Maserati Spyder GT (2002)
Discussion
After reading the epic FF thread, I thought it worth putting down some history as a cathartic exercise.
An aspirational and impatient younger self used to look at the back page of the motoring section of the Sunday Times, and Maranello's in Egham had a list of F-cars and others. Back in early 2004, the cheapest on the list was a red, manual Maserati Spyder that was nearly half the price of a new one but was only 18 months old. I went for a look, got smitten by the badge and the burbly and sometimes snarly V8, and naively agreed to buy it for the asking price, with a PX of a 4 year old Honda S2000.
It wasn't really a very good car, truth be told. Apart from the excellent noise, the cabin ergonomics were a bit rubbish, there was plenty of scuttle shake and shimmy up the steering column, and the gear change was a bit agricultural, especially when compared to the rifle-bolt S2000 'box. It did look pretty good from some angles, and it could go like stink in a straight line even if it wasn't quite up to the job when the corners came.
Cue a variety of issues from squeaks, rattles, electrical gremlins that meant it sometimes didn't start, the roof getting stuck half-up-half down and so on. It was back and forth to Egham a few times under warranty and eventually in 2005 when it went for a service, the news that it needed a new clutch & flywheel - at 14,000 miles if I recall - came as something of a shock, especially the £3k+ price tag. Maybe that had something to do with the fact it had been the press demonstrator (a fact that Maranello's managed not to pass on to me, and I found out only having bought the car).
Having eaten the cost of more maintenance than I thought it should need at this age and mileage, and as the Total Cost of Ownership situation started making itself apparent to me, I figured it would be a good time to sell; so I found a specialist retailer in Ferrari, Lambo and Maserati, who said they would take it on SoR and should be able to find a buyer in a few weeks, for £3k in fees.
Job done, thought I, at least I'd get away with the whole exercise having cost me only £10k (ouch).
Said retailer took a good while longer to find a buyer; apparently, they did find an Australian chap who was buying several cars to export down under. I say apparently, as the car was exported without my knowledge about 4 months before the retailer went tits up, taking mine and everyone else's money with them. So someone has been driving around down under for 15 years in "my" Maserati, though I never could find out what happened to it nor got any joy from the authorities dealing with the crooks in North West London. It's VIN ZAMBB18C000005760 should anyone ever happen upon it, or this thread...
Pics from the Evo short test, in May 2002 (3 1/2 stars):
An aspirational and impatient younger self used to look at the back page of the motoring section of the Sunday Times, and Maranello's in Egham had a list of F-cars and others. Back in early 2004, the cheapest on the list was a red, manual Maserati Spyder that was nearly half the price of a new one but was only 18 months old. I went for a look, got smitten by the badge and the burbly and sometimes snarly V8, and naively agreed to buy it for the asking price, with a PX of a 4 year old Honda S2000.
It wasn't really a very good car, truth be told. Apart from the excellent noise, the cabin ergonomics were a bit rubbish, there was plenty of scuttle shake and shimmy up the steering column, and the gear change was a bit agricultural, especially when compared to the rifle-bolt S2000 'box. It did look pretty good from some angles, and it could go like stink in a straight line even if it wasn't quite up to the job when the corners came.
Cue a variety of issues from squeaks, rattles, electrical gremlins that meant it sometimes didn't start, the roof getting stuck half-up-half down and so on. It was back and forth to Egham a few times under warranty and eventually in 2005 when it went for a service, the news that it needed a new clutch & flywheel - at 14,000 miles if I recall - came as something of a shock, especially the £3k+ price tag. Maybe that had something to do with the fact it had been the press demonstrator (a fact that Maranello's managed not to pass on to me, and I found out only having bought the car).
Having eaten the cost of more maintenance than I thought it should need at this age and mileage, and as the Total Cost of Ownership situation started making itself apparent to me, I figured it would be a good time to sell; so I found a specialist retailer in Ferrari, Lambo and Maserati, who said they would take it on SoR and should be able to find a buyer in a few weeks, for £3k in fees.
Job done, thought I, at least I'd get away with the whole exercise having cost me only £10k (ouch).
Said retailer took a good while longer to find a buyer; apparently, they did find an Australian chap who was buying several cars to export down under. I say apparently, as the car was exported without my knowledge about 4 months before the retailer went tits up, taking mine and everyone else's money with them. So someone has been driving around down under for 15 years in "my" Maserati, though I never could find out what happened to it nor got any joy from the authorities dealing with the crooks in North West London. It's VIN ZAMBB18C000005760 should anyone ever happen upon it, or this thread...
Pics from the Evo short test, in May 2002 (3 1/2 stars):
Edited by ewand on Monday 7th February 16:27
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