Tale of a forgotten Maser

Today I went to visit a friend who had just brought back to his garage a silver 1978 Maserati Kyalami 4.9 manual (chassis number 046). We looked at the papers, the car had original 64,077 Kms with the last service stamp dating back to 1990; before that it had been used regularly between 1978 and 1980, when the last big service was made - at 50,000 Kms. It was subsequently taken out of service in 1991 and forgotten by all - its ageing owner and his family, who were not interested in the "old piece of junk" at the bottom of the garage.

When we got the car today it looked quite sorry. There was no structural rust but several small bubbles on the bonnet and trunk lids. The black leather looked perfect but very dusty, and so did the alcantara that covers the dashboard. The tires were cracked and totally unusable, the original Campagnolo alloys undamaged but clearly oxidised on the surface.

We put a new battery in.
We put some fresh oil in.
We put some fresh fuel in.
We turned the key.
THE GLORIOUS V8 CAME BACK TO LIFE ON THE FIRST TWIST OF THE KEY!!!!!
AFTER 16 YEARS OF TOTAL NEGLECT, NOT HAVING BEEN STARTED ONCE SINCE 1991.

And man, WHAT A SOUNDTRACK!!! At some point in its life this car had been fitted with a Remus sports exhaust, which sounds awesome and is still in good shape. After about 1 minute, despite the cold weather, the engine settled to a healthy 800 rpm idle. Absolutely perfect, firing on all 8 cylinders with no smoke.

We then checked all the electrics - and EVERYTHING WORKS. Even the A/C kicks in, although obviously all the seals need to be replaced and the fluid refilled.

We calculated the car needs about 3,000 Euros of bodywork tidying up (get rid of scratches, dents and superficial rust), and a full service including all-new hoses, pipes, gaskets, seals, brake pads, tires and whatever else is perishable. After that it's ready to ROCK again. Welcome back, forgotten Kyalami!

It was a very emotional moment. What a great car. What a great engine. Who says Maseratis are unreliable?