Re: Maserati 4Porte <NAC>

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Of course, this car has the distinction of being a REAL Maserati with 
that lovely twin-cam V-8. Unfortunately, in terms of quality, the 
Bi-Turbo or any of it's ilk have little to do with the great road-going 
Masers of the 50's, 60's, and 70's. The bodies started to rust before 
they even left the factory, the engines are a nightmare: It's almost 
impossible to properly adjust the valves (two valves operating off the 
same cam lobe and getting the valve lash on both equal is a horror 
story unto itself); they are prone to blowing head gaskets, cracking 
blocks and heads, and the only source for parts is some outfit in the 
state of Washington and they REALLY soak it to you). An Alfa V-6 in 
either a GTV-6 or a Milano is a much better proposition (and, you won't 
get mistaken for a nondescript Datsun on the road, either).


George Graves
GTV-6 3.0 'S'
On Thursday, August 14, 2003, at 02:15 PM, alfa-digest wrote:


> Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2003 15:37:20 -0400
> From: "josiechris@domain.elided" <josiechris@domain.elided>
> Subject: Re: Maserati 4Porte <NAC>
>
> The Quattroporte continues to fascinate people because it is a car 
> that's
> supposed to be low-key, yet ironically makes a huge statement because 
> of
> its size, its opulence, and its name. Modena's favorite son Pavarotti 
> had
> one. On screen, both Rocky III and Godfather III had one. I have 
> dicreetly
> watched from behind the wheel as people on the street and soccer moms 
> in
> other cars do double-takes. You may not know what it is, but your eyes 
> are
> drawn to it, and yet it is not a "look at me!" kind of car. In terms of
> design it's left me perplexed: it has a plain vanilla rear end (save 
> for
> the dual exhaust tips poking out). The front end is very intimidating 
> for a
> sedan, but take the trident away and most people would probably think 
> they
> were looking at a big American car from the 70s. There are a lot of 
> super
> sedans available now, but in the early 1980s it was quite special to 
> see
> one of these. Several years ago at the Monterey weekend we watched a
> procession of Maseratis caravan "at speed" down Highway 1: Bora, 
> Khamsin,
> Ghibli, Quattroporte (ok, Merak too). The car has a very impressive
> pedigree.
>
> Chris Robyn
> SF Bay
> '88 Verde
> (ex '84 QP)
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