This 1985 Maserati Biturbo has to be one of the most reliable – and loved – examples still on the road. With the current owner for 25 years, it has been used as a daily driver and racked up some impressive mileage, at least enough to shut up all the naysayers that these cars can’t make it out of their own driveway before falling on their face. The Maserati is listed here on eBay with 154,000 miles and an asking price of $10,000 or best offer.
This photo further illustrates the seller’s tolerance for pain, with a Merkur Scorpio parked behind his Biturbo. He claims to have owned multiple Maseratis over the years, and that this Biturbo is a turnkey car that will start in any weather. It does go to show that even notoriously finicky cars can be wrangled into reliable daily use with the proper care and attention.
I had to look at this odometer shot extra carefully to make sure the seller wasn’t pulling any legs with his mileage claims, but it does appear this Biturbo has gone the distance. The seller notes that it still does have some electrical issues causing the gauge cluster to flake out, and that a replacement fuse box would likely solve these issues. The Biturbo received fresh paint in 1997.
A host of spare parts are included, like a complete engine and transmission, spare wheels, extra turbos, gas tanks, differentials for manual and automatic cars, and more. This, of course, is essential to living with a car like this long-term, the effect of having a Maserati parts shop in your backyard. If you’re dying to own a Biturbo, this is probably the kind of guy you want to buy one from.
I’d sure like to check out that Lincoln.
1979 Lincoln Continental Collectors Edition.
23 K original miles
1 of 125 made
NOT FOR SALE
“This, of course, is essential to living with a car like this long-term, the effect of having a Maserati parts shop in your backyard.”
That alone is enough said, why bother at all?
I used to work for this guy who wanted to buy one of these new in ’86. He showed it to his wife first and she said it looked like a Chevy Citation – killed any potential sale.
The wife doesn’t know what she’s talking about! This is a Maserati! If it looks like anything, it looks like a Cadillac……..a Cadillac Cimmaron….
Which was really just a Nova in disguise.
Cimarron was a Cavalier not a Nova
Actually, Jim, the Cimmaron was not even a Nova. It was a Cavalier! Gawd, why do I remember this crap…….
I think that you’re thinking of the Seville.
Yeah angliagt,
Cimmaron were Cavaliers and Sevilles were Novas. Man, Cadillac was killin’ it back then weren’t they!? Kind of like Maserati when they made the Biturbo………
Sevilles were Novas in the same way humans are just monkeys…..
Guess what, Versailles were Granadas, which were revamped Mavericks which were revamped Falcons and Imperials were Satellites too…..
5th Avenues were Valiants.
And 911’s are just Beetles….
There now everyone can be offended…..
I like the reel to reel on the shelf. The car not so much.
Cant read the mfr..wonder if it’s an Akai? Good tape decks
Not an akai/roberts, no big X – I’m gonna go with Teac
An interesting mix of boom box and Sansui (?) to the right.
This one has the right facing but every Teac reel to reel I know of had centered heads. Could be wrong, a lot of oddballs came over from ‘Nam.
grant,
Buy me a beer!!!! Gotcha!
These were expensive cars when new and much better than the Chrysler TC coupes.
Always wary when a daily driver comes with a horde of spare parts…seems counter intuitive.
Huh? Counterintuitive? A “daily driver” for most of us is relied upon to get to/from work 4-5 days/wk, meaning all maintenance—both planned and unplanned—has to be carried out over the course of a weekend. If the car in question is too old and/or too rare for parts to be stocked by local businesses, I’d contend that anyone who claims “daily driver” status *without* spare parts on hand is pulling your leg.
After having 5 of this 1985 and 30 year of ownership, I did accumulate lot of parts. One car I cut to pieces, small fender bender,
did not wanna fix it. Another totalet in accidente hanging on the wall as a Road Kill trofe. Two others I have sold after storing them for 10 and 13 years. Never put them on the road.
Tooo many toys. 1970 Fiat Spyder, 1987 Peugot 505 V6, 1979 Lincoln, 2 Scorpios 1988, and others. Need to down size.
I have 7 cars registered and insured. To many. Breaks my heard, bot family comes first.
Is not like you can run to a local auto parts store and get anything for this car. So having own stash of parts helps. Just in case. It does not mean I used them. I estimate, the car have 200,000 miles, the odometer is mostly not working for last 10 years. The other Maseratis were backup cars. Never need to used them, so they are gone now. The car is for sale at
https://nextdoor.com/for_sale_and_free/95fe46a6-0da8-4a77-a2d9-4fe88a99be94/?init_source=more_menu
for 7500.
As long as it doesn’t catch on fire when you start it you’re good.
Reliable daily drivers don’t need so many spares. Just sayin’
i’ll take the Licnoln
Better to have it and not need it…….
I worked for MAI when the Biturbo first came out, at the Baltimore distribution center. I did the PDI for most of the 84-85 cars. My favorite memory is of the DC auto show in 85. We rolled down 95 at a high rate of speed in transit ;) George Garbutt was the master at the time.
I remember an article in one of the car mags that asked “What’s the best car to lose in a divorce?’ Most people of course said a Yugo, but that would be to obvious to an ex-wife. The best car to lose in a divorce would be a Biturbo. She’d gloat at first, getting an expensive Maserati out of her ex, then sinking into a quagmire of debt getting it fixed every week!
I worked on these when new, and they were horrible. Carb fires were frequent, and liner seals were frequent. The clock was the only good thing about the whole car. We also had Alfa’s as the same time and the GTV6 was a much better car all around.
Later Biturbos with Fuel Injection were better but they had already ruined the reputation of the car and this one is a Carb car.
I currently own 2 Maserati’s that were built well before this thing and I don’t see any relationship between it and them.
You can get a 4.2L Maserati V8 on Ebay for quite an affordable price. Might be worth a thought to swap in the newer V8 as a ‘restomod’ and shock quite a few people.
The italian translation for Maserati is :
Ameriican Sucker
car is unsold
Speak of the devil, out walking this evening I came across one like this (the second i´ve ever seen in the metal) parked by the streetside, an ocean away in northern Sweden. Daily driver? I guess, judging by the look of it, or maybe just someone stopped for a pizza before heading home with a questionable bargain fall sale.
Fun fact: the design (I believe it was done by the house of Pietro Frua) was at first offered as a proposal for the 2nd gen BMW 3-series but was turned down by the bavarians.
Btw, the Chevrolet Cavalier was built in Europe as the similiar Vauxhall Cavalier and Opel Ascona https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_J_platform. The entire front suspension with the steering rack and engine/transaxle setup in place could be easily unbolted and wrenched virtually directly into the smaller fwd Opel Kadett https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_T_platform_(1979) for better use of power :), My guess is that the same goes for all of its sibbling cars. The Kadett introduced the GM Ecotec 4 in its original renditon back in ´78.
Yes its Akai. I olso have a Sansui and Teac and “Dama Pik”
BiTurbos done in house by Maserati