If brute force could be expressed in sedan form, the Maserati Quattroporte would be on my short list of cars that fit the definition to the proverbial T. This stately sedan is an Italian Buick, a car capable of serious speed with little regard for fuel economy. Strange, then, that it didn’t achieve more commercial success, except for the fact that it achieved a paltry 8 miles per gallon at a time in our history when those things mattered a little more than usual. Find this nicely preserved Quattroporte listed here on eBay for $17,500.
Obviously, we don’t need to go head-long into Maserati’s reputation for quality control issues, but that was also a significant factor for its lack of popularity. I suppose the styling left a lot to be desired, too, as it’s about as aerodynamic as a piece of hard cheese. And really, Americans want to be wowed when it comes to luxury vehicles and sports cars, so this design likely left a few folks cold when they heard Maserati had a brand-new flagship. The seller’s car looks decent going down the sides with no major rust but a fair share of paint blemishes.
The interior, however, is where things got kicked up a notch. The orange leather (I suspect there’s a more Italian-appropriate name for the color) and corresponding dash/carpets are all stunning, and seeing the leather-trimmed armrest in excellent condition is encouraging. Now, these Maserati interiors are still prone to breaking down over time, and given the ornate nature of the trimmings, I’d look awfully close to see if any rips or tears are present (there don’t appear to be.) The seller notes a crack in the windshield.
Under the hood is a DOHC 16-valve V-8, featuring an aluminum block and heads that generates a healthy 276 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque through a lazy shifting 3-speed automatic. The seller claims it still runs and drives, which is a bit shocking given the original 46,000 miles suggests it’s been sitting a while. When new, 0-60 took a hair under 10 seconds, so it wasn’t exactly quick, but I’m sure it sounded better than most every other sedan on the road. While the condition is respectable and the miles are low, the asking price does seem slightly optimistic.
Low sales were due to high retail price. I got a chance to drive one in 1985. The factory exhaust has a great rumble to it. Almost like headers!
I dunno. They were interesting at the time when there weren’t very many interesting cars being sold.
The body lines and posture of this didn’t age well, nor did this specific example.
IMO these Giugiaro-penned lines and posture have aged very well, though it’s a testament to the superb proportioning that photos don’t really convey well the size and sheer Presence these have in person, coming across like a burly, impeccably groomed mob enforcer wearing the sleekest, most rakish hand-tailored designer suit you’ve ever seen, casting a figure imposing, impressive, and not to be f**ked with.
The one slightly awkward aspect is the somewhat bulky front end. The original proposal had a wedgier, sharper, more tapered nose, but De Tomaso wanted to feature a larger, more upright and prestigious grille, so Giugiaro humored his client, massaging various details to make it so. I suspect the original nose was closer to the later Biturbo, for which stylist Pierangelo Andreani took inspiration from the QPIII to lend a family resemblance.
Body is awfully rough for the claimed mileage.
You can buy one of these 2013-2017 in much better shape with around the same mileage for the asking price of this one.
Agreed. It is being sold by yet another EBay dealership that overprices all of their inventory by at least 10K.
Nice write up Jeff. What really grabbed my attention is the interior. That just looks beyond comfortable. But 8 mpg? Good grief!!!
I suspect that the extra fuel used is for pleasant exhaust sounds!
I don’t have any idea how to say this in Italian. “Let’s just take this V8 we have laying around just toss it into a box with 4 wheels and ship it to the USA! They will buy anything that says Maserati on it! They bought the
Bi-Turbo didn’t they?”
Fun fact: the underpinnings are derived from the De Tomaso Longchamp, which of course originally came with a Ford V8.
When De Tomaso acquired control of Maserati from Citroen in ’75, he determined correctly that a Ford engine would not do for such a storied marque, so he had new Maserati models developed from existing De Tomaso models (the Kyalami was basically a facelifted Longchamp) to make use of the famed Maserati V8 dating back to the 1935 V8RI Grand Prix racers, which evolved up through later production models including the Ghibli and Bora.
As for the Biturbo, that debuted in ’81, well after the Quattroporte III first appeared in ’76.
I suspect that the extra fuel used is for pleasant exhaust sounds!
I don’t have any idea how to say this in Italian. “Let’s just take this V8 we have laying around just toss it into a box with 4 wheels and ship it to the USA! They will buy anything that says Maserati on it! They bought the
Bi-Turbo didn’t they?”
Needs a 15K paint job, to then bring to 10K valuation.
Located in: Elyria, Ohio
This car came out several years before the Biturbo ruined Maserati’s reputation for quality, but who am I to undermine now-deep-seated popular mythology on the internet?
And I’m pretty sure it sold very, very well compared to comparably priced cars like the Aston Martin Lagonda, but I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader to look up production totals for each.
I was making a joke. I knew that the Bi-Turbo came later.
Lovely looking car. The early 1980s were my favourite time for cars. I thought they looked way better than cars of the 70s. I find them way better than anything produced today. Masiati is no exception. I don’t know what cars were like to drive or own, since I was way too young at the time to drive.
I worked at the Maserati NA distribution center in Baltimore 1984-85 and did PDI on all the Biturbos. The head techs prepared all of the Quattroports. They were a great bunch to work with as long as I respected the pecking order. One of the biggest problems we had was the cars catching fire when the manual choke was left on in the winter. Once the engine warmed up and the air pump started feeding the cats, they would glow bright red from all the fuel and air. If the car was sitting in grass, well, you get the picture. Lots of fun driving to the DC car show on 95 :)
I worked at the Maserati NA distribution center in Baltimore 1984-85 and did PDI on all the Biturbos. The head techs prepared all of the Quattroports. They were a great bunch to work with as long as I respected the pecking order. One of the biggest problems we had was the cars catching fire when the manual choke was left on in the winter. Once the engine warmed up and the air pump started feeding the cats, they would glow bright red from all the fuel and air. If the car was sitting in grass, well, you get the picture. Lots of fun driving to the DC car show on 95 :)
This listing ended on Thu, Jul 9 at 1:00 PM.
Car has been relisted here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/227425471975?itmmeta=01KXHANYKAD073SCE512BNPF3A&hash=item34f39d4de7:g:ZoYAAeSwVxVqKHyo
$16,500