Description
1983 Maserati Biturbo
Chassis: ZAM331BOODB105084
Registration: A435 THV
• Circa 80, 000 kms from new
• First series Biturbo coupe in astonishing original condition
• Left-hand Drive
• 2. 0 litre 3-valve V6 engine
• ZF 5-speed dog leg manual gearbox
Back in 1983, there was no importer for Maserati in the UK. The Biturbo had been launched in Italy, the rest of Europe and the USA but there wasn’t yet a right-hand-drive version (it would take three more years). Therefore if you wanted to get hold of one, it had to be a LHD personal import.
This example is one of the very few examples of those early cars imported to the UK. According to Maserati Factory records, it was completed in July 1983 and delivered to the Torinese Maserati dealer, Simbolcar. From there it was personally imported to the UK by a long-defunct company called Cameleon of Park Lane for its first owner. It seems that they didn’t like it very much, for it was only a few months later that it was traded with Lancia dealers Ivor Hill of Wimbledon and offered for sale by them in February 1984.
Ivor Hill’s classified advert in The Sunday Times (those were the days) caught the attention of arch Italian car enthusiast Alexander Fyshe, who clearly spent a while teasing it out of them at the right price for it was not until the 7th December 1984 that he took delivery of the car, which by that time had covered 1436 kms, and registered it to the company he worked for – Seascape. What a great vehicle to have as a company car.
The Biturbo was the latest addition to a large collection including Ferrari Lusso, Bizzarrini Strada, and other Maseratis and like all the Fyshe cars, it was maintained, loved and kept as original as possible.
Early maintenance of the car would have been by Larry King of Wandsworth (now the site of Joe Macari’s emporium) but when King retired in the early 1990s, Alexander moved maintenance of all his cars (apart from Ferraris) to McGrath Maserati as we had recently completed his Concours-winning Ghibli restoration.
Sadly none of the early service history survives but from 1994, all records with us are on file. The Biturbo was used sparingly but regularly as part of the complex annual round of car events Alexander attended and became the favourite for the Maserati Club Autumn Rally, which he and Andy Heywood of McGrath won in 1997 in this car!
By 2004, the car had covered 73, 000 kms. It had been serviced regularly and never really needed much more than careful preservative maintenance. However, at that mileage, the speedometer failed (a common early Biturbo problem) and a new one was fitted.
Being an early series car meant having the first series 2. 0 litre V6 engine, which developed 182 bhp and breathing through a single Weber carburettor. The exhaust system on an early car gives the best, most distinctive rasp of any Biturbo variant and the performance of this, the simplest and lightest version is still brisk. There is no power steering on these cars, but it does have (working) air conditioning.
The interiors of early cars featured this corduroy and ‘leather-look’ vinyl as standard and a rectangular instrument binnacle with digital clock as the carriage clock was still a few years away. They have a charm all of their own, especially when completely original and in almost perfect condition as this one is.
In 2008 Alexander Fyshe decided to sell some of his collection as retirement to the country beckoned and the Biturbo was amongst the cars he put up for auction with Bonhams at that year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.
We visited that auction to support him and were sorely tempted to buy the Biturbo at that time, however, a last minute bid on the phone took it over our limit and it disappeared to a new owner.
Perhaps it was meant to be, but only two months later we were offered the car as the purchaser had found it difficult to start (there is a knack!) and regretted his purchase. And so, we finally bought the car in September of 2008 and have owned it ever since.
We were forced to attend to some external corrosion bubbling that was taking hold in some of the usual Biturbo places and the car was repainted in around 2009, naturally in the original colour, but structurally and in all other respects, it is absolutely original and in excellent condition. Even the Pioneer radio fitted was mentioned in that Sunday Times advert from 1984!
In 2010, we entered it into the Maserati Club’s Annual National Concours, where it won it’s class. It has also been featured in various magazine features, including as the benchmark example for the Auto Italia Biturbo buyer’s guide in 2016 and most recently in January this year as part of a Biturbo feature in Classic & Sportscar.
When due, it was reclassified as a historic vehicle and is therefore MOT exempt and with free road tax. We have used it sparingly but always kept it maintained and it is being offered now to include a major cam belt service and a new MOT anyway, for peace of mind.
We are always reluctant to say this, but this car must be the best early example in the UK, if not anywhere, and is an absolute reference for what these cars should be like.
To sum up, this is one of only a handful of early Biturbos that came to the UK when new as a personal import. For the majority of its life, it has had two fastidious owners. It is in excellent condition and although time warp original, it is on the button and ready to use. It would make a perfect show car, but is also good fun to drive.
Over the years, the Biturbo has been much-maligned, but as a classic they make a lot of sense and this era is now very much in vogue. Condition is everything of course, which is where this car excels. And what better place to start with one than at the beginning.
