Hi Mark. Thanks for the pictures and the detail. What some people are not aware of is the original system is an mandrel bent Inconel stainless system. with 3mm thick mufflers and thats what gives the Khamsin its distinctive deep note. It would be interesting to hear what your system sounds like. Regards Graeme
It would be interesting to hear what your system sounds like. Graeme I just got a new GOPro camera and I hope to test it out with the car before the first snow fall. Maybe this weekend Cheers Mark
Hammer down at 39.5k http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=AN1112-138904&entryRow=146&lottype=&startRow=141 cheers Mark
I was there and bid it up a bit, but didn't continue because it was not that nice a car. It had been hit in the left side behind the door, had a B- quality paint job, had bondo in the rear lower fenders behind the rear tires, etc. The automatic was the real pity thought. It did look very good from 10 feet, though, but it would take another $25K to make it a $50k car.
Seems right for a car with an auto box and damage-history and bondo in the rear fenders. I remember when we first discussed this car it was said that it'd go cheap, is this cheap?
Hi all, Thanks for the auction viewing report on the car. All things considered that is a decent price Jack. Ten years ago an automatic which has the flaws described above would have failed to elicit bids above 20k$ so it is good, but yes it is cheap in relative terms: see mention of the other end of the scale in the next paragraph. Not that I want to encourage speculation and saw the branch I am sitting on as far as being able to buy one again but because this means that they are more and more finding buyers, finding good homes and that is a plus. Furthermore automatics are now seen with less stigma because not everyone wants to drive fast and they are very convenient in the modern world with cameras, radars more and more present. In a traffic jam a 5 speed is very easy to deal with thanks to the light pedals and steering but an automatic is extremely easy so the case for an automatic gets ever stronger, it will never be as desirable as a 5 speed in absolute terms but for some people it may even be the better proposition. In other news AM120.244 in Zurich Switzerland, the most comprehensively restored Khamsin I know of though several run it close, has now apparently found a buyer at or near the previous asking price of 140000CHF (about same in US$) the selling dealer's website mentions the car is reserved... http://www.lutziger-classiccars.ch/maserati-Khamsin--1977-Rot-_occae8SGv1xSEqUDglDr7Gbcg.aspx which would make it a new record price -can you hear me sawing the branch under moi?!- and was the subject of an article as another German owner informed me. http://www.motor-klassik.de/fahrberichte/maserati-khamsin-im-fahrbericht-maserati-mit-aussicht-5096688.html The photo gallery you can understand, the car has a few minor flaws like the rear glass surround rubber being too thick but let's not nit pick it is wonderful that someone went to that much trouble. best regards, Marc
Hi Graeme apologies for missing your question just a little swamped with work right now: here is a paint list as provided by the factory, there was Salchi a lot. If you want I can put you in touch with Fabio Collina of the factory who will happily answer your question further. As far as the quality of the Glidden paint being bad the only car I saw where the paint had deteriorated was 018...but that had been color changed after it left the factory. I have never seen a car with original paint having faded though one in Geneva did: AM120.366 and the owner had it repainted. But I know of no others like that... best regards, Marc
A few comments here. Many years ago in Calgary, Alberta I was in a "luxury" paint shop and saw rows of Jaguars and other European cars being painted on arrival. Essentially, the paint quality was deemed to be so poor from the factory that they were 100% redone on arrival. In part this may have been to do with climate in that the original paint cracked due to the cold or perhaps rust claims as the cars were all waxoyled at the same time. The practice was quite common with that dealer at least and he carried multiple marques. Quite sure there was no official Maserati dealer at that time but it supports the proposition of new cars painted on arrival.
Fabio of Msserati's Classiche department just sent me this: enjoy! It is AM120.270 at the Padova show: http://video.corriere.it/ricordando-maserati-khamsin/0057d772-2f00-11e2-8b0e-23b645a7417c MS
The article in Motor Klassik is very nice and positive. It makes mention of a comparative test in Auto Motor & Sport in 1978, where Khamsin was pitched against 512BB, Coubtach, AM Vantage. Does anyone have this? I'd love to read it! 140.000 CHF is of course a lot of money, but one has to pay for quality. Hopefully it'll get publicized widely, and people take note of our 'forgotten' jewel. Marc, also very nice to be able to put a face to Fabio Collina. He seems to be very passionate about the Khamsin, which he admits to in the (short!) interview. On a last positive note: My hydraulic components are finally on their way back to me, so by the looks of it I may be able to, at long last, drive my car properly soon!
I have been endevouring to have the insurance value of my car raised to correctly represent the car. However the insurance company looks at local auction sales, and says that there are not any sales to base it on and what has sold in dealers and private have been good examples. They also sight the Australian market is different to Europe. the only way is put mine up for sale but then I wouldnt have one, and I dont want to restore another one. Having said that 140Euro for a Khamsin is good news for all owners but not good for Marc! Graeme
That is a very nicely done car. Much attention to detail. I'm happy about the selling price but I hope Marc gets another before word gets around.
Hi Marc, Sorry if I have missed recent comments but what is the latest on the book? Do we have a date yet? Best G
Hello Gordon, Thanks for your enquiry. We are completing the final round of edits now, just days away from delivering final version to the printer. We will inform you and all the minute we print via the dedicated thread and the email list. best regards, Marc
Hello Jack: The A M & S article you refer to has been in my little website since 2004! http://www.maseratikhamsinregistry.com/art_101.html Enjoy. best regards, Marc
That certainly looks much better finished than any original car I ever saw. That's pretty much the trend these days. Who wants to restore the cars to their original condition when it frankly wasn't all that great to begin with? Materials have improved so much and it's going to cost a bundle to have work like this done so people do a superlative job on finishing while they're at it. Maserati just couldn't do that back then. Is that red an original color? The red ones I've always seen have much more orange in the color? That interior looks so inviting and well executed. I wonder if anyone (other than the person restoring it) would pay that much for a Khamsin here?
Not sure about the US however the surprise is given all Europe's woes the market appears healthy, especially to pay 140 K for a Khamsin, I would suspect there was a an overall break even on the sale. Graeme
I can believe that. It's an even worse story when converted to US dollars. We had a similarly restored car here locally about 6 or 7 years ago that went through Bobileff's shop for a restoration and was then sold for $55-60K? That was obviously a huge loss for the seller and one hell of a deal for the new owner. Looking at that sale of the less than authentic and a bit rough automatic that sold at Mecum it looks like maybe I was wrong in my assessment of that car. I'm surprised it went that high. So either it's a changed market or that one was due to the Mecum Madness of that particular auction. I saw a far nicer automatic at an event here back in the early fall and he might to sell. At least he did two years ago? I guess he was right in waiting.
That was Mecum madness. The bidding stalled at 31K. Imo, the car would have sold there as the reserve was $30K. I ran the car up to the selling price. It was just two of us bidding, and he wanted it more than I did. I had my limit at $34, but they rolled the TV camera right in my face, and the floor person was putting in a show with me, and I kept bidding until I realized I was way over my limit! So I stopped. These TV auctions know how to make auction madness! Of course, then my phone started ringing with friends saying they saw me on TV!
If it everything was working well of the car I guess 31K is not that crazy. It doesn't look that bad in the photos. Besides if it's superb example one is after just remember that an automatic car isn't that much cheaper to restore than a 5 speed so it should be a lot more than that. Sould be and reality aren't always the same though. So if either of you hadn't been there what do you think would have been the price? BTW, the seller owes you a commission ... LOL
The seller is a real nice guy. Several weeks ago, I read in the auction description who the mechanic was that worked on the car, and I called that mechanic to discuss the car, then I spoke with the owner. The owner wanted to get $30K out of it, and told me that was his reserve. I offered him $30K for the car subject to my looking at it, and he said he couldn't because the Mecum contract obligated him to pay 16%, I think, of his reserve, if he pulled the car from the auction, so he couldn't. I told him I would go and bid on the car. He also owned the yellow Merak which didn't hit the reserve. You asked me what I think would have happened if either the winning bidder nor I, the underbidder, were there? I think the car would not have hit the reserve. But, these auctions work well sometimes, because a seller only needs two people, and these auction houses advertise their cars all over the world easily through the internet. That's how I heard about it!
