The grimiest day so far. More or less finished cleaning up the left rear suspension, I started with the diff and PAS-governor this afternoon. Amazing how much greasy muck accumulates there over time. My wife wasn't here when I stopped for the day, lucky, I could slip into the shower quietly, as I fear she would have made me leave my clothes in the garage. It was, again, worth the effort, the suspension on that corner looks quite presentable. I'll try post some pics tomorrow, I was too dirty to handle the camera. Question: I find quite some carbon-deposits on the rear-facing parts of the suspension. Not soft, as would be expected in an oil-burning engine, but quite hard. I suppose these deposits stem from exhaust fumes getting sucked back under the rear of the car. It's rather difficult to clean off. The diesel I use for cleaning the resst doesn't touch it. What will? Best, Jack.
Yeah but it's the rewarding sort of grimy work right? Probably light polishing compound on the paint, even the glass & plastic too ... Keep it waxed/covered in Rainex and it won't be so hard to remove right? Looking forward to those photos.
Bob, What you're thinking of is all clean and shiny The deposits I am talking about are on the rearward facing parts of springs and A-arms. Someone suggested Clean Green to dissolve it, I'll give that a try. Btw, it looks like the factory painted a big yellow A on the front coil-over of the pair in the rear so as not to switch them, A for Anteriore. It is paint, it doesn't come off, and I found it on both sides. Horror of horrors, I also found some rust. The hoses that are supposed to channel water from the rear hatch aperture exit in the rear wheelarch aft of the wheel, through a hole that was stamped out of the closing panel. On both sides, this hose was cut too short and doesn't properly exit, dumping water inside. The small drain-holes get clogged and a small amount of water stands in the bottom of the fender. This on my car ate up the bottom section of the inner panel over a length of about 5 cms on both sides. Not a biggie, but some new metal will need to be let in there. Best, Jack.
A few new pics of more suspension work on my page: http://www.facebook.com/MaseratiKhamsin435?ref=hl Best, Jack.
I have this car for sale, excellent condition, 1 owner since new, 15K miles, new black jade paint, new interior, all and hydraulics have been rebuilt, engine 100% original, runs strong, needs nothing, looks outstanding, all books, tools, jack ect. If interested give me a shout! Cheers Tom Z.
Tom, Welcome to the forum. As I explained to you when inspecting the car at your Ohio home last week, while it presents nicely and has a pleasant albeit non original wooden interior it is also a US car and has lost its original color -which was the very rare and stunning verde pino- in favor of a color that may be attractive but which is absolutely not original and was not a Maserati color. There are no American buyers so your market is European buyers. Your pricing unfortunately is at the level of a perfect European Khamsin in Zurich Switzerland whereas the car is in Ohio a thousand miles or more from the traditional coastal markets in the US....the reality of the market is that I get offered more Khamsins than there are buyers for because the buyers are mostly in Europe and they tend to want to buy inexpensive Khamsins in the US. European buyers are not going to pay pie in the sky prices in the US because they are not paying pie in the sky prices in Europe where they do not face trucking (from Ohio to NYC harbor!) shipping, dealing with socialist or jealous or both European import bureaucracy. European buyers want fairly priced cars in Europe or very cheap ones in the US. Note that some cars priced excessively in Europe such as the silver one at Mistral Dreams in Italy have been for sale for years. You argue about what has been spent on the car but as a restorer you well know that you cannot pass on the bills to the next owner: market value is only partly affectd by restoration bills. I am sorry you overpaid the ex owner of the car. I believe a good Euro car in original color is worth 60 to 80K Euro depending on condition. US cars, particularly color changed and no matter how much has been spent on them significantly less. That is the reality of the market which I have followed since the mid 1990's. The Khamsin restored 100% by Gary Bobileff, 1298 had sold in the 40+K$ range at a Bonhams auction in Connecticut about three years ago. That was certainly a disappointing and below par price but still... It was a pleasure to meet you Tom but your price is not market realistic. So I guess the car will sit in Ohio for a few years.... A pity. I wish you the best, Marc Sonnery Maserati Khamsin Registry
Tom Z, I'm a fellow Ohio Khamsin owner in Yellow Springs. Where are you located? I'd love to see your car as well, but posting some photos here would be a great thing too. And asking $$? Mark, You came through Ohio without a word, I'm crushed! Just kidding. Doug R
Marc; Yes I can say meeting you was an enjoyable experience and I only wish I had more time to spend with you that day. In the 3 hours we did have together going over and driving the car it performed to your expectations. I then had to leave and you spent another few hours going over the car both on the ground and in the air using our lift. From your 2 page long inspection report that included "Superb paint quality", "interior in new leather (original color), very high quality workmanship", "imperfections are few", "driving experience: everything normal. You requested a very short list of things that needed corrected, which was accomplished in 1 day and a compression test by the local Porsche dealer which also was up to top specification. Your summation of "highly recommended!" wrapped it up. We did everything you requested us to do but fell short on the price with a $5K difference. With respect to transport from "way out here in Ohio", I normally trailer the car to Cleveland (60) miles and load in a container that is put on a rail car and goes straight to port in New Jersey and on its way to Europe for roughly $2,500.00 depending on where in Europe. You can even go the cheap rate of roll on roll off for about ½ that. No drama there and my path is well marked. As far as selling prices are concerned AM120-1298 sold for $52,650.00, AM120-1262 sold for $84K in 2006 and AM120504 sold for $160K in 2008. My asking price I feel is reasonable and nowhere near pie in the sky prices of $160K. You argue about what has been spent in restoration. I presented you invoices of over $80K that has been spent to get the car in its present condition. The owner hated the original color green and opted to paint a darker but similar shade of green and the original color interior. The interior needed replaced because of dry rot of the stitching as all Maserati do. We have sewn several Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes and other high line interiors by hand in our shop and thank you for your comment of very high quality workmanship. Concerning the wood interior, the owner states it was there when he bought it new, so who am I to question it? We all know what it takes to overhaul the hydraulics and that has been done 100% with zero leaks. I sincerely hope there are no hard feelings over this deal falling through and since your buyer paid your expenses there is no out of pocket money for you on your trip from France. At the end of the day the car is still a top shelf Khamsin and "highly recommended!" by you and hopefully not sour grapes after a failed attempt to purchase it and earning a nice commission. Cheers; Tom Z. I am sorry but I do not know how to send photos on this site!
Tom I wish you well and yes the car deserves the asking price. The is a dealer in Sydney who askes and gets more than market value for high end cars, only buy asking do you get. The Fact that there are buys who want reasonably priced cars all around the cashed parts of the world indicates the cars are sort after and from the enquires I have had this is now starting to come from collectors. Best wishes and we need to see more sales values posted. Cheers Graeme PS this is how retoration starts, not like a Wheeler Dealers definition. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I know what you are saying, just get tired of wasting time with tire kickers that try and squeeze you for the last drop and could care less about the energy, time and money that went into the project. These are used car dealers, can't do it cheap enough, or fast enough with no respect for the project. I am currently in the process of restoring a 1959 Talbot Lago Coupe America, chassis 001 out of a total of 5 produced. It's been a long road but finally getting somewhere. When finished it will be exactly as original down to every part sourced is correct and stamped made in France. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
What a project! Seems that you already sorted a lot! So - hats off and good luck to get this fantastic car back on the roads....!
Like it or not Khamsins are a tough sale period, they always have been. They have had a few moments of glory when the market focuses on the Khamsin as a good value, when it does it is usually a signal that the market is about to collapse. The biggest problem with the car in question is the color, while attractive it is simply not correct, same goes with the wood trim.
I think there is some Swedish-French-American guy running around that has something to do with that. He's a nice guy, but a little mixed up. Maybe that's why he promotes the Khamsin?
So I see you throwing all sorts of figures out there in your posts as well as all the reasons you think your car deserves the price your asking, but I can't see that you've actually named a price anywhere, not even on the For Sale page here on FC. Surely if you're as confident of the car's condition and value there should be no problem to make public your expected price for the car?
Got mine back on the road and out playing with it today. Stopped in the petrol station near house and had a my first 'My god that is an amazing car' of the year approach. So nice these old bangers bring so much pleasure to people Anyway, going to be driving her quite a bit this year Paul
I can put some figures to that recent Australian sales. A tired but usable Auto $47K AUD , ( 40 Euro) Very Original but tired Manual $65KAUD (51 Euro)both cars have now had substantial money spent another High Spec car went to NZ for $95K AUD (74 Euro). and these are actual sales and for me this represents actual values from one end of the market to another. Sorry Marc I could not get the Chassis Number. [email protected]. Sadly as the sales were private so they do have any bearings on what the offical market sees but for me these are spot on. Graeme Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Graeme, Marc, That car of your looks better than Maserati ever delivered them new to the customers! As nice looking from the top as from the bottom, not many woman can claim that, sorry for that ladies, no offence! No matter how much money people spend on a restoration or a so called restorations, the market decides on the money it brings. Today's market goes mad about certain cars and Maserati's are, except for the real race cars and rare road cars, not very much appreciated. Khamsin's in particular are a special breed and there are more people willing to sell them than people wanting to buy them. Except for some real good examples that sell between private hands, nothing above 90k. Marc, what excellent car in Zürich are you referring to? Meanwhile we just enjoy our cars and take them out for a spin like my wife and I did this afternoon. We took the roof panels out and drove through the country lanes: great fun. Had lunch at a place where I took the attached photograph, lots of rust but not on my car! Ciao, Bart Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Graeme. Is that your car during its restoration? Hi Bart. Did you take your wife to a scrapyard for lunch?
Does anyone actually know how much this car in Ohio is for sale for? Not sure why the seller has not put a price on ths add? Likewise not sure why someone who viewed it would post online its too expensive without saying how much they were willing to pay?
I believe Marc was acting upon behalf of a client who wanted someone to inspect it for him. That's a private business relationship. I suggest you ask the seller. He offered photos to me offline but I was just curious about the car and not serious interested so I didn't bother him any further. He does have a website but the photos are not complete.
Paul and Bart, you guys are driving your Khamsins whilst others debate. Good on you! Slowly the Khamsin is entering in a space where some get a proper restoration and their owners not being completely under water when all is said and done. It appears that there are buyers willing to pay exceptional prices for exceptional cars. We should embrace that rather than knock it, it is good for the breed. Best, Jack,
