Drivetrain
Chassis
Body
Maserati v8 Quattroporte needing some love
The Maserati Quattroporte is a four-door full-size luxury sports saloon produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati. The name translated from Italian means "four doors". The car is currently in its sixth generation, with the first generation introduced in 1963.
The third generation of the Maserati Quattroporte (Tipo AM 330) was developed under the Alejandro de Tomaso-GEPI ownership. After the brief parenthesis of the Citroën-era front-wheel drive Quattroporte II, the third generation went back to the classic formula of rear-wheel drive and a large Maserati V8 engine. The exterior design was penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro.
A pre-production Quattroporte was introduced to the press by the then Maserati president Alejandro de Tomaso on 1 November 1976, in advance of its début at the Turin Motor Show later that month. It was only three years later though, in 1979, that the production version of the car went on sale. De Tomaso, who disliked Citroën, removed all of the influence of the French marque from the car. The quad-cam V8 engines built from scratch for the Kyalami were used as well as other mechanical parts. The SM V8 engine prototype under development in the Citroën ownership was also scrapped and the staff was replaced, the most notable being head engineer Giulio Alfieri who was replaced by Aurelio Bertocchi. The hydraulic system of the Quattroporte II was replaced by a conventional power steering setup and the suspension geometry was akin to the Jaguar XJ.
Initially badging reading "4PORTE" was used, but this was changed in 1981 to ones spelling out "Quattroporte." Two versions of the V8 engine were available: a 4,930 cc (4.9 L) version generating a maximum power output of 276 HP and a smaller built-to-order 4,136 cc (4.1 L) engine generating 253 HP which was phased out in 1981. The interior was upholstered in leather and trimmed in briar wood. The climate controls came from the Mopar parts bin on early US-spec cars. In 1984, the climate control system was upgraded to share parts with the mass produced Biturbo.
The Quattroporte III marked the last of the hand-built Italian cars; all exterior joints and seams were filled to give a seamless appearance. From 1987 onwards, the Royale superseded the Quattroporte. The Quattroporte III was an instant success and 120 units were sold in Italy alone.
This nicely preserved example has been in the current owners care for many years. About 7 years ago he noticed some electrical gremlins developing, and parked the car. He spent a brief amount of time attempting to troubleshoot the issues partially disassembling the dash above the guage cluster, and never progressed very far. The car has been in dry storage since that time, and will require some electrical sorting and additional waking up/recommissioning before being roadworthy once again.