An affair with a Maserati Gransport Spyder
Discussion
It appears I've been on PH for nigh on 18 years, and during this time I've learned a lot about man maths.
Having had 'fun' cars since I was 19 (my first car was a 1965 MGB), I found myself wondering what the 'next' car would be.
I'd always told myself I'd get a 911 of some sort by the time I was 35 or so. Buying a house delayed that plan a bit, and when all the stars aligned, I found myself not wanting a 911 enough.
Don't get me wrong, I find them to be very good cars, and fun to drive!
A couple of mates have really nice cars, so I've been fortunate enough to drive different models of Ferrari and Porsche, and I particularly enjoyed a drive in a 1984 911 Carrera but for some reason, it just doesn't make my heart rate go up as much as I'd hoped.
Living in a country with horrendous taxes on anything that is remotely modern and sporty, I had set my mind on finding a pre-1992 car of some sort.
Preferably with at least 6 cylinders, possibly open topped (a.o. to be able to enjoy the sound of the exhaust) and something that looks good / increases my heart rate (completely not objective as a criterium of course).
The search yielded a couple of options, such as 90s TVRs with the Griffith the being most alluring, Austin Healeys, some German metal, and some 90s Alfas (not a particular fan of the Ferrari 348, the 355 is way out of budget).
All did not convince for one reason or another, the TVRs being absolutely awesome but I haven't connected yet (heresy, I know), Austin Healeys and Porsches not seeming to give the right fun over cost ratio, no other German car seemed sporty enough and Alfas missed an open top 6 cylinder machine that allured (I love the 90s GTV V6 and its Spider sibling but I wanted something 'more')
Then I remembered a weekend with a Maserati Quattroporte (automatic, so not manual and not DuoSelect) that a friend owned, 8 years ago. I absolutely loved the car. It felt special, it sounded sublime, and it actually steered well for a big luxury barge.
So Maseratis came on the radar.
First thought was a Spyder variant of the Granturismo family, as it is a true, open topped 4 seater (taking trips with my gf and her son into account).
However, once I started looking at earlier Spyders, that Granturismo was off the cards due to its size (and expected reduced sportiness).
Enter the 4200 series of cars. When the 3200 launched, I was in the second half of my teenage years and it left an impression - I loved and still love the design language of the Italian cars of that era, and then there's the engine that was developed with Ferrari...
Knowing that finding a manual car to my liking would be hard (and possibly quite a bit more expensive), I also considered Cambiocorsa cars.
Initial search almost lead to the acquisition of a beautiful black over full tan leather 2003 Spyder that had been pampered its entire life. When the point of negotiation came, the owner informed me there was an issue with electronics related to the Cambiocorsa gearbox so I started looking for possible alternatives in the mean time.
Then, a 2006 Gransport Spyder appeared. It had gearbox issues but I involved a specialist for a PPI, made the sums (hurray for man maths) and bought it.
Here it is:
Gorgeous in Blu Nettuno with Cuio full leather interior. I knew I wanted it the moment I saw it.
So after a couple hours of looking around it, it was bought.
(here is the car in its natural habitat...)
Ever since, it's been at AS Motorsport (who also did the PPI) to freshen it up.
Suspension was refreshed, brake discs and pads were renewed, wheels were refinished in a darker grey, Michelin PS4S replaced the Chinese ditch finders that were installed and the gearbox was correctly set up. Of course, it received an extended servicing including replacement of liquids and filters.
And that brings us to today: about to make plans to pick up the car in the Netherlands and drive it back (first mini roadtrip!), the car has decided to drop oil pressure during idling when warm (somewhat intermittently). The pressure sensor was replaced and that proved not to be the issue.
So I guess that first spring drive will have to wait.
Given that it looks really good, is temperamental yet strangely attractive and not in the least bit rational, I guess describing this as an affair is probably not too far off the truth.
Having had 'fun' cars since I was 19 (my first car was a 1965 MGB), I found myself wondering what the 'next' car would be.
I'd always told myself I'd get a 911 of some sort by the time I was 35 or so. Buying a house delayed that plan a bit, and when all the stars aligned, I found myself not wanting a 911 enough.
Don't get me wrong, I find them to be very good cars, and fun to drive!
A couple of mates have really nice cars, so I've been fortunate enough to drive different models of Ferrari and Porsche, and I particularly enjoyed a drive in a 1984 911 Carrera but for some reason, it just doesn't make my heart rate go up as much as I'd hoped.
Living in a country with horrendous taxes on anything that is remotely modern and sporty, I had set my mind on finding a pre-1992 car of some sort.
Preferably with at least 6 cylinders, possibly open topped (a.o. to be able to enjoy the sound of the exhaust) and something that looks good / increases my heart rate (completely not objective as a criterium of course).
The search yielded a couple of options, such as 90s TVRs with the Griffith the being most alluring, Austin Healeys, some German metal, and some 90s Alfas (not a particular fan of the Ferrari 348, the 355 is way out of budget).
All did not convince for one reason or another, the TVRs being absolutely awesome but I haven't connected yet (heresy, I know), Austin Healeys and Porsches not seeming to give the right fun over cost ratio, no other German car seemed sporty enough and Alfas missed an open top 6 cylinder machine that allured (I love the 90s GTV V6 and its Spider sibling but I wanted something 'more')
Then I remembered a weekend with a Maserati Quattroporte (automatic, so not manual and not DuoSelect) that a friend owned, 8 years ago. I absolutely loved the car. It felt special, it sounded sublime, and it actually steered well for a big luxury barge.
So Maseratis came on the radar.
First thought was a Spyder variant of the Granturismo family, as it is a true, open topped 4 seater (taking trips with my gf and her son into account).
However, once I started looking at earlier Spyders, that Granturismo was off the cards due to its size (and expected reduced sportiness).
Enter the 4200 series of cars. When the 3200 launched, I was in the second half of my teenage years and it left an impression - I loved and still love the design language of the Italian cars of that era, and then there's the engine that was developed with Ferrari...
Knowing that finding a manual car to my liking would be hard (and possibly quite a bit more expensive), I also considered Cambiocorsa cars.
Initial search almost lead to the acquisition of a beautiful black over full tan leather 2003 Spyder that had been pampered its entire life. When the point of negotiation came, the owner informed me there was an issue with electronics related to the Cambiocorsa gearbox so I started looking for possible alternatives in the mean time.
Then, a 2006 Gransport Spyder appeared. It had gearbox issues but I involved a specialist for a PPI, made the sums (hurray for man maths) and bought it.
Here it is:
Gorgeous in Blu Nettuno with Cuio full leather interior. I knew I wanted it the moment I saw it.
So after a couple hours of looking around it, it was bought.
(here is the car in its natural habitat...)
Ever since, it's been at AS Motorsport (who also did the PPI) to freshen it up.
Suspension was refreshed, brake discs and pads were renewed, wheels were refinished in a darker grey, Michelin PS4S replaced the Chinese ditch finders that were installed and the gearbox was correctly set up. Of course, it received an extended servicing including replacement of liquids and filters.
And that brings us to today: about to make plans to pick up the car in the Netherlands and drive it back (first mini roadtrip!), the car has decided to drop oil pressure during idling when warm (somewhat intermittently). The pressure sensor was replaced and that proved not to be the issue.
So I guess that first spring drive will have to wait.
Given that it looks really good, is temperamental yet strangely attractive and not in the least bit rational, I guess describing this as an affair is probably not too far off the truth.
Edited by Church of Noise on Saturday 16th April 12:24
Here are some further updates (copied from a post I made on a maserati forum):
initial findings
Early 2020, the car arrived at A.S. Motorsport in the Netherlands.
This is the list of initial work that was done:
100689
Once that was fixed, I popped over to Amsterdam to drive my car for the first time properly (the first drive in Germany was more of an attempt to control a wild Mustang horse than a proper drive), and it was awesome!
there always is a surprise it seems
After the testdrive, still enjoying the Gransport rumble at idle, all of a sudden, I noticed a red light coming up, combined with one needle throwing itself in the direction of 0 on the oil pressure gauge
ops:...
A couple of tests later, it seems the problem keeps popping up when the engine is warmed up and idling. A touch of the fun pedal seas the pressure rise immediately.
We didn't see this happening when testing the car, so maybe the car was running higher viscosity oil, maybe an additive (like Tutela) was added, ...
So now this needs to be fixed.
First step is replacing the oil pressure sensor as these are about as reliable as a politican's promises.
When doing the job, the intake manifold came off and a couple of hoses underneath the manifold were replaced as they clearly were beyond their best before date.
Sadly, once all had been put together again, the problem didn't seem to be solved.
A second theory is that perhaps there is an issue with earthing. Adding a high gauge wire between engine and chassis didn't seem to change anything, and a visual inspection didn't seem to indicate anything worrying about the earth strap. Another theory dismissed.
In the mean time, Adnan is looking for a sandwich plate with an adapter to go between the oil filter and its mounting, to the pressure can be easily measured.
Once the part arrives from Oz, we can do a mechanical measurement and use that to decide how to move forward.
Current state of thoughts is that either the oil/water pump is damaged - presumably the drive part, as some others have experienced in what seems like rare occurences, or the big ends are properly worn. I asked to first do another flush of the oil system, with a cleaning agent, hoping that this could remove any gunk that might be causing it (chance of success is of this is infinitesimally small, I am aware, but it's easy to try and one box I want to have ticked before we move to the other items).
We found the correct US spec oil pump and I already bought it - going on the assumption that if it is not needed now, it could still be good to have it as it might be needed one day and these doesn't seem easy to find.
Very curious to see how this pans out, and to be honest I had hope to have the car on the road now, as I'm turning 40 in 3 weeks, but that's just life I guess.
Lastly, on why I used the word mistress/affair:
initial findings
Early 2020, the car arrived at A.S. Motorsport in the Netherlands.
This is the list of initial work that was done:
- Fix the gearbox issue: check!
- Replace the Chinese ditch finders with Michelin PS4s: check
- Refinish the ball polished wheels in a dark grey (the finish had suffered anyway, and I found them too 'bling'): check
- Replace brake discs and pads: check
- Replace most of the rubber boots (almost all were torn)
- Replace one of the rear control arms
- Major maintenance (fluids, filters, ...)
100689
Once that was fixed, I popped over to Amsterdam to drive my car for the first time properly (the first drive in Germany was more of an attempt to control a wild Mustang horse than a proper drive), and it was awesome!
there always is a surprise it seems
After the testdrive, still enjoying the Gransport rumble at idle, all of a sudden, I noticed a red light coming up, combined with one needle throwing itself in the direction of 0 on the oil pressure gauge
ops:...A couple of tests later, it seems the problem keeps popping up when the engine is warmed up and idling. A touch of the fun pedal seas the pressure rise immediately.
We didn't see this happening when testing the car, so maybe the car was running higher viscosity oil, maybe an additive (like Tutela) was added, ...
So now this needs to be fixed.
First step is replacing the oil pressure sensor as these are about as reliable as a politican's promises.
When doing the job, the intake manifold came off and a couple of hoses underneath the manifold were replaced as they clearly were beyond their best before date.
Sadly, once all had been put together again, the problem didn't seem to be solved.
A second theory is that perhaps there is an issue with earthing. Adding a high gauge wire between engine and chassis didn't seem to change anything, and a visual inspection didn't seem to indicate anything worrying about the earth strap. Another theory dismissed.
In the mean time, Adnan is looking for a sandwich plate with an adapter to go between the oil filter and its mounting, to the pressure can be easily measured.
Once the part arrives from Oz, we can do a mechanical measurement and use that to decide how to move forward.
Current state of thoughts is that either the oil/water pump is damaged - presumably the drive part, as some others have experienced in what seems like rare occurences, or the big ends are properly worn. I asked to first do another flush of the oil system, with a cleaning agent, hoping that this could remove any gunk that might be causing it (chance of success is of this is infinitesimally small, I am aware, but it's easy to try and one box I want to have ticked before we move to the other items).
We found the correct US spec oil pump and I already bought it - going on the assumption that if it is not needed now, it could still be good to have it as it might be needed one day and these doesn't seem easy to find.
Very curious to see how this pans out, and to be honest I had hope to have the car on the road now, as I'm turning 40 in 3 weeks, but that's just life I guess.
Lastly, on why I used the word mistress/affair:
- I'm turning 40, and my gf's mom told her: 'Let him get it, he's turning 40 and it's the best option when you compare it with a mistress or a bad drinking habit'
- This is not a rational choice, I choose the car because it has a big impact on my heart rate and it inspires a big smile on my face, despite it continuing to throw up issues and the associated bills (above what I already wrote down, the windscreen will also need to be changed.)
- It just looks gorgeous
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