Classic Maserati as a daily driver?

+1 for Lagavulin
Eb

allandwf said:

Aberlour is a "safe" malt. i think a tasting session is in order.

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I'm not a huge fan of Aberlour. Far too sherry like for me. Lagavullin is actually both our faves, but I like to ring the changes occasionally

C

I see no reason why you can't use an 80/90s car as a daily driver, I actually think they are better for regular use. I used to use my Q4 day in day out for 2 years and it was fine, once I bought something more modern it got used lass and started having issues.

I am tempted by a W123 Merc as a daily ultra dependable and quite a nice place to be.

And on the Malt theme Singleton is my favourite regular tipple but found a bottle of Scapa in a bar in Dublin last week which went down really nicely

CatmanV2 said:

I rather doubt it. The parts seem to be made of finest unobtanium, and I'd expect the bodies to dissolve about October time.

I will now sit back with a malt and be proved wrong

C

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What he said.
It would reliable enough - I used to use mine as a daily year ago, but the trouble is the parts now
Even service parts are getting difficult e.g. original standard rear ghibli and cup disks are now NLA

I used a 1995 Ghibli as a daily for 3 years, but it was only about 4 years old at the time, so parts weren't a problem. Not so sure about now. And you'll need to keep the salt/grit/rain away, or rust will ensue. And you really don't want a rusty bulkhead on a Ghibli.

You'd be better off using it regularly in the summer, but then maybe having something cheap for the winter months.

So it's a definite possibility, interesting. I'm looking at a 222, maybe another Ghibli II, possibly a Biturbo.

@chad5k1 - I hope there's a work around for this? Disks from another vehicle that are the same size? I know how resourceful you are!

Regarding spirits I need educating in malts, although I have enjoyed what I've tried (mainly Bushmills). Am fond of a decent red, dry and Italian, also Jamaican rum if it's spirits.

I would agree with the other comments, whilst Biturbos are very strong mechanically using one every day would be a huge NO in the uk. You'll have no mechanical problems as they can take high miles easily as long as they are regularly serviced, I have a '91 4.24v with 289000km & use it all the time but it lives in a dry climate, is always garaged & never used in the wet. Using a Biturbo regularly in the wet & in winter salt will see it turn to a rusty mess within a year or so, factory rust protection wasn't great & the steel was not galvanised. Servicing every 6000 miles will also become expensive & parts are becoming an issue to find.

Enjoy your Ghibli in the dry summer months but find something a little more robust for winter use, something German for example or a modern Alfa Romeo if you want to keep it Italian, 147s are cheap to buy & fun to drive.

All is not lost brake discs wise, Tarox still make them for Ghiblis & Biturbos for around £400 a pair.

You can keep your whisky as far as i'm concerned, tastes like white spirit, Birra Moretti for me

dickyb said:

You can keep your whisky as far as i'm concerned, tastes like white spirit, Birra Moretti for me

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...and it all went downhill here

C

CatmanV2 said:

...and it all went downhill here

C

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To be fair Moretti is rather lovely, certainly way better than the more popular but rather tasteless Peroni

general_piffle said:

to be fair moretti is rather lovely, certainly way better than the more popular but rather tasteless peroni

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c

As Dicky says, aftermarket is the only option, at almost £500 made to order - shame when about a year ago you could get them for £88 on amazon! Brembo tell me that Maserati didn't renew the contract for supply and asked for production to stop...

If there's sufficient demand I can have them manufactured. Not sure there's enough cars left for a production run, though!

MAF260 said:

If there's sufficient demand I can have them manufactured. Not sure there's enough cars left for a production run, though!

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Maybe there is - it applies to all QP and Ghibli from 95 - 2001. It is a very specific handbrake setup - which means that there is not anything the same around for other cars that could be used.
What demand would you need?

I ordered my current front pair from this Italian manufacturer: http://www.centertecnofreno.it/
Mine was more expensive, at that time (1 year ago) could only order through a distributor, but seems they opened an online shop since then.

chad5k1 said:

Maybe there is - it applies to all QP and Ghibli from 95 - 2001. It is a very specific handbrake setup - which means that there is not anything the same around for other cars that could be used.
What demand would you need?

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A minimum 50 sets of front and rear or 100 pairs of rears. Are fronts available?

Fronts are also not available, neither for pre-GT -- 300mm, nor for GT -- 307mm, and I don't know about any replacement though there might be something out there?

spacecadet said:

I ordered my current front pair from this Italian manufacturer: http://www.centertecnofreno.it/
Mine was more expensive, at that time (1 year ago) could only order through a distributor, but seems they opened an online shop since then.

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Holy cow, they have finally opened the online shop!! If so, then that is the answer, these guys make the best rotors I've ever used, but I've been unable to order them since I destroyed the last front set by having the pad backing plate eat into disc after too many laps at castle combe years ago. If I can actually order some now then excellent - there only reseller was not able to get them anymore.

As for the fronts, these are easy to get off ebay/amazon for £150 at the moment for genuine Brembo parts - but I don't know how long that will last.