Thanks Roger, That is the second K I have heard of in Poland after AM120276 but this one is also new to me. The number plate 95 is from Val d'Oise north of Paris, maybe it still has its French title, EU anyway. Looks quite good. Best regards, Marc
Our old friend 120.409 up for sale at Coys auction 26th April. Coys of Kensington It has been advertised via McGrath and Enrico's site for some while at £85000 and not sold. I think it would look SO much better if it were not red (but better than its previous custard yellow I suppose....!) cheers all. Mark.
I won't send you a photo from my desk! Most of the time you can't see over the piles of files on it! lol I am going off to see a surgeon soon and see what he can do! Paul
PS Does anyone have a cross reference for the thermostat? I think mine may be acting up and wanted to swap it over. Paul
well, if you chaps do decide to do a speed run on the german autobahn in the Cologne area, ( there are some good alternatives) you'll be in my neck of the woods, as I believe the americans say, when we are in germany.I'll gladly have you for dinner or overnight and i'm sure i can convince a very good maserati mech person to oversee and help. i fear though as you say Paul that top speed may be disappointing. the gearing on these cars is not ideal as i can see on mine (445). i'm currently looking into changing diff ratios, with other salisbury applications. anyway if you're interested and willing to do the test you can count on my support. maybe some other owners in the not too large area may want to come along and we can have a BBQ. best Paul R.
Paul Thanks for the offer. I am keen to try. However it must be on an unrestricted part of the motorway, as I wouldn't like to test the German Legal system in driving way over the legal limit. Here in the UK we have a 70mph limit. Anything over 110mph is an almost automatic ban; ANYTHING ABOVE 140mph is possible prison time; anything above 150 is starting to look very likely prison time! Paul
Paul, i'm both Uk and germany resident so familiar with the inherent idiosyncrasies. in `germany there are stretches of autobahn with no speed limits, in fact quite a few of them. some are better than others for this kind of caper. all to be worked out but easy in my opinion. a friend of mine once did a planned run through a well known speed trap between cologne and frankfurt and was photographed at 302 km in his prepped aston V8. all that mattered was the pics with the legend. he was uk registered so no license withdrawal. don't think you want to try that but goes to say that there are many stretches where you can show what you are worth and then others to avoid. i'm sure many people in germany will be very happy to suggest said stretches. happy easter P
Hi Paul S. huge piles is what I had on my desk(s) for more than half a decade doing my books (almost half a million words in total, plus the articles) and the strain became too much last year so now I work slightly shorter hours and yes on the terrace when the weather allows. I hope your doctor gives you the news you want Paul R. thank you for the offer, much appreciated, I can drive up in a few short hours depending on Paul's schedule. I was once shown a video of a McLaren F1 in Italy at 360kph on the Autostrada(!) my personal record is 315kph (as a passenger) but it was a boring AMG tank which sounded like a vacuum clearner, no Italian romance to it at all. Doing 275kph in the Ferrari Breadvan at Le Mans Classic on the Mulsanne straight and the following section of track in 2008 was incredible with short exhausts blaring just under the doors I still think a Euro 5 speed K in good health can do about 275kph but yes the gearing is not ideal. I wonder if they short geared the diff ratio on purpose. Best regards, Marc
Marc, The gearing is strange, the ideal gearing would be chosen in such a way that top speed is reached at max power. Most Italian supercars however, reach top speed well beyond that point of engine performance, which suggests that with a longer diff the top speed would be considerably higher even. Of course this comes with trade-offs like more load on other components and drivability, and a good compromise is used. I am quite exited about the proposed high speed run. Perhaps Bart should also participate, he has somehwat larger tyres, and his car should, on an ideal day, outrun the others because of it. Over here in South Africa we do have a speed limit, but enough remote and empty roads, where also manufacturers do their high speed testing. There are even roadsigns to warn you for it Best, Jack.
Marc I don't see a K doing 275kmh. If it got much beyond 240kmh I would be pleasantly surprised. In days gone by I used to drive at high speed quite often. A 220kmh cruse was quite common! I also quite regularly went above 240 in a variety of cars, my highest speed being about 280 in a Ferrari 360. I still drive quite a variety of fast cars, but nowadays not at those speeds with that regularity. I haven't even maxxed out my countach QV, although I have had various invites to closed 'airfield' events. Simply bad timing although I will do. I think 290 will be about it, although I have only done 260 a few times in it, which is easily achievable. My usual rule of thumb is that the last 15-20kmh are the hardest to get and take longest in most cars which don't have the 250 governor. ( it isn't much fun bouncing say anew AMG or Audi RS of the governor, frankly frustrating) I have only taken my K to 220-225 a few times and didn't feel there was a lot more to go. Possibly another 15-20. I know when cars are 'allowed to breath' they can blow all the cobwebs out and do a bit better, but no where is this a true 275 car. I think mine has the longer gearing. I still think a modern coil and Electronic Ignition system would clean the high end up more. It made a big difference in the QV, smoothing the mid range and giving that extra spark power at top, which most older systems don't have the capacity to deliver on modern lower octane fuel. I know some petrol stations on the Autobahn have 105 octane, which I would use for this type of test. Paul
Hi all, We are like litltle kids wondering how much candy we can eat in one go but hey why not! Jack yes the gearing is strange I have always wondered whether that was done on purpose. The first prototype Khamsin, AM120.002 initially had a very small "mouth" opening for ventilation and as Cleto Grandi explained to me it had a snow sled effect, would lift at high speed so they made it full width. I wonder if they had the technical sophistication and forethought at the time to purposefully short gear the car in case it would lift. There is a K with fuel injection in Germany (a modification by the owners, two brothers who have four K's which reputedly went 280kph. Paul I refer you to this article: Untitled Document and this page: Untitled Document While Lamborghini was in the habit of having hotted up cars for journalists at the time I have heard nothing of the sort about Maserati even though some have expressed that opinion. Mine despite being a US model felt very fast in my Everglades runs but alas I did not have a GPS. Hopefully we can find out and yes I would love to see one with a lower diff ratio Best regards, Marc
Anyone done this? I have an odd problem with the car as it is running warm and warming very quickly. My feeling is a jammed thermostat or inefficient radiator. Is it removing the expansion tank and then unbolting the thermostat? I checked my car today and think it's gearing is 25 mph/1000 approx. so max power at 5500 is 137. To do 170 mph is 6800 ish. I just don't see these figures as realisable in real life but keen to try.
Paul, Before you start taking stuff apart, run the car and check for bubbles in the expansion tank. I don't want to worry you, but a car warming up coolant very rapidly is common to certain types of head gasket failure, where a cylinder leaks to coolant. Modern thermostats open when they fail, but of course it could be stuck closed. To take it out:It comes free when the tank comes off, it is just caught between the tank and the manifold, and sealed with a large, very thin )-ring. As for top speed achievable: Of course this is very easllly done well above redline (permitted for short bursts per the owners manual) if the car you're driving is not your own. Press cars are the best cars in the world, followed by rentals Best, Jack.
Khamsin #409 This car will be auctioned on the 26th April by Coys in their Ascot sale, with a pre-sale estimate of 70-80 K UK Pounds. According to the description it would be in 'connoisseur' condition. I note that some liberties were taken with the restoration regarding materials used in the interior. The website shows few pictures only. What do we know about this car? Best, Jack.
Hi Jack, Yes 409 is well known to this thread, it has been extensively restored in Wales in 2011, early 2012 care of its owner Tony, who really saved a car that was before that in dire straits and had scared off several prospects, they got rid of the bodywork cancer and did an excellent job. He was at Khamsin Quaranta with it. The car was featured in italain cars in 2000 when painted butter yellow, an era when no one di Khamsin articles whereas now they are comparatively commonplace. It was initially bronze, the British racing green before the butter yellow and current red. Whiel the color is not to my taste either, having followed the restoration and seen it at K40 (following Tony for a while too) it is a very good RHD 5 speed. It was featured in a nice article in Classic cars last year. Best regards, Marc Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Coys Auctions | Classic Vehicle & Machinery Auction | 28th June 2014 | Errol Airfield, United Kingdom Maserati Khamsin For Sale, classic cars for sale uk (Car: advert number 254441) | ClassicCarsForSale.co.uk Graeme
And another......!!! amazing what a buoyant market brings 1977 Maserati Khamsin Auction - Classic Car Auctions & Sale - H&H Any colour you want as long as it's RED.
Paul I have a Bora interchange list and assuming the thermostat is the same as the Bora these are the alternate thermostats 71 deg: Behr Thompson 2.057.71 l5 79deg Behr: Thompson 2.057.79 79deg : Ivec Eurocargo 882.84.92 I hope this helps.
Exhayst insulation color: I am busy with my rear silencers, and can't determine what the stainless insulation on the pipe through the rear suspension should be like, black or unpainted? Thanks, Jack
Hi Jack, At that time I though all the Maserati GT cars were asbestos covered then spiral wrapped with aluminum which was tack welded on each seam to keep the wrap from shifting? That's how they were on my Bora. Bob S.
Hi Bob, Yes, that is the construction, but the wrap doesn't look like aluminium to me, I'll have a closer look. On your Bora, was the wrap painted black or just bare metal? Best, Jack.
