Maserati Khamsin

Hello all.

There are two articles about to come out in the main UK classic magazines about Khamsins (not sure of the exact issues yet), which is always good news but the pity is one was done with Richard's car as he mentions two posts above, an automatic (which does not show the car's true potential) silver, (which is not a good Khamsin color and far too common) and a car that was already used by the same magazine for a round the block test drive some years ago...disappointing. Nevertheless congrats to Richard for the exposure!

Then the other feature involves Tony B's AM120409 which was fully rebuilt, a car he saved from a bad case of rust cancer, so bravo again Tony but is in the other color that just does not really work for Khamsins: red. Oh well...

In other news I just spent a couple of days visiting Barcelona and saw a very nice Khamsin there thanks to its kind new owner, a young local enthusiast. It s one of just a small handful of K's in Spain.

It is AM120US1100 photos of which have been posted here before but I was amazed at how good the car is, yes it has rear springs ans shocks that need to be changed as it sits too low but otherwise it was in superb shape.

It is also in a very rare color which really suiits Khamsins well: light blue. Too many which had it have been repainted in the wrong colors.

Will post photos later today!

Best regards,

Marc

 

Marc...

I think I must scold you on this one.. You have been a very bad boy!!!
No LHM for you for at least a week!

Who says Silver is not a good color for the Khamsin??? I believe that must be
your opinion!!! First you make fun of my bumpers and now the color of my car.
Why, you should be ashamed of yourself! But, I will agree, in my opinion, that
red is not the best color for a K! Obviously, I am joking with you!

Actually, on Sunday morning I headed to a C & C (Cars & Coffee) in Knoxville, TN.
It was a nice, although overcast morning, and I thought the Silver color on the
K looked spectacular.. There were 5 Maserati's there, with mine being the only
classic. The rest were Spyders, GranSports, and QP's. In total, there were quite
a lot of cars there and it made for a fun morning..

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the car at the show. But I did take one
of the car when I pulled it out of the garage earlier in the morning... In that particular
light I thought the color was fantastic and did the car par excellence!

Mike
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Hi Mike!

I certainly did not want to belittle any cars or colors, any article is of course always welcome but as you know there are many K's in silver and yes it is just my 2 cents but I find silver a bit cold. Light blue, gold, verde pino, so many shades suit it much better...

Glad you are enjoying your car and as always hope that you will one day prefer the Marcello Gandini bumper design over the Ralph Nader garbage truck bumper version which you are the only person in the world to so vehemently defend;-) Oh and your car looks wonderful you know for about 95% of its length;-) Just teasing you right back!

I wanted to post a few photos but need to renew my subscription first.

All the best,

Marc

PS: I can survive a week without LHM/"vino verde" but had you mentioned vino rosso, bianco or rose that would be another matter entirely!

 

Agree on the silver color .... but those bumpers ... yuk!!

Ivan

 

Just looked at some photo's Graeme posted in the Ghibli-thread, and see that the connection between header and exhaust pipe on his is positioned behind the clutch slave.

On mine, the clamp/connection sits right after the 4-in-1 collector, right up against the slave cylinder. The clamp can only be mounted in 1 position, and it is rather awkward.

The rest of my exhaust is not original, but my headers are. Now I am puzzled, did someone cut it shorter and re-flanged it, or is Graeme's longer (and better) than normal?

Oh, and there is nothing wrong with a silver Khamsin. The color isn't so popular for nothing.

Best,

Jack.

 

And there is nothing wrong with red ones either say he who had his painted 21 years ago and no it doest need repainting.

I disliked the original almost passion rose Mazda colour as it was very common at the time. Also at that time there wasnt the access to the classic Maserati colour swatches that there is now. I was trying to find the Maserati race red which was a deeper red to no avail.

Marc, I am looking foward the articles, thanks for the heads up.

Graeme

 

Hi Julian,

I have recently sold my 1970 RHD 4.7L MaseratI Ghibli AM 115 - 1754 it is an original car being one of very few Ghiblis sold new in Sydney Australia, the car has never been painted OR re trimmed, its colour is Celeste Chiaro - if you would like to view it drop me a line,

Regards,

David Z

Melbourne.

 

Hi Marc,

Have to disagree with your opinion on the colour silver for the Khamsin, its only personnel opinion by the car looked stunning on Tuesday at the photo shoot (and I love silver, my daily car is silver as well). It was at a local vineyard and the car popped in the sunlight with the Swissvax wax.

As with the auto box, I have never driven the manual version so don't have a comparison, but as the car is a GT, I think the box really suits the type of car it is. Your comments about it was a pity that my car was used or that silver autos were made seems strange and that you are disappointed that they exist. Maybe I am missing what you mean't but never mind.

It will be out at some time in Classic and Sportscar magazine but they don't know when it will be published. What magazine and when is the other article going to be published?
My car was used by C&SC in April 2001.

Regards,
Richard

 

Hi Mike,
Love the colour of your Khamsin lol.
What colour is the interior?
Regards,
Richard

 

Hi All,
An update, the shoot was awesome, what a great day, the author and photographer were nice and the car looked great and was well received.
The shoot lasted for approximately 5 hours. Consisting of static, moving, moving from car to car, engine and interior, 100s of photos were taken with the photographer saying "its nice to have a well presented beautiful car, I don't want to stop taking photos although I know I have taken enough", which was nice. The author really got the car and was used to driving Citroens with the LHM system so I think the article will be pretty good....
Regards,
Richard

 

Hello Richard...

Thank you for the kind words regarding my car, and
congratulations on your article.. I hope to see it soon!

The interior of my car is black, which looks good with the
silver. But, I did see one where the interior was red, with
the silver exterior.. It was stunning!!!

Please post some pictures of your car...

Mike

 

Hi Richard, Mike, Graeme and all,

I certainly only meant my color comments as my 2 cents personal opinion

Regarding the gearbox while the 5 speed allows more performance you are right in saying that it works well for a GT and in fact as discussed previously the torquey low revving Maserati V8 is far better suited to an auto box than high revving V12's Ferrari or Maserati engines.

Who was the journalist who drove your car and how many miles did he actually drive it?

The other article will be in Classic Cars, not sure of the issue.

The best article in many years was actually published by Classic Cars, written by Rob Scorah, the key was he drove one for hundreds of miles (in Wales on ideal twisty traffic and police free roads) and he really understood the car which most journos don't because they don't drive it long enough.

Enjoy your beautiful cars in gorgggggeous red and silver;-)

Best regards,

Marc

 

Hi again,

In the post above I obviously meant:

the torquey low revving Maserati V8 is far better suited to an auto box than high revving V12's Ferrari or Lamborghini (not Maserati) engines.

Also that Classic Cars test by Rob Scorah was in the October 2009 issue, as mentioned one of the very best and I have many dozens and you know what? It was with AM120389, a red car too

Best regards,

Marc

 

Marc,

Agreed, that was a superb article, well written and approached from the right angle. At times even almost poetic!

Back to work, received my carb kits yesterday from Di Michele Oldtimer Ersatzteile in Germany. They are on the www and will compile a set for the V-8 Masers. they know their stuff and prices and service are excellent.

I'd like to wash the carbs out one last time before I put it all back together, but don't know what to use. Everything leaves a residu, and I want to put them together devoid of any contamination. Any ideas?

Best,

Jack.

 

If you've already properly cleaned them once what's wrong with a petrol rinse?

 

Hi Bob,

Nothing wrong with that, but I'd like to pit them away dry inside and out, the head is still off and will be like that for a couple more weeks. I thought I'd dry them out in the oven after wash and before assembling at a nice low temp, which | don't think my wife will appreciate if I use petrol. May run into problems with the insurance too afterwards

Perhaps I need to revize my plans and just use petrol and dry them in the sun, which has miraculously re-appeared today after a long spell of cold and wet weather.

Best,

Jack

 

Hi Mike,
I will let everyone know when the article is going to be published, I have no idea at the moment.
The interior of my car is a bright electric blue, not sure what the exact colour is called but it looks amazing and I have not seen another Maserati with that colour interior so I am unsure on the numbers made.
Attached for your perusal are two pictures of my car. I took these at the Auto Italia, Italian Car day that was held at Brooklands museum, in Weybridge, Surrey, England.
Speak soon, regards,
Richard
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Hi Marc,
The journalist was Simon Charlesworth, he didn't do too many miles but drove the car on different types of roads from country lanes to fast dual carriageways. I think he and the photographer "got" the car with the LHM system and got used to the car quickly. He also has a fair interest in Citroens, so only time will tell on what he has to say.
The car, as I expected behaved excellently and it was noted by them that the day smoothly and a lot was completed.
Regards,
Richard

 

I pickup my car on Monday night they phoned today to say my new clutch has been installed. We are back ready for some Canadian fall driving.

Silver Grey with red interior
Cheers
Mark

 

Hi Richard
Nice to see it on original rubber so that will be interesting , when it comes to the ride comments.
Graeme

 

I am not sure if I am rehasing a Khamsin sterio question but...I have identified that early Australian cars were fitted with Autovox Stereo Melody sterios.
With some more original cars now surfacing what units do people have in there cars.

There is a Autovox Stereo Melody on ebay and I am considering buying it ahving it internally updated and fitting it.

What are are your thoughts on this?

Cheers
Graeme

 

Hi Graeme,
I like keeping everything as it should be.
Thanks,
Richard

 

I think this is what is fitted to mine. I will take a photo later on and upload for information.
Regards,
Richard

 

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Hi Richard,

Thanks, don't know the name, let's wait and see what he writes, if he is familiar with Citroen hydraulics then that helps. A huge percentage of test drives were ruined by journos not having enough time at the wheel to understand and get used to Khamsins properly, likewise with potential buyers. Nowadays magazines in the shallow world we live in concentrate a lot on photography and sadly less on proper text. Let's hope for the best!

Best regards,

Marc