BF AUCTION: 1980 Maserati Quattroporte III
Do you dream of hauling your family in fine Italian luxury? Don’t want to drop $100k+ for a new Maserati? Well, you’re in luck! This BF Auction won’t break the bank, is loaded with Italian charm, and will haul comfortably haul four. Reader Bob S purchased this 1980 Maserati Quattroporte from a friend back in May of 2018 and while he’s enjoyed driving it around Burbank, California, he has an Alfa Romeo project that’s making demands on his wallet, so this Maserati needs to go. So take a closer look and be sure to cast your bid for it below.
Whenever you are shopping to buy a classic Italian car, buy the one that someone else has already spent the money on recent service. Bob has known this car for a number of years, as it was previously owned by a mechanic friend. When he bought it, it had just received $10k worth of service. Once it arrived in California, he had some more work done to make it pass the smog test. It’s in great running and driving condition.
Now that’s an interior! Look at those overstuffed leather couches… wait… I mean seats. Mount a TV in there and you could just get rid of your pleather furniture. Alright, so maybe this is a good livingroom replacement, but it sure looks comfortable. This would be a nice place to be during long-distance drives, whether your the driver or a passenger. And Bob is including extra color matching leather so that if you damage the leather, you can repaired it.
Moving all this boxy luxury around takes a lot of power, so you’ll find a 4.9 liter V8 under the hood. It’s rated at 280 horsepower and depending on where it landed in production, could have either a Borg Warner or a Chrysler Torqueflite automatic transmission. These Maserati engines are known for their ability to eat up the miles, their pleasant exhaust note, and their thirst. This one has already had all the work done, including fixing the AC system, to make sure it’s going to be a nice and comfortable driver for years to come! Bob has documented all work that’s been done here.
The only issue Bob hasn’t addressed so far is the rust that is starting to develop in a couple of the door bottoms and rocker panels. He’s provided plenty of photos of the issue and while it definitely will need to be addressed, there doesn’t appear to be rust showing in any of the other typical spots. Like every other Italian car from this era, rust tends to be an issue. These cars are fairly flat, so replacing the metal shouldn’t be too difficult. The paint is a bigger issue, as it could be tricky matching this color.
Bob really has done a ton of work to make this a presentable and comfortable driver. He’s clearly enjoyed it, but sometimes you have to cut one loose to help pay for another project. If you have any questions about this Quattroporte, be sure to leave it in the comments and Bob will get back to you. Additional photos can be found here for a closer look.
- Location: Burbank, California
- Title: Clean
- Mileage: 69,090
- Engine: 300 cui V8
- Transmission: Automatic
Bid On This Auction
Abel1st bid $5,650.00 2019-11-14 11:09:32
That Guy bid $5,550.00 2019-11-14 11:04:39- Abel1st bid $5,300.00 2019-11-14 11:02:04
- That Guy bid $4,150.00 2019-11-14 10:52:20
- Abel1st bid $3,700.00 2019-11-14 10:19:30
BIGD-CARS bid $2,850.00 2019-11-14 07:58:55
Edgtg bid $2,750.00 2019-11-13 19:12:28
pumpedTSI bid $2,500.00 2019-11-13 18:48:48- BIGD-CARS bid $2,400.00 2019-11-13 06:52:12
Tdskip bid $2,300.00 2019-11-12 07:36:47- That Guy bid $2,200.00 2019-11-11 13:55:12
Andreugv1 bid $1,000.00 2019-11-10 10:49:54
Arieh bid $900.00 2019-11-09 00:22:00- Edgtg bid $775.00 2019-11-08 07:41:21
PlumberTN bid $610.00 2019-11-08 06:15:36- That Guy bid $509.17 2019-11-07 21:00:05
Auction your car here on Barn Finds for only $99!
Comments
Doors are only surface with shiny paint. What happened to the dull hood and roof paint? A repaint would be good as who likes Brown? Also, very disappointed in that Jimmy Carter speedometer. These cars had speedometers showing 200mph. Even Ferraris had that 85mph Jimmy Carter speedometer back then.
The Quattroporte was bought new in Honolulu and the first owner likely did not garage it! The paint was very rough when I got the car; I hand polished it to be smooth, but still “original”. The last photo on my 1980maserati.com webpage shows what the metallic light brown paint can look like.
Two Series III cars sold on BAT for $10.5K and $25K in the last 4 months. And two in Europe are currently asking 30K euros.
Do not put this car in the same category as a Merak or Biturbo. Had a Merak of the same vintage at to say the least it was a disappointment.
These are relatively easy to work on and robust. The leather tends to dry out and responds well to conditioner. Plastic bits sometimes are missing or cracked.
On the plus side these are very comfortable to drive and ride in. To me a very handsome car.
Friend of mine has one. He took the time to convert it to modern fuel injection. Easier to drive and better mileage.
Look after the leather and rust and you can enjoy these for years to come.
SMS –
Thanks for the positive comments. The leather was not too bad when I got the car. Front seats had sheepskins on them and all the leather responded well to Leatherique, a product recommended by the Rolls-Royce club.
The only brittle plastic has been the base of the outside mirror. Former owner found & sent me a metal base.
Our local Alfa shop has tuned the carbs very well – starts quickly and runs smoothly.
It’s a great design by Giorgetto Giugiaro.
Seems like a well-maintained example. Don’t these have a reputation for poor reliability and fragile interior trim?
The Quattroporte has “power everything” so the electrical system is complex. The progress reports I got from the previous owner show much effort to get everything working “as designed”.
Aside from the plastic mirror base in my earlier comment, the only other broken interior item was a retaining clip on the passenger’s visor – it’s now metal.
Nice to see an engaged seller actually responding to comments. Best of luck with the sale!
Saw an owner on another listing advising caution about parking these pointing downhill. Apparently the fuel tank is mounted fairly high in the rear between the back seats and trunk, so if any pinhole leak develops in a carb diaphragm or gasket, gravity feed from the tank can flood it, which may lead to an underhood fire in the worst case scenario. Aside from parking precautions, it may be advisable to add a manual petcock or normally-closed solenoid valve to the fuel line in case you ever do need to park on a hill.
I have seen that caution about downhill parking. The carb diaphragms were replaced last May by our local Alfa Italia repair shop. This shop has taken care of my Alfa for 15 years – very skilled and fair.
That reminds me I bought my ’69 Alfa from the same mechanic/repair shop owner who sold me the Maserati – and two other cars!
I’m wondering if the right front has been hit. The color match on the fender doesn’t appear to match the rest of the car body. Can we please have close up pictures of the right front and underneath area? These are a neat car, but you will need to be a good mechanic or have access to one who doesn’t have kids to put through college.
Christopher –
I’m fairly sure the color shade difference was caused by sun exposure – I’ll have photos tomorrow. Yes, they are potentially complex – the mechanic/previous owner carefully went through all the systems to get them working. The shop I use in Burbank is also skilled and fairly priced.
The car now has California USMC/veteran plates (me: RVN, 1968-69) so I mounted a USMC flag for cruising earlier today. Photos at http://1980maserati.com/. Everything done to the car is listed on that web page.
I took photos and shot a video of the right front fender; video at: http://1980maserati.com/fender20191111.MP4.
I don’t see any difference between the paint on the door and the fender. The video inside is not too good; perhaps I can put a light inside and try again if important. Short of removing the wheel, that’s the best I can do today.
The prior owner/mechanic had the car in a bay in his workshop; when the door was open, part of the Maserati was in the sun. However, the paint was sun burned before he got the car.
Nice car
Thanks! I’m hoping someone will agree it’s worth $$$ to have a nice, truly exotic, car.