RE: Maserati Biturbo: Catch it while you can
Discussion
crostonian said:
Evo said:
Doubt it in the BTCC but I do remember a BiTurbo raced in the 1000kms at Silverstone when I was er a lot younger.
They did race in the BTCC, the recent ITV4 documentary showed them in the background a few times, think Roberto Giordanelli had something to do with the team. From memory they had a lot of teething troubles, surprise surprise, and it only raced sporadically.
Like most i have a soft spot for these. Like most, I dont have the cash or the guts to go for one. Too many stories, from too many sources to know we are talking about one of the worst cars ever madr. Evenhis holiness didnt like the 4 door version...
Q
http://youtu.be/95zE5Vnj-B8
But then again, you walk past some backstreet dealer in somewhere like Corby and you see a Biturbo for sale and think "what if....."
Q
http://youtu.be/95zE5Vnj-B8
But then again, you walk past some backstreet dealer in somewhere like Corby and you see a Biturbo for sale and think "what if....."
I am mad enough to own a 14 year old 3200GT. In years to come I like to think I may be able to justify the insanity of ownership on the basis I owned a beautiful car, not something that would obviously apply to a Biturbo. In some ways however I think a really cheap Biturbo might be a better bet - at least the worst case downside would be less. I have to admit the rarity and awfulness of the biturbo are appealing to me. Anybody who drops a skip on one is not a car enthusiast.
KeithAdams said:
As for me, I keep scanning the ads in hope that another project turns up - with rust, faded paint, and a sub £1,000 price tag. Clearly I am certifiable.
If you can live with LHD, there are a few in that price range on Italian ebay. Decent-looking examples start at not much more than that, such as this example:http://annunci.ebay.it/annunci/auto/avellino-annun...
tihouss said:
Ha! Funnily enough I'm picking up a red 222 tomorrow, it stood for 4 years but has covered a mere 40k miles, very little rust, for €1800. If anyone's interested I'll give to the RetroRides thread or put one up here
Link please!I seem to remember someone entering one in the first PPC Mag £999 challenge. I bet it didn't win, in fact I bet it didn't make it home under it's own power, but it would have been the coolest entry..
Think I'd actually like this if, a) it had been made properly, and b)it had been made by somebody else.
Something that looks like this shouldn't be in the Maserati 'back catalogue'. I mean it's like a Maserati Cortina FFS!
Not the best era for Italian cars, but this seems like all the bad bits from Italy, with hardly any of the good bits.
Interesting article, but there's about 1,000 cars I'd have in the garage before one of these. Also, doubt the bank balance could handle it.
Something that looks like this shouldn't be in the Maserati 'back catalogue'. I mean it's like a Maserati Cortina FFS!
Not the best era for Italian cars, but this seems like all the bad bits from Italy, with hardly any of the good bits.
Interesting article, but there's about 1,000 cars I'd have in the garage before one of these. Also, doubt the bank balance could handle it.
The 'bankruptbankruptbankrupt' replies are somewhat disappointing from a car enthusiasts' forum. Spares are now to be found quite cheaply, for example from Maseratispares.com (who'd have thought they sold spares for Maseratis?), you can have a parts car for a few hundreds of your favourite currency, and please sit inside before saying it looks like a Cortina.
Sure, it's a lot better financially if you can do most f the work yourself, it's not rocket science anyways. Cars like the Biturbo SI, and the 222 are sorted mechanically, their weaknesses are the electrics that can play up quite a bit, the diff which wears out quickly as well as the steering rack, rust and the frequent and painful valve adjustment.
There are quite a few people really enthusiastic about this car around the world, so there's a lot of help available and you'll find plenty of solutions for any problem you might encounter.
I found that many of those who have one and liked it bought a few others... Of course if you're buying one of the really cheap ones and expect an 80's biturbo 110hp/ltr Maserati to cost as much to maintain as the aforementioned Cortina, you'll be disappointed.
Sure, it's a lot better financially if you can do most f the work yourself, it's not rocket science anyways. Cars like the Biturbo SI, and the 222 are sorted mechanically, their weaknesses are the electrics that can play up quite a bit, the diff which wears out quickly as well as the steering rack, rust and the frequent and painful valve adjustment.
There are quite a few people really enthusiastic about this car around the world, so there's a lot of help available and you'll find plenty of solutions for any problem you might encounter.
I found that many of those who have one and liked it bought a few others... Of course if you're buying one of the really cheap ones and expect an 80's biturbo 110hp/ltr Maserati to cost as much to maintain as the aforementioned Cortina, you'll be disappointed.
tihouss said:
The 'bankruptbankruptbankrupt' replies are somewhat disappointing from a car enthusiasts' forum. Spares are now to be found quite cheaply, for example from Maseratispares.com (who'd have thought they sold spares for Maseratis?), you can have a parts car for a few hundreds of your favourite currency.....
...Cars like the Biturbo SI, and the 222 are sorted mechanically..
The internet either didn't exist or was very new when I think the majority of those are making those claims. Certainly true in my case. maseratispares.com looks great but according to their own site they were established in 2007. Not much use if you were running a Bi Turbo in 1998. ...Cars like the Biturbo SI, and the 222 are sorted mechanically..
Funny you should say that about the 222 because as a result of this article I scanned the classifieds yesterday. There is a very nice 222SE for a mere £5995 - very nice indeed. For someone who hasn't been previous scarred that looks a cracker.
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
they made an article, because I mentioned it in the 100k dream garage thread a day before
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=23&...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=23&...
Agent Orange said:
Worrying! Not the car, but how much I'm thinking about it... 
A girlfriend of mine back in the '80s' best friend went out with a bloke who had just bought a Bi-turbo Spyder. All four of us went out a lot in that car, and have to say it was very quick. Have memories of flying round the M25 with the roof down and two chicks in the back. 
Had a tasteful colour combination of Navy blue with grey leather.
Lovely clock too.
He sold the Maserati for an Esprit Turbo. He was an estate agent.
Had a tasteful colour combination of Navy blue with grey leather.
Lovely clock too.
He sold the Maserati for an Esprit Turbo. He was an estate agent.
For those who rate Clarksons opinion above everything else..
from 5:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVxvyvOzAyM
The last line is: And this is a very intresting car..
from 5:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVxvyvOzAyM
The last line is: And this is a very intresting car..
The Crack Fox said:
Leins said:
Agent Orange said:
Worrying! Not the car, but how much I'm thinking about it... I really, really like the look of this car, but I couldn't bring myself to live with the hassle.
Leins said:
Agent Orange said:
Worrying! Not the car, but how much I'm thinking about it... Still it is only £6000. What else will get you this for so little money?
I looked at buying an early Ghibli a few years back. One of the selling points was that it had recently had a service that ran into the thousands. That wasn't really a selling point to me, more of a warning. I was coming from a TVR Chimaera at the time so wasn't to phased by running costs however the Ghibli was a step to far so I decided against it. Nice drive though Funnily enough, I've seen the same car advertised for sale several times since in various parts of the country and every time the advert has the same details of the last service costing thousands. That service must have been about 9 years ago now.
Funnily enough, I've seen the same car advertised for sale several times since in various parts of the country and every time the advert has the same details of the last service costing thousands. That service must have been about 9 years ago now.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff