Maserati to be crushed in "Cash for Clunkers"

Yes, plenty of them but most never were corrected and so were they left to rot. As originally delivered they in the USA they were unusable. I bought mine in 1985 fixed the problems and I still have it. It runs and looks great.

 

Sorry as a previous owner of an 85 if they guy is getting more than 2k for it, then he made a great deal! When the car was setup correctly it was a rocket, but even at best the manual rack was questionable in other than moderate handling conditions.

 

What a shame....I love the car's coachwork and interior styling. There must be someone out there who knows how to transplant another, more-reliable engine into these cars....

 

Alright, thats it ,I finally have to jump in here . The Biturbos engine was never really an issue. Its just trying to find someone nowadays that understands the cars design and that it was built quickly by the factory to keep Maserati going when they had not been used to the production schedule that hurt the early models. But the early models were stepping stones so to speak for what would come in the 90's but were never imported to the states. I currently havea 84 carb' one inspected and insured and driven daily for 50miles or so and as statsoff says they are great for what they are.They do require some time and attention though and a lot of people have neither to give.

 

I think there might be one with another engine it it out there somewhere but anyone who does that is missing most of the enjoyment of the car. Some of the early engine issues and there definitely were a couple that had to be corrected by a good dealer and then regular scheduled maintenance made them run forever.

But that's just the problem. Most never got their 1000 mile head re-torque which was free.
Most owners just ignored that. A big mistake and eventually big money to fix. You also have to check the tensioner and timing belt just like you do in the same vintage Ferrari and some Lamborghini's. Valve clearances once checked after the 1st 1000 miles from new or a rebuild tend to stay put. I've had to adjust the valves on mine twice in 25 years and it is a lot of work. The trouble with this level of maintenance is that people who bought a $26K car back in 1984 tended to treat them like appliances and now with their resale value what it is no one is going to pay a Ferrari level mechanic to adjust the valves.

By this time any car out there that's not been kept up to snuff is just going to have a lot of issues. What issues would a 308 badly maintained have after 25-30 years even if you threw in a fresh Ferrari or a even a Chevy engine? The rest of the car will need looking after as well.

You really have to want to do it and learn how to maintain the car and engine yourself.

Early cars also had to have the emissions equipment deleted and then they're just fine. That's a problem for a lot of people and it was a killer at the time they were new.

As Rodney points out the early cars were not sports cars. Think small Jaguar (a perpetual target which Detomaso copied from) with a wee bit too much engine for it's chassis. If you added the liquid interccolers then it was down right dangerous but fun! ;>) There were/are changes you can make to fix that as well but they will never handle like a modern day Porsche or BMW. Mine mops the floor with an original stock M3, 308s too.

Bob S.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGCwgO9uMFo
Well, I guess Biturbos (errr.. I mean "Beeturbos") aren't worth much more than what the government is offering, but it's still a shame. The sales guy doesn't seem too bright to me.

 

Ouch!!
I wonder if it was well marketed? There must be a Maser enthusiast who would have given her a good home.

 

Hehee, good one!

 

This has been discussed in great detail here: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=253904&highlight=maserati+clunkers

Just thought you'd enjoy reading the previous thread.

Jedi

 

Moved thread to the Maserati forum and merged with existing thread.