the car's useability and make exploring the fabulous engine's profound talents a genuine delight. I look forward to hearing from you, and will no doubt spend some more time on your excellent website in the meantime! Best regards, Simon - Hong Kong."






From Jorgen in Sweden

"Hello I have been reading for days on your great website! Keep up the great work. I am in the market for a Maserati 430 4v., and wonder if you could tell me if this is the correct engine on the photo enclosed? If it is difficult to answer, how could I check? The car is from 1993. Thank you very much in advance. Jorgen."



"Hi Jorgen, That is not the engine of a 430 4v. More likely, that is a standard 430. This photograph is of the engine bay of a right-hand drive 430 4v. Please note that on this version, the brake servo is on the left-hand side as viewed from the front of the engine. Regards, Enrico."






From Marcel in France

"Hi Enrico, A few weeks ago I visited the Musee Automobile de Vendée in France, that is near Les Sables D’olonne. I “discovered” a strange old Maserati over there. The museum called it an “Alexander Maserati” built in 1948. Since this is not a known name of a Maserati I asked the people over there if I might have a look under the bonnet to find out what the chassis number is, but that was unfortunately too much too ask… After a quick surf on the internet I found the next info: "Don Alexander was the President of the San Isidro team in Argentina. This vehicle took part in the Rafaella Grand Prix there. It was probably fitted with a Maserati 4CLT engine because on the left side of the engine bay and body there is provision for the run of the exhaust pipes, but this is now panelled over. In fact, the car is now fitted with a 6 cylinder Ford engine, and a plate on the engine indicates that it was prepared by brothers Oscar and Alfredo Galvez, who were former team mates and drivers with Juan manuel Fangio" I assume this car was a 4CLT. The book "Maserati, Sports racing and GT cars from 1926" (by De la Rive Box/Crump) tells us that in 1948 2 4CLT’s were exported to Argentina, the chassis numbers were 1599 & 1600. Would you or anybody else know if this car in French in one of the 2 chassis numbers? Thanks, Marcel."





"Hi Marcel, Thank you for your email. Personally speaking, it looks like a Tipo 4CL to me, but the changes made to the front suspension and the body, to accomodate the Ford V6 engine, make an external indentification rather difficult. I must leave that to someone more qualified than I! I have been glancing through the pages of "MASERATI - A complete history from 1926 to the present" by Luigi Orsini and Franco Zagari. In the chapter on the Maserati Tipo 4CL, it lists #1590 (engine # 1587) and #1591 (engine #1588) as being sold in November 1947 to Corrado Filippini for Equipo Argentino. Interestingly, it adds under the heading 'present owner', and bearing in mind that the book was published in 1980, a R Fielding of Great Britain is the owner of the engine of Tipo 4CL #1590 (engine #1587). As you rightly say, under the chapter Tipo 4CLT/48, it lists #1599 engine #1599) and #1600 (engine #1597), as being sold to the Automobile Club Argentina. Unfortunately they do not list any dates but 1948 is probably correct. When the holidays are over I will contact Sig Cozza at Maserati to ask if he knows the chassis number of the Maserati at the Musee Automobile de Vendée. Regards, Enrico."






From Helmar in Germany

"Hello Enrico, dear Maseratisti, I thought I'd give you a quick report on my first two months with my 2007 Quattroporte Automatic, ZAMFD39B000031721. I've done 8,000km so far - most of which on German highways, but it's also taken me to lovely places such as Vienna, Lago di Como, Zurich and Liechtenstein, and, of course, Gotthard Pass (see photo). Apart from the passenger side mirror's downlight, which decided to dangle from its cable after the two plastic hooks that hold it in place simply broke off (apparently a known "fault"), causing it to fall out of the side mirror's casing, it's been super-plain sailing...uhmm... cruising. The car is an absolute pleasure to drive. Let me repeat: it's an absolute pleasure to drive! The best is somewhere between 140-180km/h on the Autobahn, because it's very quiet, smooth, effortless cruising. It's even better with a song of your choice on the Bose hifi - Sezen Aksu's "Istanbul Hatirasi" being mine at the momennt. From then onwards it's advisable to switch to "Sport" mode, as the steering gets firmer and the suspension harder, just what you need in long drawn-out bends or when someone decides to overtake in front of you, which - at that speed - is obviously a very relative term. :) The cabin is very quiet, also thanks to double glazing on the side windows. The seats are firm but comfy, the seating position at least for me (175cm of height) perfect. Visibility towards the back is virtually nil, so the park assist sensors are most welcome - and you learn to drive by your side mirrors. Pleasant also, that the car is really quiet when idling. When you drive it's got the typical and distinct Maser sound, and when you switch to "Sport" mode and hit the accelerator, it makes its presence more than known. So it's a perfect blend between "gentleman" and "hothead". Build quality is excellent (apart from the downlight, of course), the interior classy and sumptuous, and a welcome relief from what you see in other cars, especially German or Japanese ones. Instrumentation is excellent. Everything is visible and in its right place. Only the fuel gauge warns you with a yellow light when the tank is still a quarter full. At least, this way you can still "race" to the next petrol pump. The Blaupunkt navigation system is not really user-friendly, but they've changed that in the latest QP incarnation. You do get used to it, but it takes too many turns and clicks to get to where you want to get. Access to "Last 10 destinations" and "My destinations" do help, though. What I don't understand is this: the TeleAtlas maps on CD (150 Euro a pop!) do have all the info on speed cameras and speed limits, but neither is activated in the Maser. I mean, either you warn people of the speed limit so that they can stick to it OR you stuff that warning and just tell them where they get photographed, but to disable both of them is of no use to anyone. A note on the maps: I've had it several times now that the thing chose a really crappy route instead of the fastest one. That's one thing you should be able to rely on, and I would have loved to see a TomTom installed instead of the Blaupunkt/TeleAtlas one. The car's trip manager is functional, but I'd prefer to see additional indicators, such as the current petrol consumption (as opposed to average only). Traffic Management Control on the Navi is really useful. It tells you right away if there are traffic disruptions along the route, and it's indicated nicely on the maps. Overall, the Navi has the most room for improvement, and it's important stuff when you do drive a lot. The steering wheel has the common controls on it, but also some on the backside, which I still haven't quite figured out. It helps to read the manual, which is still tucked away in the boot. The Bose hifi has a very nice sound, but there's an audible hum even if the volume is turned down all the way. The boot is really small. It's enough for two people going away for 2 weeks, but that's about it. Don't think for a moment you can fit in a golf bag there, never mind anything of any length or height, or even go on vacation with your kids. The tank is located right behind the rear seats, taking up valuable luggage space. It's been enough for me, though, so it's not a complaint as such, merely an observation. Legroom in the back is more than enough, but headroom limited if you're too tall. Cool feature: from the centre armrest you can move the passenger front seat all the way to the front, giving you business class legroom. Nice touch! The car turns heads wherever I go. Not only that, people often walk up to me and make nice comments. I never expected the car to become such a source of joy, and it makes me happy to see them happy. It's nice to still see people with an appreciation for beauty (and that Quattroporte surely ranks among the most beautiful cars in the world) and the courage to express it - especially when it's "only" a car. It didn't happen just once that someone said "One day I'll also buy one, not a Mercedes or BMW or Audi, but that one!" Fuel consumption shouldn't be an issue when you drive a car like this, but it's nowhere near as bad as I thought. I'll average about 11.5l/100km, and that includes some very fast Autobahn driving, so I get about 750km out of a 90l tank. If you feel like going economical, put the cruise control onto 100km/h and it won't take more than 8.5 litres/100km. At a steady 110 it's around 10.3, at 130 around 11.6, at 140 around 13. Where it obviously nails you is at speeds beyond 170, on mountain passes and in town. But that isn't a revelation to anyone, really. Overall I'm very happy with the fuel consumption. In comparison to what you get out in terms of driving fun, it's really a cheap pleasure, even at the current price level at the pump. The 6 gear automatic ZF box is awesome. Even in auto mode you can use the paddles at the steering wheel to suit your needs. Shifting is smooth, even smoother when you ease the accelerator for a moment. Talking of which.... when you accelerate the car from standstill, you should have a very (!) gentle right foot, because otherwise you'll get a kick in the back and the car shoots forward like a tarantula! If you manage to temper your right foot, accelerating can be a very smooth experience, though. The engine really comes to life above 4000rpm. Below that, not much is happening, but that's nice, because you can cruise at high speed and very low revs, but if you need to kick it, two "clicks" on the paddleshift, and not only does the sound change notably, the "beast" with all its two tons of weight moves forward at a pace that does take getting used to. The acceleration force something foreign for the body, and you are left in amazement about how fast that car moves, especially when you overtake on normal roads. The 245/19 in front and 285/19 in the back obviously cause the car to "aquaplane" pretty fast, so caution is necessary in wet conditions, but otherwise they are fabulous mix of comfort, safety and noise level. As you can see, I'm really really happy with it - couldn't have chose a better car for me! I'll keep you posted, but at the end of September, the baby goes into hibernation for a while as I'll return to South Africa. Down there my old Merc is waiting for me, but that won't be the case for much longer. :) So there's my inofficial driving report for my 2007 Maserati Quattroporte. Hope you enjoyed it! Helmar PS: the exact opposite experience I've made with Maserati.com, though, where I tried to register myself as an owner. As I'm the second one, they've obviously asked for copies of the papers to be faxed to them. I've emailed them, but despite 3 reminders, my registration still hasn't been cleared. A fax, dear Maserati "customer support", is what we used in those times that you now dread to remember because your cars sucked so badly, but this is 2008, when you can build cars and "papers" get attached to an email. That said, my life doesn't get enriched by that registration, but I thought it'd be a nice touch to round off my ownership."






From Jim in Scotland

"Hi Enrico, hope you are well. It's Jim in Edinburgh here. I couldn't help but laugh when I read you're mention of the headlight problem. See attached pic. for the extent of my exposure to it! The hilarious downside of course of handmade cars being that the parts don't just swap, as the mounting brackets on the lights themselves differ in position on different headlights! I made my own Headlight-protectors. I'd be glad to pass the pattern on if anyone was interested... Having made my yearly pilgrimage to Scotland's Stanford Hall - The Scottish Italian Car Day, I will soon be swapping back to a cracked one to keep the good one for the future... Jim."






From Tiit in Estonia

"Hi, I have a 1991 Maserati 222 SR and I have a little problem with it. When I was doing over radio contacts something in passenger side door made a really loud click. After that the central locking doesn't work any more. When I sit in and shut the door, something near the glove compartment makes some 'roaring' (can't find a better word) noise for a second or so and then it stops. But when one door is locked and other is not and the doors are closed, that same sound appears again but is constant and doesn't go away after while. Did some investigation and found out what is making that noise and it seems like the central locking control unit. Module is made by "bitron video", and has P/N 2043018 on the case. It also bears # 549.197 on the case. I also checked all the fuses in the main fuse box and all 14 of them were OK. After some further investigation found the correct fuse, and it’s OK. There are also the cigar lighter and door courtesy lights under that same fuse. Also it has 12 V when the ignition is turned on. But when I measured the voltage on cigar lighter contacts then there was only 0,5 volts and it was there weather the ignition was on or off. It seems like a bad contact somewhere but I have no idea where to search from. Maybe you have a electrical schema for this model? Regards, Tiit."



"Hi Enrico, I sent you an email a few days ago with some pictures and with another electrical problem I have. It seems to me that you never received that email so I’ll write again. I got the problem sorted out with the central locking. It was a faulty connection I the fusebox. I have now come across with another electrical issue. One evening when I went for a drive I noticed that instrument panel lighting doesn’t work and the indication light showing that lights are on doesn’t work either. I checked all the other electrical things on the car and they seem to work. I also checked the central panel lighting and it worked when the lights are on and when I turned the headlights off also central panel lights went off so it seems to work like it should. I also measured the voltage on the light switch and there seemed to be all like it should. To my thinking from there the wires should go one to the central panel lights and one to the instrument panel lights but it seems like it goes back to the fuse box or at least in that direction. So that is where I lost it. I also don’t have no idea witch is the right contact behind the instrument panel from where to measure if the voltage is there or not. Other problem I have is with speedometer. It doesn’t work quite well. Most of the time the needle jumps up and down like it has a bad contact somewhere but sometime it works well and sometime it doesn’t work at all. Also when it works it shows speed about 20 km/h less then the actual speed is but the distance it shows right. I went over all the contacts behind instrument panel, but it didn’t seem to do anything. I would be very grateful for any ideas and suggestions about these problems. I also added some pictures to put on your website. Tiit."









Oh! And by the way there was a postscript to Tiit's email: "P.S You wrote on your website that “The "SR" stands for "Sospensioni Regolabili" (Adjustable Suspension )“, but my 222 SR does not have one." So this has really put a cat amongst the pigeons! More on this later!






From Enrico in the UK

"Ciao Maseratisti, The other day I was asked a question about Tiit in Estonia about a problem he had with the central locking on his 222 SR. I asked him for some photographs of his 222 SR, hoping that publishing the photographs might prompt an answer to his problem. From what he had told me, I suspected a failed "central locking control unit", and informed him as much. Anyway, the photographs never arrived, but it got me wondering. What does the "SR" in 222 SR stand for? Now I knew, that the "222" stood for "2" Litres, "2" Doors, and "2" Camshafts. But what about "SR"? I immediately emailed my friend Rossano Carrara, of the now defunct Reparocorse.net web site, and posed the question! And here is his reply: "Hi Enrico, The "SR" should indicate, according to my humble opinion, "Serie Racing". The 222s are a little complicated to identify; they are an evolution of the Biturbo series, whilst the 2.24v. are an evolution of the S and Si series. In other words the 222 were an entry level Maserati dedicated to the motorist who wanted something less sporty. Produced from 1988 to 1993 in various forms, and created with such confusion that even I have trouble defining the acronyms, however, the following series were produced: 222 - 1988-1990 1996cc 223bhp with the 18-valve engine and the same styling as the Biturbo i. 222 SE (2nd series) - 1990-1992 1996cc 223bhp with the 18-valve engine and the same styling as the 2.24v (1st series). 222 SR - 1990-1992 2790cc 245bhp with the 18-valve engine and the same styling as the Racing, that's where I think the R eminates. 222 4v - 1992-1994 2790cc 285bhp with the 24-valve engine and the same styling as the Racing. Not very many 2.8 litre versions were sold in Italy, there wasn't much demand for them. The first 222s were based on the 2.24v and were fitted with the 18-valve engine; at first with the same styling as the Biturbo and later the SE version with the 18-valve engine and the same styling as the 2.24v. The 2-litre versions however were not updated other than mounting the 24-valve engine, becoming in effect the 2.24v. For the overseas market, Maserati continued with the name 222 to distiguish the 2.8 litre versions and thus the 222 E was produced for the overseas market with the same 2.8 litre 18-valve engine producing 245bhp of the Karif, but with the same styling as the Biturbo. Then they produced the 222 SE (second series) still with the 2.8 litre 18-valve engine producing 245bhp and with the same styling as the 2.24v (first series). That was then changed to the 222 SR, keeping that same engine and the same bodywork as the Racing. Finally the 222 4v with the 2.8 litre 24-valve engine producing 285bhp with the same bodywork as the Racing. For that reason, I must assume that "SR" identifies the "Serie Racing". I hope I've been of some help Ciao, Rossano." Well that made perfect sense to me. But I wasn't convinced, so I thought a second opinion necessary, and who better than Sig Cozza at Maserati, and here was his surprise reply: "The "SR" stands for "Sospensioni Regolabili" (Adjustable Suspension), in fact shortly afterwards, it was available as an option on nearly all models".

The rare 222 SR





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