Parisien
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Maserati ghibli gt 1996 manual 6 speed biturbo
- Thread starter Parisien
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dickyb
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I investigated this one a couple of years ago. It seems as though the history of the car is pretty good and Andy at Bill McGrath's knows the car. The previous owner of the car admitted to me that one of the exhaust manifolds was blowing but was not causing any major problems. He said that it was going to be investigated at the next cam chain service (which incidentally is due in only 3000 miles so something to consider).
Of greater significance though is that the car has had some quite extensive rust repairs which put me off buying it at the time. My view was that I could be entering into an ongoing battle with rust and that I'd be better off waiting to find a rust free one, but maybe I'm a little paranoid about rust having owned Italian cars for 15 years! The owner at the time admitted that the repairs were not the neatest but were very solid and strong and to be fair all of the repair areas are mostly out sight.
I don't want to seem like I am rubbishing cars every time someone spots one for sale but I always think it is useful to share information. I think it would be almost impossible to find a perfect Ghibli in the UK these days and one needs to be realistic about what is out there. GTs are few and far between, especially with a manual gearbox so choice is very limited. When I investigated the car it seemed to be pretty honest with good history at a realistic price and this does still seem to be the case. The current seller may or may not be aware of the previous repairs as they have not been mentioned. If nothing major has changed I would imagine that the car would be perfectly useable and will provide enjoyment for a good few years yet.
Please note that my information is a couple of years old so things may have changed since then.
Here are a few pictures of the repairs, sorry they are not great quality:
Of greater significance though is that the car has had some quite extensive rust repairs which put me off buying it at the time. My view was that I could be entering into an ongoing battle with rust and that I'd be better off waiting to find a rust free one, but maybe I'm a little paranoid about rust having owned Italian cars for 15 years! The owner at the time admitted that the repairs were not the neatest but were very solid and strong and to be fair all of the repair areas are mostly out sight.
I don't want to seem like I am rubbishing cars every time someone spots one for sale but I always think it is useful to share information. I think it would be almost impossible to find a perfect Ghibli in the UK these days and one needs to be realistic about what is out there. GTs are few and far between, especially with a manual gearbox so choice is very limited. When I investigated the car it seemed to be pretty honest with good history at a realistic price and this does still seem to be the case. The current seller may or may not be aware of the previous repairs as they have not been mentioned. If nothing major has changed I would imagine that the car would be perfectly useable and will provide enjoyment for a good few years yet.
Please note that my information is a couple of years old so things may have changed since then.
Here are a few pictures of the repairs, sorry they are not great quality:
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Andyk
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I remember these pictures....I was looking at this car a number of years back and someone sent me these so I knew what I was letting myself in for........Think it was someone from MF...
dickyb
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CatmanV2
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TridentTested
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I remember helping a friend look for a Biturbo many years ago and in the course of our tyre-kicking we really did see some truly awful rot-boxes. A prestige name does not keep the tin worm away.
It's shameful they let cars like this out of the factory.
Parisien
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I call that 'coming to an understanding'
C
....or if you're truly unlucky or not vigilant enough......"coming to a mis-understanding"....
P
Very sad. I was thinking of going to look at this car at the weekend but won't now. I had a series 1a Ghibli for about 5 years and in that time spent well over £6000 on rust work. Once they start going, the rust never sleeps, to coin a phrase. Would love to find a good one though as they really are great cars
Ewan
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Looks good to me, and worth a viewing. It's a lot of lovely car for not much money (after a haggle). And a little rust can be sorted out - it's hardly the end of the World. Buy for 5 or 6, spend a couple on it, and you still have a fantastic, fast, super rare car. What's not to like (at that price)?