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Barn Find 1982 Maserati Quattroporte

We don’t usually think of an actual barn find as being such an exotic and sometimes scary – as far as often delicate and complicated components go – vehicle as this 1982 Maserati Quattroporte is, but this is the real deal. The seller has it listed here on eBay in Independence, Oregon and the current bid price is $2,600, but the reserve isn’t met yet.

This is a Quattroporte III, as in the third variation of the model which originally came out way back in 1963. We saw an early car here on Barn Finds a week ago, a much more desirable and beautiful, in my opinion, luxury exotic super sedan. The Quattroporte III was made for just over a decade, from 1979 to 1990, and they aren’t as rare to see for sale today as the Series I cars are, and are rarely as expensive. Here’s what this car would have looked like when it was in fine condition. Gorgeous! For the record, Hagerty is at $7,700 for a #4 fair condition car which this one is a long way from, and $12,000 for a #3 good car, so maybe it’s possible to bring this one back if you do a lot of the work yourself.

The photos in this listing aren’t the best so they had to be made into a horizontal format, my apologies for the odd look of a few of them. If a person wanted to take on a complicated project and had the technical and financial prowess to not flinch when something came up along the way, a Quattroporte of this era would be hard to beat. I know, they have four doors, but they were luxury sedans, and check out the posh back seat. The front seats are clearly back all the way, that legroom wouldn’t work for me or for half of humanity.

It appears that a roving society of lathe-wielding critters has taken over the interior of this car. Sad. The shavings on top of the once proud and gorgeous dash, I think, may actually be cracked and curled dash material more than shavings, now that I look at it closer. They do mention that the wood has sun damage and this car has been sitting outside for a while. I hope that no rodents made their way into this car when it was sitting outside, or in a barn.

Most of the interior looks about as awful as it gets – panels askew, most of the wood totally trashed, junk everywhere. What a sad state for a once unbelievably nice car. Knowing how complicated these bits are, especially anything electronics-related, makes me wonder if the bidders are planning on using this car for parts or if someone really thinks that they can restore it back to its former glory. If you were wondering what it should look like in there, here you go. The seats do appear to be in fairly good condition overall, so there’s that.

The seller has included a few partial underside photos but it’s hard to tell what condition it really is in under there. The wheels are muddy as if the car were sitting in a field somewhere and they do say that it was sitting outside in the rain, something that Oregon knows a thing or two about. They say that it has minor rust from sitting but no chassis rust, that’s good. The engine supposedly ran when it was parked but we don’t know when that was. The engine is, or was, a stunning Maserati 4.9L V8 which had 280 horsepower and would have looked like this. Of course, it’s not running now so add it to the list. Have any of you taken on an exotic project like this Quattroporte?

Comments

  1. Avatar J_Paul Member

    If I remember correctly, Sylvester Stallone drove one of these in Rocky III.

    This car, however, absolutely looks like it went 10 rounds with Clubber Lang and no amount of training montages will save it.

    Like 6
    • Avatar alphasud Member

      I agree she’s a parts car for sure.

      Like 2
  2. Avatar angliagt Member

    An older lady walked up to me at the store I worked at
    in 1980 (IIRC) and said “I have a problem” – I thought to myself,
    “Don’t we all?”.She said “I can’t get my Maserati started”.
    I just had to go outside to see what she called a “Maserati”.
    I was a little shocked to see a Brand new Quattroporte,in a really
    nice medium brown color.
    I checked it over,& deduced that the fuel pump wasn’t working.
    She called a tow truck,& said “I like my Accord better”.

    Like 8
  3. Avatar Mike

    A blank slate for someone to put something else in it and reimagine the whole car for a YouTube series provided it sells for cheap.

    Like 3
    • Avatar Joe Elliott

      “Put something else in it?” You mean some kind of misguided engine swap? Whyyy? The whole appeal of these is that you can enjoy a proper Maserati V8 with a four- (rather than six-) figure cost of entry. Without the engine it’s just a really cushy (and really dated) luxury car made of expensive/unobtainium parts, with an electrical system that carries an above-average chance of leaving you stranded. (Surely, by now, people must realize that the engines are bulletproof and it’s the electrics that are going to let you down right? Replacing the fusebox, alternator, ignition, every inch of wire harness, and every relay may not be as sexy as dropping in some cheapo motor, but I bet you’ll spend less and have a more rewarding car when you’re done.) Or is that the whole shtick of the proposed YouTube show? Spend a bunch of time and money ruining a classic car only to hit the road and break down at every turn due to dirty electrical connections, etc? Hilarious!

      Like 0
  4. Avatar Terrry

    Rodents: “hey look a dine-in Italian restaurant!”

    Like 9
    • Avatar Mar4357

      LOL! Is that what the mice said as they climbed up the front tire of my Fiat into the engine and through the air vent, stole a stick of gum, grabbed a fist full of seat stuffing as they headed to the trunk for a comfy bed. Since I was living in what was technically a game preserve, I ruined the party with some moth balls. They seemed to have left before they nibbled on that!

      Like 0
  5. Avatar Terrry

    This was made at a time when Maserati was Chrysler’s mistress, and was treated as such (remember the Maserati TC?)

    Like 3
    • Avatar Charles Sawka

      When I worked for Euro Motor Cars in 1980, I remember seeing several of these with Chrysler V8 and Torqueflites.

      Like 0
      • Avatar Gerard Frederick

        ——— in which case you´ve got a real, usable car instead of a mechanical nightmare.

        Like 2
    • Avatar Leslie Martin Member

      My Brother in Law (who is a retired NYFD mechanic) still has his pristine 1991 “Chrysler TC by Maserati”. As bad as that Frankenstein monster turned out, at least everone knew it was really just a tarted up Le Baron. But imagine paying twice that much for a Quattroport to get the same crappy Chrysler switchgear. No wonder the Mopar/Maser partnership went south. Even Lido the Magnificent couldn’t save it.

      Like 0
  6. Avatar Husky

    This car screams for a 318 Poly Head connected with a rubber band to a Chevy Powerglide

    Or maybe not.

    Like 5
  7. Avatar Larry Brantingham

    Chrysler never owned more than 15.6% of Maserati and that only in 1986. This car went on sale in 1979. Its underpinnings were based on the De Tomaso Deauville of ’76 and the related Kyalami and Longchamp. In this period De Tomaso and GEPI (Italian government) owned Maserati. Giugiaro designed this car, but was not proud of it. The story is that he wanted the front end lower, but De Tomaso insisted that people should know what car was passing them – so it got a bluff front end. I have one and it’s grown on me, although I originally bought it to rescue it from decline. However, I will probably sell it on – I’m not old enough yet to need a four-door automatic (only 72).

    Like 7
  8. Avatar Mark Member

    Brutto in any language.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Orphan Acres

    I saw this car locally (I’m in Oregon) at another fellows place, it is rough rough rough. Offered to me for $1000, as much as I love these cars and I am a cheapskate, too rough for me. I didn’t have too much rust as I recall, but the money to replace missing parts alone would bankrupt a guy………

    Like 9
  10. Avatar Gerard Frederick

    A Maserati photographed in its most natural form — with the hood up.

    Like 6
  11. Avatar Maestro1

    if you have deep pockets and patience you will end up with an exotic four door that will command attention anywhere. My only issue is immediate access to service should the car fall down somewhere in West Texas,for example. These cars are meant to be driven. There are some Parts available through an Independent
    Parts Seller in Dallas Texas, and I don’t know where one would find body parts nor bits and pieces. So the next logical step would be the Owner’s Club which you should join anyway.
    Italian cars are brilliant esoteric works of art.

    Like 3
  12. Avatar Gerard Frederick

    ¨Italian cars are brilliant esoteric works of art¨. Wow! Which part of POS don´t you understand?

    Like 3
  13. Avatar Howie Mueler

    This is worse than a cheap Ferrari.

    Like 2
  14. Avatar Stevo

    “… maybe it’s possible to bring this one back if you do a lot of the work yourself.” if that work includes a fair bit of conjuring done with a twig and some pseudo-latin incantations.

    Like 1
  15. Avatar Wayne

    Not for me, as I am not a masochist!

    Like 0
  16. Avatar JCasteel

    I’d rather take on last weeks Bentley. At least with that car I’d have a comfortable place to sleep when the funds ran out.

    Like 1
  17. Avatar Scotty Gilbertson Staff

    Auction update: the auction ended at $3,555.05 and no sale.

    Like 0
  18. Avatar t-bone bob

    Ended:Mar 09, 2021 , 4:30PM
    Current bid:US $3,555.05[ 36 bids ]
    Reserve not met
    Item location:Independence, Oregon,

    Like 0

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