I've joined the Bora fraternity

After months of looking and several near misses, I was lucky to find this car not too far from home. I had asked Peter from Forza to help find a Bora and he came through big time. He really helped throughout the whole process and is a great asset to the exotic car community.

This morning I hooked up the trailer and went to Ct. to finalize the purchase of #162.
This is a Euro delivery and has a fresh rebuild on the motor, new clutch,good paint and the original wheels are also included.
There is a bit of work needed to bring this car up to the level that it deserves and I am hoping that my questions, as they arise, can be answered here.
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That is a great find! Love to see more pic. What you are doing, I did for 20+ years in my retirement at my home shop. The only advice is don't keep track of the money to be spent, you don't want to know and no one else should either. I still go out and sit in my man cave and look in awe at the "Car". Going into the house I always lightly place my finger tips over the body/

 

Is this a genuine Euro car with euro headers and a 4.7 liter engine?
If it is, you have made a great purchase. Congratulations!
Ciao,
FGM

 

Very nice. Can I ask what size wheels and tyres are on the car please. A few of the Merak guys would love to know too

Julian

 

It is interesting that from the pictures posted I see the Euro side marker light in the front and the US side market light in the back. If it is a true Euro car, why the addition of the US side marker light in the back? Was it a Euro car that was modified to US standards. Did any of the earliest Bora come to the US as hybrids, having some US equipment and some Euro touches? Perhaps someone can clear that up for me.

 

Tom,

That's a great looking car, congratulations!

Elliot,

Yes, I noted that as well.

On a Khamsin it is easily defined, the US-spec cars have that incorporated in the chassis-number.

How is that with Bora's?

Best,

Jack.

 

Looks like someone added the late rear license plate holder to the car so maybe they added the side markers as well to pass DOT when it was imported?

It has those little rectangular reflectors in the rear.

My Espada built in later 1970 was delivered new to the USA by the West Coast importer and it has zero USA equipment on it. So who knows. It wasn't an exact thing back then. It doesn't "look" like a later USA rubber bumper conversion car to me but then we're seeing so little in these photos and if he's got the differentiating portion of the serial number right then clearly it is not.

Would be good to see the entire number located on the cross bar in the engine compartment.

Yes, the US is a part of the number. But #162 is a relatively early car so there wouldn't be that many differences between that and a European car anyway. The cars on both sides of the pond came with a choice of final drive ratios and other than visual items that's biggest difference.

 

All good questions.
The car is presently at the shop that works on my race car. I will try to swing by this morning to take a few shots before I head to the city with my family to check out the Super bowl extravaganza.

I am excited to learn about this cars history but I am leaving on Sunday for Utah for some skiing and that will have to be on hold for a week.

 

The easy answer is to check with Fabio Collina at the factory. He can tell you when and where it was originally delivered, 4.7 or 4.9, and if it was a USA or Euro spec car.

Looks very nice!

Ivan

 

Tom,

There are plenty of people around both here and elsewhere to help educate you.

First order of business is to learn about the LHM system before your shop touches it!

Ivan has a thread about that on here. There are very simple tests you can do from the driver's seat with zero tools to test the condition of your accumulators. Important!

Don't let the naysayers scare you either, think aircraft technology.

Check the hydraulic cylinders (head lamps, driver's seat and pedal rack & the switches) for weapage which sometimes is as simple as the connection point. Do that before you have a leak. Cylinders can be rebuilt. This system typically has zero corrosion.

Have fun skiing.

 

Welcome!
She looks beautiful.

Of course, to become a Brother of Beta Omega Rho Alpha requires your formal initiation. No worry, as I have the iron for branding "LHM" on the sole of your left foot. Which will only be applied after you have shown you can successfully bleed the hydraulic system using nothing but a bikini bottom and an olive pick...

Best,
- Art

PS - Are you the Bora client Dave Burnham mentioned needing a complete overhaul of their LHM hydraulics?

 

Congrats! Nice looking car.

More please!

Ciao and best!

 

Tom congrats on the bora purchase, I suspect this is the car we spoke about. The pictures look great, interesting comments here about the US style lights on the back half of the car. My US spec '73 does not have the small lights on the tail end under the brake lights like yours and my side marker lights on the rear quarter panels are below the rubber belt line with chrome trim. It will be intersting to learn the history. Good luck with it, great looking in black!

 

Yeah they should be chrome, that's what makes me think it was federalized and imported privately. I'm surprised they got away with the front ones?

 

Here's a back end shot of my US car's lighting
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I took these shots this morning with my camera phone.
Spedo is in Kilometers.
All opinions are welcome on this cars history.
As soon as I am back in town I will sort through the items that came with the car and figure out what is needed. My plan at this point is to move ahead thoughtfully but quickly to get her ready for the upcoming season.

Thank you for the interest.
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Congratulations on a wonderful Bora. According to documents I obtained in 1987 from the West Coast Maserati distributor AM117/162 is a 1972 European version Bora

Note: The important frame chassis number stamping is just off screen in the bottom of your last photo, should start and end with a five pointed star.
Also, the body number should be found on the passenger's side headlight ledge. Look at the recessed area just inboard from the headlight bucket's frame

 

yes it's clearly a relatively early European car. Probably a 4.7 and typically with the long legged final drive ration. Which means ... once you have it in tip top shape you can top out at 160mph. But it will take an awfully long time. Think somewhere out west like Nevada.

These cars only begin to warm up at about 80 after 130 the front end wanders a bit. That's enough for most folks.

 

Yes it's definitely a 4.7
Not to worry though, I have no plans to explore its limits.
I just got off the phone with the person that owned this car when it was brought over from Europe. Although he did not have much time to talk, he mentioned that he had some of the original manuals and would look for anything else related and get back to me.
And so the journey begins.

 

Now that we know it is an early Euro car, probably built late in 1971 or early in 1972, I wonder who added the US touches, like the rear side marker lights and the license plate bracket and lights. The car doesn't even have the US safety pad on the steering wheel. It would be interesting to find out if it changes were done by the first US owner to get it passed by US DOT or if the car was changed by the factory before hitting the US shore. I am not very familiar with the early imports to the US so any clarification would greatly enhance my knowledge about the Bora in general.

 

Well get that stuff if you can.

As for exploring it's limits, that's pretty hard to do here on the east coast anyway. I was fortunate enough to be able to do that on the west coast in the 1990s. It's a fabulously great car to drive fast up to about 130 mph. Honestly, below about 75 mph it's just not worth it unless you're doing sweeping turns and it's lots of fun then. So country roads with a few long straights for a blast are ideal. I think you'll enjoy it and with all the luggage space it's a car you can travel in as well.

 

Congrats, that sounds like a very nice purchase!

Looking forward to seeing some more pics!