Today I drove this fantastic Kyalami and it was a great ride! This car is only one of 15 cars made by Factory with the 4.9-litre engine! Ciao! Walter Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Funny enough the car didn't start life as a Maserati, instead it was a De Tomaso, with Cleveland 351 V-8, as a short wheelbase version of the 4-door Deauville, and was called the Longchamps. Tom Tjaarda designed them to replace the Jaguar XJ-range, but BL refused to buy into it, and the design was sold to De Tomaso. The Longchamps had common Ford Granada headlights (unlike the Deauville), and at some point it was decided to crea\te a Maserati derivative, with a proper Maser V-8 and a revised front, which looked much better. Of course the car was named after a well known F-1 circuit near Johannesburg, South Africa.
Wish I had the time, space and money.... Frua did the restyling, and ended up with a substiantially more elegant car than Tjaarda's Longchamp (which certainly is handsome, but in a more brutish way!). Personally, I think the first version (prototype?) with slender chrome bumpers is the prettiest, but I have never one (it?) up for sale. Does it still exist? Cheers, Gabriel
You are quite correct, but the only difference on the outside that distinguishes from the longchaps to the Kyalamy are the front end, the different headlights and grille. I believe the rest of the bodies are identical. It is a very pretty car, and yes, the earlier style bumpers (identical to those on the Deauville and Longchamps) were way prettier than the latter 'per metre' bumpers with plastic corners. The De Tomaso even got a GTS version with wide wheel-arches and blacked-out chrome, very bad, but very pretty was the Longchamps cabrio, of which I've seen the prototype but have no idea if it was produced in any numbers, let alone a Maserati Kyalami version. All in all, we're talking about an XJ Jaguar clone, including the suspension set-ups etc., in an Italian jacket. A very interesting and attractive proposition. I loved the Deauville I had many moons ago.
A friend of mine in France had a 4.9, advertised it very recently...and 3 days later he was paid...did not take long! I liked the colors too. Sorry about the photos in a dark warehouse. Very elegant practical cars for daily use id you don't mind the fuel bill! best regards, Marc PS: Nein zorry I don't hev ze chazi number here mein herr Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
2 more, you can always try to read the blurred numbers, only shot of VIN plate I have, it was pitch dark I did not have a good camera with me and it had been an extremely busy day... Good night! Marc Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
If you guys would speak German the same way we from The Fatherland are able to speak English.......! Ciao! Walter
Actually, a bit more than just the front end is different. Yes, the differences are quite subtle, but some of them very easy to spot: for example, the rear lights are totally different. Gabriel
Deauville was a De Tomaso project from the start. Kyalami came about after De Tomaso aquired Maserati, and needed a new product in a hurry. Longchamp had a good chassis to build on, so with a Frua restyle, the Kyalami was born. As far as the merits of each design go, I have my opinion, but then I´m hardly a neutral arbiter in this matter... Top photo Longchamp prototipo at Turin 1972 Bottom photo My clone of the same vehicle Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
They're all great looking cars, but the one thing I could never accept were the Ford Granada headlights in the Longchamps. IMO the design screamed for double round lights, either in the same way as the deauville or the way it was finally done for the Maser. The Deauville I had for 3 years was a very practical car, and with a Pantera GTS engine it performed well too. It drank well too....
As an ex-Kyalami owner, I can tell this is the most underrated Maserati. Back to 100% traditionnal layout/components after the Citroën years, the chassis is excellent and the car's really sporty despite its weight/dimensions. I sold mine which was as good as you can get with low KMs and never restored/welded/rusted body about 4 years ago for CHF 58'000.- if I remember correctly. It went to Germany. That was top money at that time for a Kyalami but I'm sure I'd be able to sell it again as fast as it went last time for even more today! I somehow miss this car. It's one car that's much much much better in the flesh than in pictures! I'll see if I can find some pictures of that car.
Kyalami was on my short list before buying my Longchamp (along with Iso Lele, Alfa Montreal, Ferrari 308gt4/400). I might´ve ended up with one, if weren´t for a picture of the Longchamp prototipo, that I saw in a French classic car mag. After that recreating that car became an obsession... In any case, Maseratis have been an excellent source of spare parts for my car. f308jack, I wasn´t too thrilled about the Granada lights either, but I solved the problem by switching to clear indicators, which disguised them enough for me. Actually a bigger problem was the area between the lights and the grille, that is almost kit car like in the production Longchamp. IMHO mine has a better solution.
Well nearly 10 years later that very Kyalami is now mine. I'm the second owner in Sweden - it came here in 2016. I believe there were about 40 5 Speed LHD 4.9 litre Kyalamis made. It still drives really nicely. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login