Welcome to the Quattroporte Tipo 107 thread which will include the first and second sires cars. Due to their historically low value many of these cars have been parted out and or destroyed. Since the arrival of the Pininfarina Qporte in 2003 I have seen a new respect and noticed a resurgence in interest in these old war horses. So let the thread began. The propose of the thread is to share information and photos and hopefully improve the experience in owning one of these cars as well as a place to share stories. I will start buy noting that I have very recently purchased two of these cars, an early de dion axle car number AM107.034 carrying body number 2 and Am107.1448 a second sires car with a live axle. 034 is the former Oscar and Martha Crovetto car that was owned by them for over 30 years. I first saw the car at the 1979 MIE Meet in Reno Nevada driven by Oscar with all his family on board. Their kids were all young at the time and a great addition to the Meets. I drove the car from San Jose back to Seattle a couple weeks ago and it ran really great. I have included some photos of the car. Many of you will remember the car as the one Maserati North America chose to have on display at the launch of the new Pininfarina Quattroporte at Pebble Beach in 2003. When I picked it up it had 47,960 Klm. That right 29,800 miles from new. It still has the original Blue Medio paint and original leather interior and carpets. It has the big S5.325 ZF Transmission and working (but quit) A/C. In the next post I will report on 107.1448 and the 900 mile drive back to seattle in 034 including stops on the Oregon Coast. Please pass the word on about the existence of this thread to other Qport owners (Quattroporte 1, 1st and 2nd sires only) Please feel free to add your photos. Ciao, Frank Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
A couple more photos of 107.034 taken on the drive back from California. Note the oil pressure reading which is not a problem. After 40 years the sending unit goes soft. FGM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
he he, Weed in 9 miles beautiful car, those twin fuel fillers remind me of the Jag XJ6 from back in the day. Navy blue is definitely the color of choice for QPs old and new
Hi Frank, Very pleased to see that finally someone appreciates these very elegant cars. As you say, so many have been sacrificed for their parts, and that is a shame. Until one is involved with this car, you can not imagine how hand built they are, I even found the remains of welding rods in the trunk of mine. (At the present time, undergoing a refurbishment, after many years of neglect) Only the finest of available materials were used by the factory in the manufacture of these cars, and I am sure, that to properly restore one, would cost as much if not more that most other Masers. With that in mind, I will do my best. I have been trying to keep track of the serial numbers of the cars that show up, and Franks 034 is the second oldest that I have come across. (The other being 012) So Frank, you say the body number is 02, with that do you mean the second one built? And also you have the big trans, was that a special order at the time, as it was not common with the 4.2 engine configuration. Great thread. Kindest regards, Ian. (AM107-1202)
Good thread idea Frank! Will scan shots I took of a couple of them at Le Mans Classic: they looked quite good. Never rode in one and am curious: I did travel in Mike Demyanovich' Mexico so I assume that does compare to some extent but it was just Orlando West Palm beach on a highway so not really telling. Best regards, Marc
Who owns 012? The number 2 on 107.034 is stamped on an oval plate in front of the radiator and I am told by the previous owner "oscar" that it meant the body was the second one produced?? This is totally unverified by me, perhaps the All Knowing, All Caring, Maha Walter could weight in on this? Come on Walter you know we love you. While restoring and servicing cars in the old days at MIE I remember several of the early single headlight cars had the bigger S5.325AF as commonly used in the Ghibli. My guess is that they all had them. Glad you like the thread. Now lets get the word out. Help me get Colin Craig and Doug involved and others. FGM
Hi Frank, As to the owner of 107-012, I will send a pm in that regards. As you probably know, the numbering of the QP1 is only even numbers. So I assume the first car was 002. The numbering system is strange ( for anyone but Maserati) with no numbers used between 1499 and 1999 as far as I have seen. Colin Craig, as you know, owns two of them also, an early one and also a later one. Kindest regards, Ian.
The factory did NOT use all the numbers when building cars. For example 02 could have been built, 04-06-08 not built, 010 built, 012 not 014 not, you get the idea. This was standard operating procedure with all the cars. Opps! we can never say never when it comes to Maserati, just like we can never say ALWAYS. I have attached some photos of 034 original interior. FGM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here they are: not much, the only two photos I took of QPIs at Le Mans Classic. They show one of the two I saw:this one has Paris plates. There was also IIRC a silver one from Holland. Best regards, Marc Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ruoteclassiche magazine road test... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Frank, congrats for your purchase! Well done - the QP I/S1 is the car to have from this series. Color-combo is perfect. Ciao! Walter
Walter, What do you know about the body numbers on these cars? AM107.034 has a oval plate with the number "2" stamped on it. The plate is located in front of the radiator. Could it possible be the second body built? FGM
Hi Frank, I think that you may be correct in your thinking re the body numbers. I just had a look at mine, and there is a plate mounted ahead of the rad. It is stamped with the number 351, and I also find that number under the fuel doors on the hinge assembly (The doors are unbolted and the number then is visible). So I would take that to be a body assembly control number. My car was built in late Feb/67. Regards Ian.
Frank, yes, it could be possible that it was the 2nd car that was build. But this does NOT indicate that it was sold as the 2nd car as the chassisnumber is #034! Again my congratulations for buying this excellent and fast "battleship"! Ciao! Walter
Hi Walter, Sorry for the confusion, I meant that I knew who the owner was, and did not want to post his name, as the contact I had with him was private. So I did not know if he wanted his ownership to be public knowledge. (I did send Frank a pm on this matter) Kindest regards, Ian (107-1202)
As I understand it the body number "2" could have sat around the factory, or returned to the paint shop, or for a multitude of other reasons did not get assembled until later when at the time of assembly it was assigned 107.034. Further to this mystery is the engine number "10" which means nothing except it carries the 10th engine produced. Comments welcome. Photos coming of the engine and body number. Ciao, FGM
Frank, yep - it seems that your car was the 2nd QP that was build and the 34th that was sold. Sounds simple, yes,....but - we are with Maserati and therefor it could have been a submarine before......! Ciao! Walter
Just emailed him to find out: I know he has a navy blue one, should have his answer with # today. Best regards, Marc
Just as points of curiosity, Major, the April 1964 issue of Car & Driver has a report from Pete Coltrin about his visit to Maserati to test the new Quattroporte. This was probably written around January 1964, very early in the history of the model. He was told that his test car was at Weber's, "having some modifications done to its carburation", and would not be ready for a few days. It is described as "wine-colored", and was the prototype Berlina, not the one seen at Turin. The June 1964 issue of Road & Track has Henry Manney's report on his drive of the Quattroporte. On this car, "something had gone flooey with the clutch the day before and they were still reassembling it". Perhaps the cars were not given final assembly numbers until they passed all of their road trials. Manney also mentions that "a lot of those big 5-liter V-8's , fitted for both marine and car use, are just lying around" at the factory.
Hi all, The blue car that Nembo mentions Doug as having, is I think, the Quattroporte Frua. That was if I understand, was Frua's proposal for the next generation QP. If I remember, only two built and with 4.9 power. Regards Ian.
