George, You need to come to the Maserati Owners National Meet, you'll have a chance to get the car out on a high speed track. It will give you an opportunity to get the car well over 100 mph without having to worry about doing it on public roads. Joe
Well it was the day before the Silver State Classic race which they hold in Nevada on public roads. So a few of us decided to make dry run of the course. The police were wating. The Porsche ahead of us got nailed for 155 and $500. We saw the cop but were far enough behind that cop feasted on him so we just blew by at speed. The two cars were evenly matched I would say. If you drop the Bora 2" you will destroy it. The 308 is no lower to the ground it's just not quite as tall. That's good thing for the Bora.
I have several questions for our resident Bora experts. Did the Bora ever have sodium exhaust valves? If so were they ever a problem in terms of durability? Ciao, George
Walter, I wouldn't say the reason that the Bora and Khamsin can't compete with a Daytona in values is because of the Citroen Hydraulics. Although it doesn't help matters, it is more along the lines of it doesn't have a little horse on its nose more than anything else. A Ghibli isn't infected with Vulcan blood and its value isn't anywhere near a Daytona's either. For the most part Maserati's tend to be a 1/3rd the value of their Ferrari counterpart. Daytonas 300k, Ghiblis 100k. Boxers 150K, Boras 50K, GTC4 120k, Khamsin 40k etc. The Ferrari market jumps, the Maserati follows 6 months later. Lamborghinis values on the other hand are still directly related to their Ferrari counterparts, but sometimes are worth more than the Ferrari. Such as the Miura to a Daytona or an LP 400 to 365 Boxer. But a 512 Boxer is worth more than a later Countach and 275 GTB is worth more than a 350 or 400. Joe
Joe, 2 major things infected the lower value of a Khamsin to the Daytona: 1._the green Soup coming from Citroen! Talk to anybody from the Ferrari-comunity you want - they don`t like to see the name of a French mass-produced manufacturer connected with a Supercar! Also, while the brake power of the Khamsin is much better that those of the Ferrari, sensitive breaking (perhaps with heap-n-toe and double declutching!) is much better in the Daytona. Also the Ferrari better on trackdays (apart the fact that Daytona had been in serious competition in the 70ies!). 2._The glorious V12 engine the Daytona has. How good the Maserati V8 is - the V12 sings its song! Who in the US cares about a V8??? The V12`s had always catch the imagination. You are right with the Miura/Daytona- and LP400/Boxter-competition. But the major reason here is the benchmark design both Lambos had! They became icons while a BB has not that image. And then the major reason -IMO- for the value of the Ferrari-hype: The owners, historians etc. take care more about the individual history and provenance of their cars! Only very few Ghibli (etc.) -owners shows interest in that. The Ferrari-chaps take care that their car(s) has/have the right components by numbers. Owners of classic Ferraris treat their cars with the knowledge of their historical importance. The most (!) of the Maserati owners doesn`t do so! They want "...a Ghibli..!" and not "...I want THAT Ghibli, because its a very first version and the Geneva Show car!" The reason for the failure of all this on the Maserati-side is that our cars had no real value for over 10 years and it doesn`t make sense -from the monetary side!- to restore a very cheap car for an amount also needed to restore a Ferrari. Then - many, many owners doesn`t have the cash to buy such an exotic and valuable car - but they want to own something from Italy! Most (!) of them bought Maseratis because they had been cheap and so they didn`t do much to them in maintenance and care! Look in the most engine bays of Ghiblis and Khamsins today - and then see the same in Daytonas, 275`s etc.! From the later you can "eat"! Ciao! Walter
Correct, that is why it is up to all of us to better document the individual histories of each vintage Maserati to raise the standards and get more cars saved from abandonment.
My engine bay is very very clean and will be even cleaner yet in the future, but I would not recommend eating out of it. Although I guess if hard pressed it would be a doable thing. You can see my engine bay in the Merak thread if you wish. Ciao, George
You mean like Fiat??? I wasn't aware that Fiats have a better QC reputation than Citroen. I didn't think it got any lower than Fiat. Bob S.
Boooooobby......you know exactly my point!!!! From FIAT only came some rear-lights and handles and some rockers from Fiat. Thats all ---but never the Italians came on the idea to make brakes with silly green soup!! Ever had a failure of that system with a Khamsin. I had it! I never ever want that experiance again! Ciao! Walter
Oh I don't know, one can make a case for similar involvement one way or another of Fiat over Ferrari. In fact over the long run even more so than Citroen over Maserati. I don't think it's just the association of Citroen it's what and how the did what they did to the cars. No question about it. Most people don't like that system. But I wouldn't call it unreliable and the brakes are something you can get used to. Seat and pedal adjustments via hydraulics are just stupid even if they were cool at the time. Citroen didn't put any cheap junk on these cars that wasn't already Italian just like on the Ferrari or Lamborghini. I'm the second owner of my Bora and I met the original buyer, a commodities broker. What attracted him to the Bora was exactly all that really cool pedals/seat ****. So there you are, to each his own. I don't think he knew he was getting the last one made. It's still an amazing car in stock form. If the cooling thing can be fixed without a major visable change it would be the perfect mid engined GT car with none better right up to the NSX. A TR is not put together anywhere near as well as a Bora. But it's a f**k of a lot faster! ;>) Bob S.
Bob, you are absolutley right: the Bora is a great and much fascinating car. But a little bit of "madness" a lá F. and L. whould have been good for it. Ciao! Walter
Bob you have the last Bora?! Very nice! May I ask what your chassis number and paint interior colors are? Thanks, Marc
I know, inside joke. Matteo's car correct me if I'm wrong uses one of the chassis' (or at least the number) that were scraped from the fire at the factory in '75. BTW Bob's car is # 1048, we have #1046. Both cars were built on the same day Oct 3, 1978 and in the same color Rosso Rubino. The biggest difference between the 2 cars is that Bob's car # 1048 has Red Cam Covers, #1046 has the standard black. Total Bora production was 483. Joe Image Unavailable, Please Login
I just got a 73 Bora last month. I haven't driven it that much, but I'm surprise at how easy it is to drive, and it's very comfortable. It is heavier than the Urraco I traded to get it, but I like the Bora. Of course, I have no idea what it's like to live with yet. That takes time. I'm hoping to learn more about it on this forum.
The Bora is a fantastic driver car for long roads. Very comfortable and - this torque....GREAT! The car gives you a very confident driving experience. But definitely not a car for circuits etc. as for these, the Bora is too soft on its shocks and far too heavy.
Does Bora have luggage space also at the back, on top of the engine cover? Or does it get too hot there? The shape of the carpeted area looks like they have left a place for bags on both sides of the engine.
Ancient thread, the other Bora thread is much more up to date. Never a good idea to dilute, separate. Carpets are for decoration, not for luggage which would get cooked. The front trunk is very deep and larger than you think.
Thanks for the reply. And sorry. Ended replying in this ancient thread due to google. Let's have a link to the new Bora thread: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/the-bora.333525/
Oh baloney and there's nothing wrong with this thread. But yes there are other threads out there. It's kind of ironic since you don't like people mucking about when it comes to Khamsins yet here you are promoting additional Bora threads instead. There's some good discussion in this thread. Your contention on luggage is wrong. I took many trips from SF to Nevada for that open road race and carrying two helmets plus decent clothing for the after race gala in Las Vegas was only possible if I placed the helmets directly behind those little doors under the hatch and then laid a soft garment bag on one side of the cover. It is warm but not ruinously so. Think of it as long term pressing of the clothes But it does affect rear visibility. It's not something I did with great regularity but it works very well for long trips like that. Helmets really gobble up space in that front luggage compartment. Use soft luggage.
