That means he just got it in semi-running condition....

Maserati BiTurbo $25K in upgrades

I love these cars though...

Errr... Stay far far away.

So a $2k car for $4k with $25k in work?

Did Bernie Madoff get into cars?

With as cheap as these things are I have no idea why anyone would spend that kind of money fixing one up that has cosmetic problems. Start with the best one in the world and you've only added a couple grand to your starting price.

I'm not seeing anything close to $4k there unless it comes with three or four complete parts cars that he forgot to mention in the ad.

dculberson wrote: With as cheap as these things are I have no idea why anyone would spend that kind of money fixing one up that has cosmetic problems. Start with the best one in the world and then light all your money on fire and walk away.

FTFY

NickD wrote:

dculberson wrote: With as cheap as these things are I have no idea why anyone would spend that kind of money fixing one up that has cosmetic problems. Start with the best one in the world and then light all your money on fire and walk away.

FTFY

LOL. If you ever get the chance to see them on the track, you would change your position.

There was group of people out of Canada that did a great job getting some running, and came a few years that I organized a track event at Waterford Hills. Those Bi-Tubos were seriously quick cars. And sounded good. (fit right in with our Alfas).

They are the ultimate Italian car- horrific on maintenance but very rewarding in the right hands. Just like a supermodel.

I know it shows that I have a mental problem, but those come way above any German car ever built on my want list.

That car is beautiful, my spider had some big Gottis on it and it absolutely made it look awesome just like those HRE do on that one.

I drove a very nicely sorted (and modified) one once. It was very nice, but it didn't really trip my trigger. A nice E30 offerers a better driving experience IMHO.

It was in Denver, so the power wasn't overwhelming. (high altitude= low power) Besides the badge I've never really understood the fascination with these--- besides that fact that they are so bad that only someone really talented could keep one running......or not!

Honestly I didn't even read the link - I just saw he spent $25K from the title of the ad and thought to myself, "huh - it runs about half the time now..."

These cars are a work of art, to me, one of the best looking ever made. But I talked to a guy at cars & coffee who had one, since new. I'd asked him about reliability, as the rep on the cars is bad. He said, "aw, no, pretty reliable." Then he proceeded to tell me about the number of times it would just stop running, and how they'd tried everything to diagnose it. Mystery failures in all scenarios, but he loved it.

It's funny to me that he wants to trade for an early f-body. I guess he realized that for what he put into the Maserati he could have a completely built Camaro that he could get his money back out of.

In any case, I have always thought those were cool cars, and definitely intended to be viewed as an Italian E30. It's too bad they are so unreliable. I wonder were these problems limited to the Biturbo and associated cars, or are the Merak's/Bora's/Khasmin's just as bad but the owners are in a high enough tax bracket to keep up on the maintenance?

In any case I think someone wanting a good looking Italian coupe from that timeframe is better off with an Alfa GTV6 or it's variations.

You don't often see the later fuel injected versions up for sale. The 85 and under carb'ed cars are the commonly available, worthless variety.

I assumed the "$4" in the price field meant $4k and kinda didn't feel it was too far off.

Well this makes me feel better about my AE92 project