Maserati Khamsin

Wow, the white Khamsin looks really beautiful! The lines all flow nicely and the contrast of the dark interior makes it even more impressive.

 

saw this one a row up from me in parking lot 10 at essen last saturday. must be a quanta veteran because it was signed on the back by Gandini.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Hi all,

Paul yes indeed that is AM120389, Jeremy's car which was at KHAMSIN QUARANTA (not quanta, quaranta means 40 in Italian, the name of the event celebrating the model's 40th aniversary). In 2009 389 was featured in one of the best Khamsin articles ever by Rob Scorah in Classic Cars.

Bal all well here, just busy, good to hear your driving season has started

Best regards,

Marc

 

Hi All
Now that's nice a Stark shape and a stark "colour"

Cheers
Graeme
PS the pictures of my car on the Old Timer Brisbane web site, these were taken before it went to the new owner.
Oldtimer Australia, classic cars, racing cars, sports cars » 1978 Maserati Khamsin

 

Gents,

Greetings from #K268 Denmark. Seems Spring finally made it to Nothern Europe....
I found a problem with the headlight hydraulics, which I hope someone can help solving.

When engine /engine bay/ hydraulics are Cold, the two hydraulic headlights lifts as "Normal" First the left side, then the right side.

When engine /engine bay heats up, the lifting becomes more and more reluctant and after driving 45min in slow moving stop and go accident traffic yesterday, I turned the lights off, only to find out the headlights would not lift at all afterwards.

This morning, starting from Cold. No problem.
Brakes, clutch and steering is still working 100%.

The dashboard hydr/light switch is leaking some, but I would not think this could be the problem?

Have anybody experienced this problem? which hydraulic components could be so sensitive to heat?

BR
Carsten

 

Hello Warburg...

You want to be careful here, as the hydraulics control the BRAKES, STEERING, and CLUTCH, along with the headlight lifters and driver seat. Do you know when the last time the main accumulator and brake spheres were serviced? There is also the switch on the connection box by the driver wheel arch.. You could have an issue here as well... Are you also hearing the hydraulic pump cycle on and off? If so, what are the rough intervals?

Mike

 

Hello Bart...

I know I will be off-topic here, but I would be interested in seeing some pictures of your
1903 Sailboat... I think others here would perhaps like to see some as well!!! As long
as we don't get to far off topic, I think we'll be ok.. Better yet, would be pictures of
your K by the boat!!!

When I lived in Michigan many, many years ago, I did some sailing with my 26 foot sloop!
Brings back some fond memories!!!

Mike

 

thanks Marc for correcting my late night typo )
Jeremy, if you read this....., did the MOT not object to your license plate on the bumper? it's something i'd really like to do on mine. having cracked mine in France, i've currently got a UK lookalike cobbled together in a little Normandy country workshop which caused some raised eyebrows last summer but nothing more serious.
p

 

Hi Mike,

Thank you for the interest shown but I think it is a subject we should not pursue on these pages.
Send me your email in a PM and I will send you some pics,

Aye, aye skipper,

Bart

 

Bart...

PM sent...

Mike

 

I think this may be related to leaks rather than heat. As mentioned already it's the same system for all the main components. Early on in my purchase I found that I had a full clutch pedal when cold, but as the car was used for some miles I would lose full function of the clutch. Turned out to be a leak in the pipe that connected the main cylinder to the slave, but high up above the gearbox so it was difficult to work out for a while.

The pipe work to the headlights does go out from a connection block on the left hand inner wing and can be isolated here too. I think then it's just a series connection from the left hand headlight to the right, hence the funny way in which they rise, one before the other.

I would do a good check for leaks and as mentioned check that the main accumulator is not having to constantly go in and out (it should cycle approx. 1/ min depending on what you are doing with the car)

Or it could be a simple thing that there's moisture in the fluid which could be affected by heat. When was the last time it was renewed and when were the spheres last recharged?

If you google Enrico and Maserati there's some articles on his site that give some basic hints in the order to diagnose the health of the hydraulic system.

best of luck

Bal

 

Mike and Bal,

Thank you very much for your inputs.

I think you are right about the Accumulators. I will check them.
Every time After pressing and releasing the clutch, the regulator clicks. Meaning the pressure for each clutchpressing is comming from the pump and not from the Accumulators.

Thanks Again for your inputs

Carsten

 

Hello Carsten....

Sounds more and more like your brake spheres and main accumulator.. A rough rule of
thumb is every 10 years for recharging the brake spheres and replacing the main
accumulator... My opinion is to start there and see how the car reacts...

If you do the work yourself, take care disconnecting the pipes from the brake spheres.
Also, the main accumulator can be quite difficult to remove due to its tight location. If
this is the case on your car, it may be easier to remove the regulator and main accumulator
as one unit and then separate the two...

Hope this helps...

Mike

 

Paul
I have not had any problems with the number plate. I also have an Innocenti with a small front number plate and have no problems with that car either. The thing that both cars have in common is that they are both Italian and neither were originally designed to accept big front number plates.
I was at Essen. It was a good chance to give the car a spin following a long winter.
Regards to all
Jeremy

 

thanks Jeremy, that is very helpful indeed. it's what i'll do as well. much cleaner look.
best regards,
P

 

Khamsinisti,

We were visiting friends with the K and it got a little late, when we drove home back it was a black night.
I had to find my way on the middle part of the dash by feeling, did not particularly like that!

So, I started thinking about a solution and found some green 12v green LEDs with a chrome fitting around and a lens in front of them. I placed them in the tilted front part, left and right of the ashtray and connected them via a small potentiometer to the ashtray illumination. Works perfect! The middle part of the dash is now illuminated with a green glow!
To me: allowed modification. Safety first!

Saluti,

Bart
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Hi Guys,
After spending some time doing some research and now having the car MOTed again for this years use. I have found a classic Citroën specialist how knows the LHM system in its entirety, and he has the right attitude required with classic cars.
I have dropped the car off this morning for him to overhaul/service the system, replace any leaking hoses, test the pressures in the spheres, service the steering hardener and anything else he sees.
I'll let everyone else know how I get on.......
Regards,
Richard

 

Hello all,

This is the ex George Perfect car, well known, 5 speed, so for those looking for a right hand drive one this is an opportunity to catch what I believe to be a good car, though I have never seen it. George is a great enthusiast, alas now wheelchair bound, he created the Maserati Resource center.

1977 Maserati Khamsin for sale: Anamera

I have no involvment.

It was featured in a Jeremy Clarkson video two decades ago, driven around Thruxton (a circuit in south western England) and on the road but the video is no longer online.

Best regards,

Marc

 

It will be interesting to see what the hammer price goes for it. I have put a reminder in my calendar of the auction date.
Is this the video you were mentioning?? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVxvyvOzAyM
Regards,
Richard

 

Yes indeed Richard, thanks for that.

Best regards,

Marc

 

I love your Concord tape deck. Many years ago, my friend had a Lancia HPE and had one of these babies. Sounded great and cost him a pretty penny!

 

Hi Marc, I was just browsing and I found this:

Maserati Khamsin, untouched project For Sale (1978) on Car And Classic UK [C475307]

It seems to have been in storage for a long time! Have you come across it before? It was apparently a French delivery.
I couldn't see any photos to discern whether manual or Auto, but it looks quite an early one.

Best regards.

Mark

 

It's manual and was delivered in Venezuela.

 

Hello Mark and many thanks: I was made aware of this car by a French dealer at Retromobile who had just sold it and other cars after 10 years of storage to a Belgian broker. I spoke to the latter but he had just sold them again and failed to give me the chassis number.

Since only four K's were sold in Venezuela and I know of one which is now in Stockholm, it should be easy to identify if the current advertiser fails to give me the chassis number
too.

The ad is quite chaotic: firstly the interior photo is not showing the Khamsin's interior but another model (though I was told the car is indeed a 5 speed), secondly it is in Holland so the mention that it is in the region of Bedfodshire in the UK is wrong and odd.

In any case this is another car out of the woodwork which is great news.
I will now contact them to see what I can find out.

Best regards,

Marc

 

Here is an actual photo of its interior.
Image Unavailable, Please Login