Maserati Q-porte

[JohnHuntD@xxxxxxx]

Hi Paul,

I've lusted over Maserati's since the late 1950's, and about five years ago I 
put 50 miles or so both a 1971 Ghibli SS and a 1986 (as I recall) 
Quatroporte. I still regret that I did not buy the Ghibli as it was just a wonderful car. 
It was not all that fast or good handling, but was a work of rolling art and 
something to pull up a chair and admire its classic lines for hours on end. 

But the Quatroporte, after driving it, no thank you. At the time I owned a 
1990 BMW750il, and when I switched from the BMW to the Quatroporte, it was like 
going from a modern jet to a DC-3. The Q-porte is VERY heavy (5,300 lbs. or so 
sticks in my mind) and feels like it, and while it may have been considered a 
powerful car in its day, compared to me then BMW 7 series it just felt very 
heavy, cumbersome, and not very fast. Also many of the creature comfort 
features of the Q-porte like the air conditioning, power windows, etc. felt and 
operated like something out of a kit car.

The Q-porte is probably a great car on autostradas and autobahns to hum along 
at 120 MPH or so, but on American roads and American speed limits, my 
conclusion was it is a very interesting car to look at and poke around in, but is 
simply old technology and not much fun to drive. 

As to problems, I've heard horror stories of major suspension failures from 
hitting major potholes with it being so very heavy. I'm told most of the engine 
parts are still available, but my guess is there are a host of electrical 
parts and possibly suspension pieces unique to the Q-porte that would be either 
unobtainable or astronomically expensive.

Once every year or so I see one advertized in the Washington or Baltimore 
papers, and I've seen running-condition Q-portes for as low at $7,000. I may be 
out of touch, but my impression is there simply isn't much demand or market for 
Q-portes since they don't do much of anything as well as a host of other cars 
of the era that are faster, better handling, much more servicable, better 
parts availability, easier to live with, etc.

Having said all that, there is still something that grabs me whenever I see a 
Q-porte. I honestly believe this is mostly because of the magic name 
"Maserati" and all the visions of the great Maserati sports and racing cars of the 
1950's, 60's, and 70's. 

In summary, I put the Q-porte in the catagory of the 1971 XJV8 and 1979 XJ12 
Jaquars I owned for almost 15 years: lovely to look at and sit in, but 
antiquated compared to the competition from Germany.

One man's opinion.

John Doak in Baltimore, MD  
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