Maserati Khamsin

Thanks RM for your kind words: while it is good to be "cunning linguist" (to steal a line from James Bond -I think-) all this trivia between my ears is just the result of a badly misspent youth!

Walter: I don't think Rob would take the time to make suc nice comments plus he as his auction coming up.

 

Graeme: nice photo thanks for posting. I shot Mike D's (Mexico 074 in Fchat) Khamsin #1120 from mine just like that on the road in Florida a few years ago but don't have the photo here.

Do you have more info on 315 as well as some photos? That would be very much appreciated! One of the 15 Aussie K's!

Since we discussed the Manoir de l'Automobile in the 5000GT thread here are photos of the Khamsin in that museum: AM120*1250. A US car converted to Euro bumpers. I did not take general views just detail shots, though it is intersting to see how tiny stickers can give away the hisory of a car: note Scottsdale Arizona sticker and then sticker from garage in Holland.

Best regards,

Marc
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More photos of 1250:
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...and finally the stickers that give clues to part of its history: always gratifying to find out a little more about their past lives.
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A Khamsin in a movie: always hoped to find that and did so today though I hasten to say I have no merit as it was in an excellent website:

http://www.imcdb.org/

which keeps track of cars in movies: really excellent! You will find many other Maseratis in it, even the movie with the Alfa 33 Stradale I saw 30 years ago and the film with an Indy I saw almost as long ago but please let's stay on track in this KHAMSIN thread!

The silver US Khamsin was in a film called Banzai runner though it was just seen briefly it is at least something.

The second photo was not part of a movie but part of a Top Gear top 100 countdown (they said it is named by a wind and goes like the wind) and it is Khamsin AM120381: note the color is not what it seems due to artificial lighting of some sort. I would really like to find an earlier Top Gear show in which a Khamsin was driven for some time, if anyone in the Uk has it I would love to see it!

Best regards,

Marc

PS: Needless to say RM's nice compliments a few posts up about thris thread are for everybody who collaborates, I certainly did not for a second assume they were just for me
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Great find Marc.

As for the Khamsin being driven by Top Gear on film, I don't think it exists. However, as recently mentioned in the F-Chat Maserati section under a Bora post, there is an excellent piece from 2005 where James May drives a Bora on Top Gear. He even compares it with the Gandini-designed Countach, which ends up being quite humorous.

 

Hello Michael:

Well according to Brit George Perfect they filmed it with his car in the 1990's and did some damage to his car, AM120359....

The Bora segment you mentioned was on youtube, I saw it a year or so ago and yes it was well done and entertaining.

best regards,

Marc

 

For anyone who has ever watched that show WHY in the world would you let them use your car on it?

Bob S.

 

You have a point!

 

That's nothing compared to what Car & Driver did to my Khamsin. BTW in the Bora segment they mention that the Bora has Citroen Steering. So much for journalist doing their research, someone there just read an old article with wrong info.


Joe

 

Here are some pics of my Khamsin US1112 (yes, still with the US Bumpers).
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Interior...
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Hi Joe...

I am afraid to ask...but...what did they do to your Khamsin when they tested it???

Mike D.

 

Michael (Palerider)...

Beautiful car....Love the color (same as mine from what I can tell)...
How do you like the automatic?? I bet it would be interesting to drive one...
If possible give us your impressions on driving the automatic...

So...is the new Gran Turismo yours as well??

Mike D.

 

I will let Joe tell the story of his own car but his account is in VCM 86 page 10.

 

Michael (in Miami): thanks for the photos, very nice. If and when you do the bumpers it would be great, after they are done to see some photos of it with the Granturismo: profiles, 3 quarters. to compare: the classical elegance is now back and it is great tos see.

Michael "Mexico 074": Well I drove an automatic for quite a few miles in the countryside and in the city of Nantes, western France, a year ago. It was the Khamsin spyder, AM120US1030, for the Classic & Sports Car article. I think, since you drive quietly that it would suit you well as the only negative is a lower top speed which you would not care about. A Khamsin automatic is, as a previous owner once said, practical like an old shoe in traffic and when a gap opens the torque is just delcious to use: Vrooooaaap!

What do you think of it behind the wheel so far Michael in Miami?

Best regards,

Marc

 

Yes let's have Joe tell the tale but I don't think it quite compares with what Jeremy and company generally do to or feel about Maserati's on that show. The Bora segment is a wonderful exception thank god. Of course Jeremy had to spoil it with his typically arrogant ignorance at the end! Two incidents come to mind: The Merak stupidly run into the ground and the Biturbo crush. Car and Driver wasn't quite that bad. Jeremy is very entertaining but an idiot with cars.

Bob S.

 

# 1226 The Khamsin from Hell

Khamsin # 1226 entered production in November 1977 as just another US spec car. Built as a 5 speed wearing Argento with Rosso interior it emerged from Via Ciro Menotti in February 1978. It was then trucked to port in Antwerp, placed on a ship named the Atlantic Causeway for it Trans-Atlantic journey to North America, arriving in Baltimore in mid-March.

During the long sea voyage the battery on # 1226 had drained by time it arrived in Baltimore. The Khamsin along with other Maseratis of that era were infested with Citroen Hydraulics from the time that the company owned Maserati. In the Khamsin it affected not only the brakes, but the steering & clutch as well. In order to have all three of those systems working the engine must be running. This is so crucial to the movement of a Khamsin that the ever mindful final inspector at Maserati even placed a warning sign on the dashboard against moving the car without the engine running.

However they made one small mistake when they placed the sign in the car. It was written in Italian! Unfortunately, the dockworkers in Baltimore didn’t understand Italian and proceeded to push the car off the boat, down the ramp, backwards. As the 3,800 lb car gained speed going backwards down the ramp, the driver soon realized that besides not being able to steer the car without a Herculean effort, he didn’t have brakes. Bending the brake pedal in a vein attempt to stop the car, it slammed into a concrete barrier at the passenger’s side rear, destroying the rear vertical glass, bumper, lights, tire, and wheel, crumpling the rear quarter panel and putting a gouge in the body stretching to the front wheel arch. Welcome to America.

After its repair from the welcome bash, # 1226 was placed into demo service. In May of ’78 came a call from Car & Driver requesting a Khamsin for a cover article in the September ’78 issue “Go Fast, Turn Heads, Break Hearts”. Of course it was # 1226 that got the call; (photos in article are of a yellow Khamsin believed to be # 1232). The article was not exactly a favorable review of the Khamsin, which ended with # 1226 being left immobilized in the Red Ball Parking garage in NYC.

Upon its flatbed return to Baltimore, the engine fired instantly, however upon placing it gear, the car did not move. Once on a lift the problem became immediately apparent, it seemed that one of the rear half shafts had completely snapped off and the other was twisted almost to the same point. The conclusion was that the driver had been doing burnouts in the parking garage, holding car in place with the powerful Citroen Hydraulic brakes, bringing revs up high, dumping the clutch, and then releasing the brakes. Suffice to say that C & D didn’t test another Maserati for many years and helped establish their reputation among automotive manufacturers.

After its repair #1226 made its way to former Maserati & Lamborghini Importer Bob Grossman’s dealership in Nyack, NY. It was sold to Joel Kim Associates of Pomona, NY on June 30, 1978 with 317 very rough miles on the odometer. The next 8 years found # 1226 bouncing around the tri-state area with a stop a dealership in Great Neck before ending up as part of bank repossession in Livingston, NJ. Now with 24,000 miles on it, #1226 sat outside for 2 years until May of ’87, when it took up residency at Joe’s Home for previously unloved Italian Cars.

After a few months of servicing & sorting the car out, # 1226 got a trip back Maserati Baltimore for a proper tuning. Its greeting from National Technical Manager, Tim Jessilonis was the “Khamsin from Hell” has returned. The next 14 years #1226 was very reliable & enjoyable requiring only its normal maintenance without any additional adjustments to the Weber Carburetors. The only change from stock was the addition of European Headers and change of exhaust. The #1226 has had 7 other Maseratis as stable mates over the years, including a Bora, a couple of Spyders & Quattoportes.

After 23 years #1226 was sent in for a well deserved restoration. Its engine was removed and sent to Tim Jessilonis in Baltimore for a complete rebuild. The body was sent out to be stripped and repainted. It will receive a new set of European Bumpers from MIE. When it returns, it will find a new stable mate, a Lamborghini. # 6243 the Islero from Hell.

“Give me your tired, your neglected, your masses of webers carburetors yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your previously unloved Italian car.”

(Update: Since this article was published in VCM, Khamsin #1226 has a few more stablemates, Ghibli SS #2110, Mistral #1216, Bora #1046, Mondial Cab # 49713, Marlboro Lele # 184, Jarama # 10102)

Joe

 

Joe...

Thank you for posting the story!!! That poor car!!! I am very happy about the ending though - that it
finally got a very good home!!

They must have really worked the car to get the half shafts to snap and twist... Simply unbelievable that
a 'reputable' auto mag would treat a car so!! I knew there was a reason I never subscribed to them!

Mike D.

 

Yes at was the most unprofessional behavior by any car magazine crew I have ever seen in 34 years -since I was 10 years old) of reading countless such articles. Two underlying themes in the article, under the surface: they understood the car so badly that they developed and aversion to it which led to this mistreatment. Well I have never ever seen a good driver dislike a Khamsin. Enough said.
The second thing is that Bob Grossman must have been so furious that he at least got one thing out of them: they showed not one picture of the god awful US version rear end in the whole article: all of them are 3 quarter front photos.

Most of the names involved in that story have vanished from the scene. Thankfully.

One big issue with why Khamsins are so misunderstood is that they are different and require some time to learn. That, typically is NOT what journalists get and so among the many dozens of test drives I have collected from all over Europe and the US in various languages most are gee whiz it is strange....but those good drivers who had the time to understand it -and I am not talking about driving to the concours at grandpa speed here but about really pushing on a twisty road- all loved it, thought it was a revelation. Prime amongst them was Emerson Fittipaldi, in 1974, world champion elect.


Here is the first page of the article -Quattroruote, 1974-: I will scan the other five and the transaltion this weekend

best regards,

Marc
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The problem with the Khamsin (and Bora for that matter) is that Citroen went a bit too far with their infestation of hydraulic lines. If they had put standard brakes in the car(s) and just used the Vulcan Blood for the seats, lights, steering and clutch (peddles on the Bora) they would have been viewed as innovative instead of strange.

Joe

 

Jessus, Joe, we share the same view (Hurray!!!!!)! A miracle!

Ciao!
Walter

 

The Indy 4900 from 1973 is not your favourite then? It has only the Citroen brakes.

Magnus

 

I'm starting to like the Khamsin more than the Ghibli SS. Don't know why, but I always thought of the Khamsin as "lesser".
I just ordered a HD Camcorder, so when I'm back in Vienna, I'm going to spend quite some time with both of them and post it all on youtube, so finally there's some driving footage of classic Maseratis.

 

+1 I'm with you on that. Khamsin is styled very well!