Another US car in Europe 1228 seems to be under restoration in Poland and next to it stands 276 in the same garage Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
something’s not right, 1228 was restored not that long ago by Classic Coach in NJ. While it did changed hands a few times after that, unless something serious happened there is no way it should need a restoration.
Hi Roger, I just emailed them so let's see, I don't recognize it, that sticker at the back on the rear lid is very distinctive but I don't recall that... Regarding 1228 I sold it in November 2014 from Mark in Toronto to Alan in the San Francisco area and am not aware of him selling it but who knows...I just emailed him. 276 I was aware of as one of two (until now!) K's in Poland, here it is a few years ago. Must have been sold new in the Munich area of Germany where the TUV office said nein to the rear glass. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
you are probably right, I took those 'otomoto.pl' photos which must surely be of 1228, but may have nothing to do with the car in the polish garage here the link and the translation of one of the captions: (posted May 2019) https://www.facebook.com/ProjectGarageWarszawa/ After many days of hard work spent on the project and folding a very complicated suspension and chassis, maseratti was finally able to put Maseratti on wheels. Congratulations to our technical team. Brawo Piotrek, Brawo Marek so which grey khamsin are they putting together? must be quite a comprehensive restoration! one shot made me suspicious as well, because it seems it is one of the early cars without those slats in front, unless they are just covered by the plastic (posted June 2018) Image Unavailable, Please Login
As of last Wed. 1228 was right where it’s supposed to be getting prepared for its California smog test in San Mateo, CA. I’m looking forward to having it home.
Photo of (what is probably) AM120.100 at the Facebook page of Classics2Drive: https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/82574373_3317076288309635_8028557906574049280_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ohc=nW4_7UF-TnIAX_y9in6&_nc_ht=scontent-amt2-1.xx&oh=83f3eb450a832df4461992f4372e68f6&oe=5ECF84A8 This was at Interclassics in Maastricht last week.
Breaking news this just in: sorry for the drama but Fabio Collina of Maserati Classiche looked at the entire file of AM120-333 and he has just confirmed that the car was ordered for the Sultan of Brunei by his staff. A great surprise as there are extremely few Maseratis in the various lists of his cars that circulate. So my humble theory that the souping up was instigated by his brother (who was spending insane amounts of money on all sorts of things before he got excommunicated or at least financially cut off) seems plausible. I still believe the engine was replaced simply because it failed, possibly decades ago and organizing rebuild or replacement was too complicated and not a priority. The car might have sat in a corner for years until they decided to do these modifications...Anyway nice to know a head of state -THE one with the biggest car collection ever no less- had a K, like one of the Presidents of Venezuela... Again the rest of the collection is off topic here plenty of threads on that elsewhere.
Well then this car is a special part of Khamsin history! Does anyone know more about this Holden engine? Is this an old 253 Holden V8 (and not very powerful?)?
Yes it is! Beyond that, since it is hopeless to expect an answer from the Palace about its history the details of the non Maserati engine are, to me, not relevant. I hope someone buys it and reinserts a proper Khamsin engine with automatic as it was born or 5 speed.
Well I am just curious. If it is a 600+ HP engine then this might be the fastest Khamsin in the world, but if it is a 200 HP engine it might be the slowest (despite the aerodynamic changes ).
-True I would think the auto gearbox would act like a leash with too short a top ratio for good top speed though...The email of the head of DD Classics is: danny at ddclassics.com -In other news going through movies with Indy's I stumbled upon this one: "Crime and passion" 1976 also referred to under the title "Ace up my sleeve" with none other than great actor Omar Shariff: A green Indy with VD (swiss plates from canton -Swiss State- de Vaud) is used: http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_795592-Maserati-Indy-Tipo-116-1973.html but the poster, as you can see, shows a red -US- Khamsin even though the car never appears in the movie...I wonder what the story is....but Mr Cozza at Maserati Classiche let me know yesterday via Fabio Collina he recalls nothing about this and since his memory is legendary that means they did the movie without contacting the factory, just sourcing the car locally, probably in Lausanne. -By the way the silver/black K offered by Classics to drive and shown at the Maastricht show a few days ago is indeed AM120-100. I tried it near Zurich in 2010 with its then owner and it drove very well. He liked it so much he bought a second one with which he won people's choice at KHAMSIN QUARANTA! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Somebody put BBS wheels to his Khamsin recently (in Germany)? will offend anybody who prefers originality but doesn't look bad to me https://www.facebook.com/1486252674978024/photos/a.1486256574977634/1755229311413691/?type=3&theater
Hi Roger, About half a dozen K's in Germany were fitted by their owners with these, these BBS rims were actually homologated by them with TUV, the German tech inspection agency. Not sure which one this is. Here some shots of 244 in Switzerland which has had them on for decades. The interesting thing about these rims is they allow the use of different spec tires. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Marc, Not sure the red K has the right BBS RS designed for Maserati, actually those initially for the Merak (then also the Bora). These specific RS have the right 4x130 PCD and the right offset. They are also adaptable to other Maserati GT's of the period (Indy, Khamsin) provided that the original studs on the hubs are replaced by suitable threaded studs or by bolts. The K with its modified front below has such specific BBS RS: Image Unavailable, Please Login From your pics, the wheels on the red K seem to be genuine BBS RS (from the cap) albeit not the very rare model for Maserati. So may be a set of BBS RS wheels that were adapted through redrilling or used with adapter plates to get the 4x130 PCD. Indeed the offsets look wrong, with wheels/tyres too much out of the wheel wells. Could be due to spacers or adapters. Concerning the grey K of the Facebook link, it may also be that the wheels are not the ones for the Merak, because the logo on the cap is different form the correct one as seen on the K pic just above. The correct logo in more detail below: Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks Froggie, your BBS knowledge far surpasses my own, I just know half a dozen or less K's in Germany were fitted decades ago with those wheels and that they are very hard to find so as you say they might be really specific while there are other more common versions...at least they look ok on Khamsins whereas the small handful of K's that were fitted with wire wheels by misguided owners in the US look totally incongruous: a fifties sixties look on a futuristic 70's car is just plain wrong.
The VD number plate is home made and not a real Swiss number plate, you can tell by its proportins, tthe wrong font they've used and the bad typography in general.
I always thought that the worst aerodynamic feature of the Khamsin is the spare tire mounted under the nose. Also, quite likely it's disturbing the airflow contributed to the hot running of the early cars which necessitated the nose slats.
Yes I do agree the the way to nose is configured the airflow must be messy...the prototype 002 had a smaller "mouth" but it generated a snow sled effect against the air: lift at high speed so they increased its size.
Another interesting facebook post by Classic Team West dated 16th of January 2019 a US car converted to Euro spec, but Automatic, seems it was red/black before https://www.facebook.com/112511366866175/photos/pcb.145398473577464/145397013577610/?type=3&theater Image Unavailable, Please Login
Nice article in recent classic driver about Citroën and Maserati. Two Khamsins visible on pictures Did you know about this Marc? https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/sm2a-france-has-saved-hundreds-old-citroens-scrapheap Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi all: Roger thanks for the pic, I think I know which it is, a German had it, red black auto US bumpers and had contacted me about it a few years ago asking where to find a bumper kit. I think he ran out of money and resold it. I will look in my files. Carmine it is about the same gold but my car is now in a lighter shade than its original (since 2015). Michel I hope you are well and that 236 is ready to purr and roar for spring and summer? Yes I know the SM2A folks there are several K's visible in the photo report (plus they showed a brown one ex US at an event in recent years) and I am not sure about all but I will go visit their stand at Retromobile next week and ask. By the way who is coming to Paris? I will be there from Tuesday the 4th evening media day, then every day all day till Friday the 7th at 6PM when I depart, let me know!
Just to illustrate your point: Early K: Image Unavailable, Please Login Standard K: Image Unavailable, Please Login and ...beyond K (but at least the snow sled effect is definitely gone ): Image Unavailable, Please Login