RE: Spotted: Maserati 3200 GT
Discussion
3200gt said:
Stu R said:
Love 'em. I'd have one in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the stupid bills.
I'd take the 4200 as a compromise, but the 3200 with the boomerangs ticks every box that matters.
Get a good one and the bills are not outlandish at all, unless you count rear tyres. Had mine for 10 years and nothing has fallen off or gone wrong with it. I'd take the 4200 as a compromise, but the 3200 with the boomerangs ticks every box that matters.
last time I looked it definately had a v8 under the bonnet
i fell in love with the boomerang lights, passing by an example on my way to work in the late 90s. can't believe they had to change them for the 4200. one of the best car design features ever.
if it wasn't for the spectre of end float and huge maintenance bills i'd be joining the bloke who lives across the road in ownership of a sebring blue example
if it wasn't for the spectre of end float and huge maintenance bills i'd be joining the bloke who lives across the road in ownership of a sebring blue example
i almost bought a sub 20k mile Assetto Corsa from Meridien Modena a couple of years back, before sense got the better of me.
it was up for £20k, but had the benefit of condition, low mileage, spec and purchase through a main maserati dealer (so a good 1yr warranty).
in retrospect, i'm pretty glad i didn't, as if i put it up for sale now, i would take a £6k bath immediately on resale, plus the monsterous running costs that go with it.
it was up for £20k, but had the benefit of condition, low mileage, spec and purchase through a main maserati dealer (so a good 1yr warranty).
in retrospect, i'm pretty glad i didn't, as if i put it up for sale now, i would take a £6k bath immediately on resale, plus the monsterous running costs that go with it.
ultrastapler said:
i fell in love with the boomerang lights, passing by an example on my way to work in the late 90s. can't believe they had to change them for the 4200. one of the best car design features ever.
Agreed. Although they didn't have to change them, IIRC, "The Americans" didn't like them. With healthy respect to all our Yank enthusiasts who love things like boomerang lights, I'm sure, "The Americans" have a lot to answer for. 
Or, was it a pukka legislative issue? Tell me I'm wrong. [/Harris]
Now this article and the interest it generates makes me wonder why more magazines don't rerun articles five / ten years later.
How have the comparable cars aged, what problems have come out, how much do they really cost to run, what do they each cost now.
Most enthusiasts buy older cars yet have to rely on new car tests.
How have the comparable cars aged, what problems have come out, how much do they really cost to run, what do they each cost now.
Most enthusiasts buy older cars yet have to rely on new car tests.
a "Mate of a Mate" has one and they are expensive to run and keep on top form, you kind of expect it with a Ferrari and it is taken as the norm but Maserati's are equally as exotic, it is just they depreciate more due to not beign a a Ferrari, sadly the maintenance doesnt reduce by a similar margin, if anything they seem to be more expensive to run than a Ferrari as there is less competition in terms of independants, but that is just an impression, may well be wrong.
I've always thought this was a very underrated car. It's a borderline supercar (i don't want to have an argument about power!) and i've always prefered the 3200GT to a 911 - even given my love of German cars and the fact the 996 of the day was superior in practically every way.
Running costs always scared me - £900+ services and the like. Would love one, but i'll stick to my bread and butter BMW for the moment!
Running costs always scared me - £900+ services and the like. Would love one, but i'll stick to my bread and butter BMW for the moment!
rgracin said:
Not many posts about actual experience of running one of these (other than from 3200gt).
Come on, lets have some details. How easy are they to tinker with yourself? At that age, dealer/specialist service stamps are not as important if you intend to keep the car for some time.
I owned a 4200 for a while and even though it was only 9 months old and under full warranty it was irritatingly expensive.Come on, lets have some details. How easy are they to tinker with yourself? At that age, dealer/specialist service stamps are not as important if you intend to keep the car for some time.
It seemed to have a fixed price of £2k for anything that needed doing.
In the space of 3 months (11k miles) the brake discs rusted to the pads when I went away for 2 weeks (£2k) the clutch went (£2k) and its first or second service became due (£2k). Tires seemed cheap in comparison at £350 each
WHen a man fitting a bluetooth phone system ran the battery down you can't access the battery to jump start it and Marannello had to collect it on a truck and take it away.
Ironically nothing whatsoever went wrong with it to utilise the warranty.
Oh and I crashed it after 5 days.
I loved that car and still do and Im certain that getting an older one and using independants will reduce those sort of bills significantly, I just couldn't ever justify anything like that kind of expense again.
Oh and if you are going to factor in depreciation- the chap I bought it from had paid 72k for it 9 months and 9k miles earlier and sold it to me for £38k. I suspect he wouldn't buy another one!
Great looking car, and definitley one i would consider buying.
You have to ask with regards to this particular example though.............why is there a 'Magic Tree' air freshner hanging inside?
These foul smelling devices are only ever found in cars with something in there past that they want to hide.
You have to ask with regards to this particular example though.............why is there a 'Magic Tree' air freshner hanging inside?
These foul smelling devices are only ever found in cars with something in there past that they want to hide.
I remember the first time I saw one of these was driving down the M1 on a Sunday evening when a car transporter full of them went past me as I went off the slip road to the M25; my jaw literally dropped and I still think today it is one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Yes the 4200 is a better car by a mile but those lights are fantastic and there is still a hatred in my belly for those damn Americans that forced the boomerangs to be replaced with the 'Prelude lights'...
I was lucky enough to have had a track day experience with one of these and a host of other exotica from that era. The flyby wire throttle sticks in my head to this day, and it was only knocked down to third in the list of cars (diablo sv, exige, Supercharged XKR) by a Noble and a dodge viper with panel gaps you could pass your lunchbox through.
Would have one in a heartbeat, even the wife wouldn't object...
Would have one in a heartbeat, even the wife wouldn't object...
marshall100 said:
I was lucky enough to have had a track day experience with one of these and a host of other exotica from that era. The flyby wire throttle sticks in my head to this day, and it was only knocked down to third in the list of cars (diablo sv, exige, Supercharged XKR) by a Noble and a dodge viper with panel gaps you could pass your lunchbox through.
Would have one in a heartbeat, even the wife wouldn't object...
I did exactly the same supercar day when I was younger too (although the Noble was replaced by a 911 TUrbo in mine). I loved that day and we all said at the end of it that regardless of the figures, the 3200 felt like the quickest car of all of them, vertainly from standstill. It just seemed to have a stop/start full power. Loved it and that day made me spend the next 8 years vowing to own oneWould have one in a heartbeat, even the wife wouldn't object...
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