Of course, this car has the distinction of being a REAL Maserati with
that lovely twin-cam V-8. Unfortunately, in terms of quality, the
Bi-Turbo or any of it's ilk have little to do with the great
road-going Masers of the 50's, 60's, and 70's. The bodies started to
rust before they even left the factory, the engines are a nightmare:
It's almost impossible to properly adjust the valves (two valves
operating off the same cam lobe and getting the valve lash on both
equal is a horror story unto itself); they are prone to blowing head
gaskets, cracking blocks and heads, and the only source for parts is
some outfit in the state of Washington and they REALLY soak it to
you). An Alfa V-6 in either a GTV-6 or a Milano is a much better
proposition (and, you won't get mistaken for a nondescript Datsun on
the road, either).
George Graves
GTV-6 3.0 'S'
On Thursday, August 14, 2003, at 02:15 PM, alfa-digest wrote:
Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2003 15:37:20 -0400
From: "josiechris@domain.elided" <josiechris@domain.elided>
Subject: Re: Maserati 4Porte <NAC>
The Quattroporte continues to fascinate people because it is a car
that's
supposed to be low-key, yet ironically makes a huge statement because of
its size, its opulence, and its name. Modena's favorite son Pavarotti
had
one. On screen, both Rocky III and Godfather III had one. I have
dicreetly
watched from behind the wheel as people on the street and soccer moms in
other cars do double-takes. You may not know what it is, but your
eyes are
drawn to it, and yet it is not a "look at me!" kind of car. In terms of
design it's left me perplexed: it has a plain vanilla rear end (save for
the dual exhaust tips poking out). The front end is very intimidating
for a
sedan, but take the trident away and most people would probably think
they
were looking at a big American car from the 70s. There are a lot of
super
sedans available now, but in the early 1980s it was quite special to see
one of these. Several years ago at the Monterey weekend we watched a
procession of Maseratis caravan "at speed" down Highway 1: Bora,
Khamsin,
Ghibli, Quattroporte (ok, Merak too). The car has a very impressive
pedigree.
Chris Robyn
SF Bay
'88 Verde
(ex '84 QP)
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