Here is a funny one I found from December 2004: a Euro conversion is hard work...specially when you are more into driving than mechanicking!LOL! Image Unavailable, Please Login
A few weeks later at the Palm Beach International concours in January 005 with 4 Khamsin owners: from right to left: Ivan Ruiz who had two at the time, Mike Demyanovich who absolutely refuses to do a bumper conversion (yes he is and yes I told him), Luc Grondin, the best bodywork expert I know, who did the work on my car and major Ferraris, yours truly and a bearded chap whom I call Rasputin and who dares to pooh pooh Khamsins: a few months ago I was able to confirm that his father Omar was actually part of the Khamsin creative decision process with Guy Malleret then president of Maserati, with Marcello gandini of Bertone and last but not least with Giulio Alfieri...he did not know what to say then...for once it is of course Adolfo Orsi junior. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Don't be so sensitive Walter. Your English just fine and way better than my German. It just struck me as funny. I'm certain you've heard German mis-spoken a bit at times and it turned out funny no? Bob S.
Bump! I will be posting more photos tomorrow, have spent quite a bit of time on the registry, it is a dangerous activity as it can get obsessive! One should remember that there are more important things in life. Nevertheless if any of you have Khamsin photos please post them: thanks in advance. I have done a count of the cars on which I have info and I am at about 200, which after starting only back in 2003 or 2004 is quite satisfying, of course I am doing only Khamsin's not the others so it is a faster growwth than covering all models. Best regards, Marc
Khamsin AM120016, the oldest car in France, photographed 100kms south of Paris in April 2007, the day it was picked up by its new owner from the Grenoble area in the Alps. This is the 8th Khamsin built and thus one of the oldest known to survive. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
AM120US1272: this is my favorite Khamsin of all, fly yellow, black interior, 5 speed of course, it lived for many years with Dick Denson in Spokane, Washington (northwestern US) it was the first car to get a Euro bumper and Euro exhaust header conversion by MIE in Seattle, it was fitted with a trident in the nose grille which it still has: a very nice touch which I put on my own car before selling it (a Ghibli grille trident). There are very few fly yellow Khamsins and since Denson used to drive his seriously fast and I did not know where it was for many years it was quite a surprise to locate it in...Italy last year, up north very far to the east, in fact just 2 kilometers from the Slovenian border. I took a break from a Lambo event in September and drove 250k each way to go see it: it is really quite stunning: I do want my next K in fly yellow but not wuith black interior though: tan is much happier. The car is in amazing coniton very low miles 20000 miles or so, very smartly taken care of...but not at all for sale. It is the only fly yellow K I know of in Europe. There is a butter yellow car in the UK but that is not asn original color. It was quite special to finally see it! Enjoy, Marc Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Khamsin AM120066 This very pretty early no nose slat navy blue car was featured on the cover of Ruote Classiche in Italy befiore being bought by an enthusiast in the Bordeaux area on the south Atlantic coast in france: he drive the car overnight from Modena to Bordeaux an incredible high speed trip he is not about to forget. In the last photo it can be seen with a light green K which changed hands last year within France. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
AM120270 Sold new in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy in white, black interior, 5 speed, was repainted red by a second ill advised buyer before being bought by the current owner who put it back in original color. I visited him 20 miles north of Modena last september and can attest it is in very nice shape, very well maintained albeit with some wear to the interior. I had the opportunity to ride with the owner for quite a while and to really experience the Euro diff ratio, being much more familiar with the US one. Well the Euro diff ratio was meant for an era with no speed limits, no traffic, the Khamsin was the ultimate autostrada tool but in the 21st century I prefer the US shorter diff ratio as opportunities for very high speed crsuing are limited. Ok that is it for now: your turn please: any photos you may have will be most appreciated! Best regards, Marc Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I like that color. Is it the car featured on the famous sales catalogue? Thanks for sharing this photo! Ciao! Walter
How about this allegedly original '77 Khamsin, with only 13,800 Kms on the clock??? It's for sale in Austria. It looks absolutely amazing. Image Unavailable, Please Login
...And this one was bought recently by a Swiss enthusiast after years of neglect - a friend of mine got the job of fixing it up, and it took a long time to get all the missing parts. Apparently many parts were missing inside the carburettors, the hydraulic system was shot... the car only has about 60,000 Kms but 15 years of total neglect in a "collection" have taken their toll. And we would like to know what cowboy decided that the carburettors would work better without most of their internal parts... Anyway, now the car is totally healthy and running. The bodywork is perfect, even underneath there are absolutely no blemishes and the interior (tan leather with red carpets) smells and feels like new. The photo was taken when we actually managed to start the engine. I also made a small movie of the event. Quite an emotional moment, and great noise!! I know of lots more Khamsins which you haven't featured in this thread yet, and I'll try to get pictures in the next few days. 1) The St. Gallen (CH) Ferrari dealer has a very unusual light metallic green Khamsin with tan interior, in absolutely immaculate condition (possibly the best unrestored I've ever seen). It only has 22,000 Kms, but it's not for sale. 2) A friend in Colorado has a restored and blueprinted (330 HP at the dyno) silver Khamsin, I drove it across the Arizona deserts and it never missed a beat. It cruised at over 100 mph all day. 3) I know another 4 or 5 Khamsins in the US maserati club, I'll ask the owners for permission to post photos. In 2005 for the Maserati rally that we organized in Arizona there were 5 Khamsin - more than 1% of production! 4) The friend of mine that fixed up the red one seen in the picture here used to own a part-restored blue/cream Khamsin that originated from the USA. The restoration was later finished and the car sold in 2005. I can ask my friend for the chassis number and pictures. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Giotto: Thank you: nice photo, I don't know of any oro kelso or oro longchamps cars in France but Guikas in Marseille or one of his clients painted a gold car red so it could be that one, th one he has had for sale for a while. Thank you for the photo of the car in Vienna, that dealer actually say it is an 81, so one of the last (only 1 left hand drive car was made in 82, #504, the one that just sold at Bonhams Monaco) so that could be one of the very last LHD K's, note the trident in the center of the wheels and also the blackened window trim. André: thank you for the photo: yes some Khamsin's were badly neglected. I am glad you enjoyed driving Russel D.'s #1208 in Maser Miglia 2005 I was going to attend that but fate intervened... Keep them coming you too Walter: schnell schnell!
Are you a member of TMC? I suspect that you are, given that you seem to know everyone (Ivan, Mike D, Russell D, and even Adolfo himself...) You may know who I am too... you may have read my articles on Il Tridente.
Hello Andrea Lazzaro: Marc Sonnery here: I was an honorary member of TMC for a while and really enjoyed Maser Miglia 1997 and 2000 with a very fun group. When is the next Il tridente coming out? Best regards, Marc www.maseratikhamsinregistry.com PS: Yes I even know Rasputin, the antechrist;-)
....GOD????? The man who wants everything at once but has no time for any requests from other people ("..no time! No time! Too busy....!")?? Ah...HIM! Ciao! Walter
"Il talibano della storia Maserati" he said so himself LOL. He does fantastic work overseeing the restoration of one or two 1950's Maseratis for Zillionaires such as Bookout or Auriana every year but has zero, zero interest in helping people who have production models, which is unfortunate but if you try to convince him of something the Rasputin temper appears behind the Rasputin beard!
I supervised the resto of three A6G-2000, two A6GCS, a 250F, an Alfa 33 Stradale etc, etc.! ...and I am open to discuss everything about Khamsin, Bora etc. with owners of GT-cars! I don`t want to make comments about GOD`s activities of which many causes raisen eyebrows.....! Ciao! Walter
Of course Adolfo has forgotten more than I will ever know and he has been very helpful to me at times, I have stayed at his house so I can't criticize but I just wish he would not reserve all his time to some one offs and contribute some of his knowledge and archives to the wider Maserati community: I believe the core group of Maserati enthusiasts which is not very large should be increased from the bottom up, by helping someone restore an Indy for example, an Indy which will then be seen by a lot of people, which spreads the word, rahter than from the top down with Villa d'Este or Pebble Beach trailer queens that venture out twice a year for a nanosecond of media exposure....any way just my 2 cents. On another note I have just been told first hand by Bonhams that AM120504, the last left hand drive Euro car, with less than 1300kms the one which was sold at Monaco Bonhams auction this month for 103500 Euros is headed for a new home in the middle east. Who knows, maybe it went back to its original owner since he hailed from that part of the world!? Best regards, Marc
Hi Marc, I would dare say that we don't "need" Adolfo's help on the production models. At Maserati there's a wonderful old employee called Ermanno Cozza who is always very happy to help just about anyone - be it to find the origins of a barn find 8C (yes, it has happened recently, it belongs to a guy near where I live who is restoring it in secret... I'll reveal more when he's ready to go public ) or to help the owner of an old '69 Ghibli with patchy history. Plus, in the Maserati Club there are very knowledgeable enthusiasts who are also wonderful people (Ivan R, Seymour P and many others). In my experience they are always very happy to help enthusiasts and to mobilize their contacts when they can't offer help themselves. And they certainly don't look at whether they are dealing with a zillionaire, a celebrity or a simple cash-strapped enthusiast. For me these people are the real backbone of the Maserati community. Cheers Andrea PS - Walter, you mentioned you worked on the restoration of a 33 Stradale? More info? What chassis number? It's one of my top 3 favourite cars of all time, I'd sell a few spare organs to own one!
