Old News
This
page contains an archive of old news stories which have appeared on the site's opening
page.
March 2001
A new discussion forum
has been added to the site - take a look at it here.
The initial range of discussion areas covers most of the subjects I know from
emails to be of interest to you all - including For Sale areas for cars and
parts. Others can be added if there is demand. A couple of private areas are
reserved for "invited guests" (eg, the area for club officials - let
me know if you think you should be let in!) but the forum is otherwise
open for anyone to view. Before you can post messages, however, you have to
register. This is to encourage good behaviour and (hopefully!) keep the
spammers at bay. In keeping with this site's privacy
policy you will not receive unsolicited email by registering. The
message and registration databases are held on a separate server, not
connected to the Internet.
I'm looking for 'hosts' for the various discussion areas -
if you are prepared to share your specialist knowledge with others by logging
in regularly and helping to moderate discussions please let
me know.
The Forum is your area of the MRC - I look forward to
seeing what you make of it.
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Maserati Club of Japan add new web site
The Maserati Club of Japan has its own web site at http://www.maseraticlub.mrti.co.jp/
with information in Japanese and English (thank you!)
September 2000
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New club sites Maserati
Club Holland has moved its web site to www.maseraticlub.nl.
The
Maserati clubs who have taken up home here now have their own site
addresses. The Maserati Club (the original UK one) is now found at mcuk.maserati-rc.org
and MOCNA (the North American club based in California) is at mocna.maserati-rc.org.
Expect more announcements on this front soon ...
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Model guide update The
Model Guide section on
"classic" road Maseratis (ie, 3500 to Royale or 1957 to 1988) is
finished - unless anyone tells me otherwise! I have started on the Biturbos ... I may be
some time!
July 2000
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Problems, problems! Apologies
to any of you who tried emailing me at the new site address and found your
mail rejected. Nothing personal - I forgot to open the server to external
mail - the electronic equivalent of nailing the letter box shut! Sorry! All
should be well now but in case of problems, you can email me at georgep@byline.co.uk
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MD of Maserati North America appointed
Congratulations to Stuart Robinson, currently MD of Ferrari
UK who has been appointed as new MD of Ferrari and Maserati North
America. The official re-entry of Maserati to the USA happens next year when
the existing 3200GT and its yet to be seen Spider (convertible) offspring will
hit dealers showrooms. The range is likely shortly to be joined by the
forthcoming Quattroporte replacement giving a three model line-up. If
distribution follows the European pattern, your local friendly Ferrari dealer
is the place to queue to hand over your deposits though it's likely other
specialist dealers will be appointed to extend coverage in order to achieve
the planned sales volumes.
Well - the MRC is here at its new home and I hope you like the
new look and the new facilities on the site. Already here are:
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Faster loading - the graphic content of most pages has
been optimised for the web
-
The site no longer uses frames but has a tiered
navigation system
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The Search facility has been beaten about the head and
should now work reliably (famous last words?)
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The Maserati History pages have been reorganised to
make the information more presentable and easier to access
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New Multimedia section has the start of a collection of
Maserati videos and sound clips. Contributions welcome!
And talking of contributions,
the best (of any kind) will receive a rare scale model
of a Maserati 250F. How do I know the model is rare? I commissioned
exactly 100 examples, each individually numbered, and I have the moulds used
to make them so there will be no more. These are bound to become valuable
collectors items so if you want one, send in your
contribution - of information, NOT money as these models are
priceless! - NOW!
The first International Maserati
Meeting of the new Millennium will be held in Sweden. Our Nordic friends will
have a hard job improving on last year's event held by the UK club at Goodwood
but the event is already shaping up to be memorable. The event
will be based at the Star Hotel in Lund near Malmö. More details
on the new Swedish Maserati Club
site.
Thanks to Larry Ruben for the picture of his superb 1961
Sebring I to add to the Model Guide
page.
May 2000
Thanks
Thanks to Eric Bergman for
providing photos of his newly acquired Quattroporte I for inclusion on the Model
Guide page. Any further contributions welcome.
Links page updated
The Maserati
Links page has been updated - partly at the prompting of "Enrico"
of Enrico's
Maserati Page who - in desperation, it seems - called me to ask for a link
to his very good site. My apologies for failing to pick up the messages he had
been leaving for me. The various feedback forms on the site now send your
contributions to me via email
Finnish Maserati club
Timo Heikkinen has founded a new
club for Maserati enthusiasts in Finland. He says 'there is
also a "Maserati Club" in Finland. It is not a REAL club like in
many other European countries, because there are only about 50 Maseratis in
this country. However I have collected a register of local cars and sent some
information concerning spare parts sources, books etc.'
Contact details of the new
club are on the Clubs page. Welcome to our Finnish friends! What a great
location to hold the International one year :-)
Incorrect phone number
The phone number for H.M.I.,
8553 Washington Blvd., Los Angeles 90230 given in the TechTips article "Keep
a Cool Head While Enjoying Your Biturbo - By Donnie Shearer" was
incorrect. The gentleman, Peter, who owns the number originally given in the
article asks that you all stop phoning him as he does not provide Maserati
parts! Thanks.
Registro joins the Web!
 On
14th December 1999 Registro Maserati - established in 1985 with the Maserati
factory as the official register for all the historical Maserati production -
joined the Web community. Why 14th December? Because that is the date of the
85th anniversary of the founding of Maserati. The new site can be found at http://www.registromaserati.org.
The site is still under construction and the English section awaits completion
but take a look and email Marcello
Grigorov with any suggestions or congratulations.
South African Club
I have received an increasing
number of enquiries from South Africa in the past eighteen months and it seems
the Maserati community there is growing once again. I am delighted to report
that Ian Huntly has formed a new
club - Maserati
Club of South Africa. Ian reports strong
interest so far and expects the new club to be fully operational in 2000. I am
sure you will all join me in wishing the new club well.
Where are they now?
The new "Where
are they now" section has chalked up its
first success when Howard Jurgensen
was able to provide many
details and contacts for Michael Gee who was trying to trace his father's
200SI. If you are looking for details of a car,
driver or somebody connected with Maserati or perhaps you can help someone else
find their long lost loved one, please take a look at the Where
are they now? section of the site.
3200GT - deliveries start -
U.S. plans firm up - rumours of new model plans
Deliveries of the 3200GT in
Europe are well under way. In the U.K. however, the waiting lists talked of by
dealers have disappeared and, it seems, you can take delivery of a new 3200GT
in choice of colour as soon as you like. Though there have been a few reports
of minor problems with one or two cars (hardly unexpected with any new model)
quality seems generally to be up with the best that Jaguar, BMW or Mercedes
have to offer.
 |
The
factory's plans to re-enter the U.S. market have firmed with the launch
scheduled for the 2001 Detroit Motor Show. The planned U.S. product
range will include the yet to be seen spider (convertible) version of
the 3200GT. The replacement for the current Quattroporte (my car is
shown, left) should also be available around that time rounding out
a three model line up.
Rumours of a new engine
continue to circulate with talk firming up around a 4.0 or 4.5 litre
normally aspirated (ie, no turbos) V8. This would certainly see the
marque complete its "divorce" from the De Tomaso era
cars (don't even think of mentioning the word "Biturbo"
round the factory these days) and a potential return to the glorious
days of the big front-engined, rear drive supercars such as the Ghibli,
Bora and Khamsin. Here's hoping they get the styling to match.
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November 99
Maserati Auge
Ever heard of the Maserati Auge?
No? Well, nor had I until its designer and builder sent me the photographs.
Developed by Gioacchino Acampora as part of his university thesis (!) the car
is based on Quattroporte Ottocilindri mechanics and is fully roadworthy!
Even with support from the factory the effort that went into this car is
obvious and the result has to be applauded. Photos and
a description of the car can be found here - the page may take some time
to load but, for once, I make no apologies as the wait is well worthwhile.
Magazine 'review'
Actually, not a review - more a
tribute to the work of the Maserati club magazine editors around the world. In
most clubs, only about 10% of the membership actually take part in events -
the remainder seem to find membership worthwhile just for the magazines and
newsletters. To see why - take a look here!
Video trial
At the risk of my company's Internet
bandwidth, I have placed a couple of video clips on the site of my 450S at Brooklands. Try
Clip 1 or Clip 2
and let me know how you get on. If all goes well, more will follow.
Maserati Club pages updated
 After months of trying to obtain copies of the (UK) Maserati Club Newsletter electronically (printers
still like to pretend Caxton lives and breathes!) I have given up and resorted to simply
scanning the printed page. This does lead to longer download times but, by agreement with
the Club, each issue will now appear here a few weeks after publication. The May/June issue is already available and others will
shortly follow.
Deliveries of the 3200GT have begun.
After many delays, customer deliveries of
3200GTs have begun in the UK and mainland Europe. Build quality of the cars I have seen
appears extremely good with even panels, superb paint and trim. Too early to comment on
mechanical reliability but, having now covered 20,000 hard miles in my Quattroporte
Ottocilindri (built in March '98) without major hiccup I have no reason to think the new
car will prove troublesome.
The automatic version is loved by all who
have driven it but there still appears to be an unhappy relationship between the 'fly-by-wire'
throttle and the engine on the manual cars. Complaints of driveline shunt, poor take up
and stalling when pulling away from rest are common. Once on the move all is fine and the
car is fast!
Tyre sizes
So many owners (particularly
owners of early Biturbos) ask for advice on use of non-standard tyres I have
added a couple of TechTips articles on the subject. Take a look at the Advice
article or, if you already know what you are doing, jump straight to the Tyre
sizing chart.
Where are they now?
Looking for details of a car,
driver or somebody connected with Maserati? Or maybe you can help someone else
find their long lost loved one! Take a look at the new Where
are they now? section of the site.
February 99
A group has reformed the OSCA company ...
... and plan to produce an exciting 2-seat
sportscar honouring the best traditions of the marque. For those who don't know, OSCA is the company formed by the Maserati
brothers after they sold their original company to the Orsi family. The original Maserati
company, under Orsi ownership, concentrated on road car production an OSCA concentrated on production of small
sports and racing cars. The new car is thoroughly modern in design and technology yet
displays echos of the last OSCA
1600GT bodied by Zagato - who happen to be responsible for the new car's design as well.
Photos of the prototype are promised and will appear here as soon as I have them.
Replacement windscreens for 3500GTs ...
... have been produced by ReOriginals or their European distributor. Perfect fit and
original finish along with lower prices are claimed.
November 98
New Picture Library
Following many requests for more pictures on
the site, I have added a Picture Library into which I will
gradually place some of the thousands of Maserati related photos I have taken over the
past few years. You can visit the library by clicking the link above or by pressing
the button in the button bar frame on the left. The library is "picture only"
but tends to contain all the worthwhile images from each event or theme. Current web
technology does not support the downloading of multiple 28Mb TIF files (that's how I scan
the images) so the images in the library are presented as compressed JPEGs better suited
to browsing. Roger Harrison has contributed some photos he took at Silverstone and
Goodwood over the past couple of years. Any further contributions are most welcome.
Many of the pictures find their way on to
the site within articles which explain how or why they were taken so if you want to find a
description, try searching for the name of the photo as it
appears in the library to see if it appears elsewhere on the site.
Factory visit
 In October I visited the Maserati factory to
see the new 3200GT. I have ordered one of the first RHD examples which should be with me
around March or April next year. For now, like me, you'll have to whet your appetite by
reading the reports (lots of photos, as ever, so be patient while the pages load). I saw
the new 3200GT (though couldn't drive it so you'll have to wait for driving impressions
from someone who actually owns a Maserati) and toured the new production lines
and engine shop - all most impressive.
September 98
It has been a busy "season" with
so many events attended that I have barely had time to turn round between them. I am
slowly scanning all the photos and adding them to the site. The first page completed is
the Auto Italia Festival at Brooklands 1998 which was a fabulous event and provided a fabulous array of Maseratis old
and new. LOTS of pictures so you
might want to go for coffee while the page loads if you have a slow (28.8 or lower)
connection.
 The official Maserati factory site has been updated and now has a very detailed exposition of the new 3200GT
coupe - well worth a look. Seymour Pond of the Maserati Club of America, who
attended the launch of the new car in September has also prepared a report and pictures
which can be found here. I
am visiting the factory in early October so look for a full report and pictures here soon.
Meanwhile, my new Quattroporte continues to function with 100% reliability and impresses
everybody who sees it, drives or rides in it. The factory site has pages from the brochure
for the new Quattroporte Evoluzione.
The Calendar of Events
is filling up with some sparkling activities for 1999. Dates for Goodwood (including the
race dates for the reopened track), Coys Silverstone and others are already there and I
expect a big update as the motoring calendar comes into better focus during the next few
months. If you are a club secretary (if you're not then please pester your club secretary
for me) PLEASE send me details of your club's planned events for inclusion. Let's try
together to get a truly comprehensive events listing here at the MRC.
The Maserati club listings have been updated. If you are the secretary or an official of a Maserati
club, please check your entry and let me know if anything is wrong. I would also like to
receive more information on many of clubs and don't forget, you can have your own web
presence here completely free of charge! If your club is not listed or its details have
changed please let me know.
Send mail to georgep@maserati-rc.org with
questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1999 George Perfect
Last modified: February 06, 2002
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