The Fastest Depreciation Cars

If you read Cozza’s book, he clearly states he lost his mind and essentially went off on DeTomaso in the engine room telling him the biturbo engine CANNOT be carbureted and work reliably. He was right and the brand died and took an awfully long time to recover, and many say it never has fully recovered

 

Well that's his opinion but I have to tell you that I was able to make mine, with considerable effort, to work really well and it still does. Fuel efficient it is not! But ... there is no way you can make a carb work as well as FI can in that situation. Even so ... they didn't really know how to make FI work perfectly either at the time. No one really did. Everyone was having trouble and because they had almost no development money they got saddled with the archaic Weber ecu system. Once they adopted the same ecu as the F40 it got better but it was still a kluge of a solution. The reliability issues were due due primarily to the dumbass crude emissions control system. Once that was removed all the heat induced failures ceased.

 

If we did transition to EV, why would racing need to switch? Seems like there would be plenty of cheap fossil fuels if cars/trucks aren't using it. And the emissions from racing must be a rounding error compared to road transport.

Edited to add: Even the emissions from racecars is dwarfed by the emissions produced from all other aspects related to racing. F1 actually made a report. They are flying and trucking all those cars and staff all around the world, the emissions from the cars themselves was a single digit percentage of total emissions related to F1 if I recall correctly...

 

One of the reasons DeTomaso went with the weber setup was purely economic. He couldn’t afford to emission certify the engine on his own with FI, but with Weber’s help he could with carbs. So a deal was struck.

 

The brand was essentially already dead when DeTomaso took over. I had bought my 84 coupe in 85 and immediately got involved in the local Maserati club in the SF Bay Area. I ended up going to Italy on what was essentially the 1st Car Guys Tours but was really a MIE organized trip to Modena and the 1986 anniversary celebration at the factory. We all had a great time. We also arranged our own visit to the Biturbo plant in Milan. Driving into that place, looking at all the problem Biturbos partially assembled was depressing as hell. We saw them painting and assembling the interiors in the cars. My attractive wife WAS something of a distraction that day. My apologies to those poor SOBs that bought the cars on the line that day ...

 

Yes 89 (here in the USA) was the first year they no longer needed the air pump. The other thing might have been an oil cooler or an extra condenser as a part of the "Tropical Kit".
They continued to make 2.8L 3 valve motors all the way till the end. The 4 valve arrived with the 224 I think but the direct injection showed up late in the Ghibli II cars. The 3 valve engines are much easier to work on. No Nikasil liners!

 

What moron paid $30K too much for this car?!

 

https://jalopnik.com/someone-willingly-paid-16-000-for-a-maserati-ghibli-on-1851154008

 

What moron wrote this article?!

 

I have an 04 Maserati Coupe and 1. my dealer would still work on it 2. if I ever wanted or needed them to. It can be difficult to source certain parts, but I have never needed something I couldn't get.

 

Don't ever mistake Maserati for Porsche or Mercedes both of whom provide legendary support for their older cars ... at a price. The still really cannot afford to be like those two marques and plenty of others.
Maserati has always beenn something of a gamble/adventure when you purchase one. FACT!
As others have noted such support at a certain level is available from selected dealers and independents so it's not like it's not available at all.
But you cannot just saunter in with your older Maserati to a modern dealer and get proper support.
Many of us older Maseristi are familiar with where to go in such cases.

It would greatly behoove Maserati to build and support such a Classiche level of support here in the USA for cars like yours and newer ones.
But given how the dealership network is managed and by whom don't hold your breath.

Ever since I began getting involved with Maserati it's been pretty much like this so I'm used to it.

 

That falls into the category of don't ask, don't tell. But I'll tell a little bit. There are some great people out there helping but mostly the pricing for vintage Lamborghini parts, when you can find them, has gone completely off the scale over the last 15 years. My Espada project is completely staled now due to my injury. I have most of the parts I need and they were procured before things went ballistic. If I were contemplating that purchase today I would run as fast as I could. I have a Canadian acquaintance who bought his Espada at about the same time and he immediately sunk a **** load of resources into the car. It's gorgeous now and he did it at the right time. His car ended up going through several well known restoration shops. You'd know them if I mentioned them. Don't ask.

His cute license plate says it all ... Lirapit.

 

it’s called Flat Rate, every backyard mechanic knows the 1st time you do a job, takes 2 to 3x longer than the next time you do it.