Maserati Barchetta

Johnny Prezemullo · #1 06-14-2009, 10:16 AM

Yesterday I was offered a Barchetta which always had my interest. I have had both modern and classic Maseratis including a Ghibli Primatist with a engine more or less similar to the one in the Barchetta. But I have no idea about the handling, braking and driving performance of a Barchetta. If I buy one I would like to have a road registration.

Has anybody made any experiences in driving a Barchetta ?

Regards
Johnny

**wbaeumer** · #2 06-14-2009, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Prezemullo

Yesterday I was offered a Barchetta which always had my interest. I have had both modern and classic Maseratis including a Ghibli Primatist with a engine more or less similar to the one in the Barchetta. But I have no idea about the handling, braking and driving performance of a Barchetta. If I buy one I would like to have a road registration.

Has anybody made any experiences in driving a Barchetta ?

Regards
Johnny

Johnny,
I drove it last September for some laps on the Porsche circuit near Leipzig, Germany. The car is perfectly balanced. It goes very neutral in corners and just before coming coming out it has a little tendency to understeer - but nothing serious! The brakes a great when warm. Steering is light an progressive. Only problem is the gearbox as transmission goes on 2 different levels. This stresses the gears after some time and you have to check the gears once a year! Also I had to get used in doing gearchanges without a "gate".

The car is very light an this comes good for a car that hasn`t so much engine-power! I really liked it.

There is a fantastic car -fully restored!!- for sale in Germany yet.

Ciao!
Walter

Johnny Prezemullo · #3 06-14-2009, 12:59 PM

Thanks for prompt reply. Do you have any background informations about this Barchetta ?

**wbaeumer** · #4 06-14-2009, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Prezemullo

Thanks for prompt reply. Do you have any background informations about this Barchetta ?

I`ll send you a PM!

Ciao!
Walter

**staatsof** · #5 06-15-2009, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbaeumer

Johnny,
I drove it last September for some laps on the Porsche circuit near Leipzig, Germany. The car is perfectly balanced. It goes very neutral in corners and just before coming coming out it has a little tendency to understeer - but nothing serious! The brakes a great when warm. Steering is light an progressive. Only problem is the gearbox as transmission goes on 2 different levels. This stresses the gears after some time and you have to check the gears once a year! Also I had to get used in doing gearchanges without a "gate".

The car is very light an this comes good for a car that hasn`t so much engine-power! I really liked it.

There is a fantastic car -fully restored!!- for sale in Germany yet.

Ciao!
Walter

Now that car I would like to drive. We shall have to talk about this later this week at Pocono. You know there's one 50 miles from Pocono but it never shows up.
The owner is a character and most likely it doesn't run anyway. It would be nice to see it though.

Bob S.

**Ferraripilot** · #6 06-15-2009, 06:17 PM

Very neat car. The Chubasco concept car used the same chassis I believe.

**wbaeumer** · #7 06-16-2009, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by staatsof

Now that car I would like to drive. We shall have to talk about this later this week at Pocono. You know there's one 50 miles from Pocono but it never shows up.
The owner is a character and most likely it doesn't run anyway. It would be nice to see it though.

Bob S.

Bob,
dig him out of his house!!!

Ciao!
Walter

**wbaeumer** · #8 06-16-2009, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lvferraripilot

Very neat car. The Chubasco concept car used the same chassis I believe.

Yes! And Agnelli knew exactly why he pushed the bottom to make DeTomaso cancel that concept! It was much more advanced than anything Ferrari made until then.

Ciao!
Walter

**Nembo1777** · #9 06-16-2009, 02:01 AM

There was an article in the TMC clubs Il Tridente about that chap from a small town in the northeastern US who has that Barchetta -the only one in the US I think- and he had strange ideas such as going to a tiny show in the middle of muscle cars where of course he felt completely out of place with the car.

Could this be the car that Mr Prezemullo has been offered?

I saw 001 run twice in recent weeks at Charade and le Vigeant in France, it is second on my list of desired track cars after a 333SP but unlike the latter you can drive it on the road!

best regards,

Marc

**staatsof** · #10 06-16-2009, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nembo1777

There was an article in the TMC clubs Il Tridente about that chap from a small town in the northeastern US who has that Barchetta -the only one in the US I think- and he had strange ideas such as going to a tiny show in the middle of muscle cars where of course he felt completely out of place with the car.

Could this be the car that Mr Prezemullo has been offered?

Marc

I doubt it but if it is beware as I don't think it's ever been made track ready since he's owned it. Several of us have tried numerous times to get it to the show & track but he will never bring it to Pocono. It's a long and tortured but quite funny story. He has an EB110 that runs on LP gas too.

But all of the cars in his collection are quite literally built from either sh*t or garbage.

I'm the one who took the pictures of it at the New Hope Penn. USA show. They're on Enrico's website.

Bob S.

**Ferraripilot** · #11 06-20-2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbaeumer

It was much more advanced than anything Ferrari made until then.

Ciao!
Walter

no doubt there. the suspension and ground effects alone were 10+ years ahead of their time. It would have blown everything away until the Mclaren F1 and F50 showed up.

dmj · #12 05-22-2012, 08:15 AM

Had a nice conversation with Mr. Carlo Gaino, stylist of Barchetta, a few weeks ago. He generously offered me to send him further questions by email if needed, so, as I'm planning to do so in a few days, if anyone here has any specific Barchetta-related question I'd be glad to include it. (Questions about De Tomaso Guara and Lancia ECV-2 are also welcome).

licodix · #13 05-22-2012, 10:24 AM

[quote=Johnny Prezemullo;138728748]Yesterday I was offered a Barchetta which always had my interest. I have had both modern and classic Maseratis including a Ghibli Primatist with a engine more or less similar to the one in the Barchetta. But I have no idea about the handling, braking and driving performance of a Barchetta. If I buy one I would like to have a road registration.

Has anybody made any experiences in driving a Barchetta ?

Yes, drove one Barchetta the other day - and it was quite funny - but only on the racetrack. I know they had big problems setting up suspension for road use - which may have caused the accident of Chief engineer Gamberini back in the 1990s.
Shame they seem to be all off-use now more or less.

**wbaeumer** · #14 05-22-2012, 01:03 PM

[quote=licodix;141469384]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Prezemullo

Yesterday I was offered a Barchetta which always had my interest. I have had both modern and classic Maseratis including a Ghibli Primatist with a engine more or less similar to the one in the Barchetta. But I have no idea about the handling, braking and driving performance of a Barchetta. If I buy one I would like to have a road registration.

Has anybody made any experiences in driving a Barchetta ?

Yes, drove one Barchetta the other day - and it was quite funny - but only on the racetrack. I know they had big problems setting up suspension for road use - which may have caused the accident of Chief engineer Gamberini back in the 1990s.
Shame they seem to be all off-use now more or less.

The combination of the complicated gearbox-position and the 2-liter engine is clearly not made for road-use. I drove a car that had been converted to the bigger 2.8-liter engine but for this configuration the gearbox is causing more trouble. This converted car was road-legal with official German registration. The gearbox-situation is the weakest detail on the Barchetta.

But it drives fantastic in standard configuration (...on circuits!).

**Ferraripilot** · #15 05-23-2012, 01:04 PM

As I see it, it appears the suspension arms are very short and geometry in general are pure racing configurations which I could never see being setup for road use.

**staatsof** · #16 05-23-2012, 01:33 PM

Walter, I don't quite understand what you're saying about the gearbox being a problem?

As for driving these on the road, there's so little protection for the driver I would think it's not such a good idea anyway.

I'd still like a drive in one at the track but I don't think this is a car I'd want to own.
It looks like it would be very difficult for some parts like that fuel cell in the center tunnel.

**wbaeumer** · #17 05-23-2012, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by staatsof

Walter, I don't quite understand what you're saying about the gearbox being a problem?

As for driving these on the road, there's so little protection for the driver I would think it's not such a good idea anyway.

I'd still like a drive in one at the track but I don't think this is a car I'd want to own.
It looks like it would be very difficult for some parts like that fuel cell in the center tunnel.

The gearbox is not the problem. Problematic its the position of it on a different level. Transmission comes via an additional bearing. This stresses the gearbox and is causing problems when the car is used a lot. This problems are increasing when the 2.8 engine is installed as this motor has more torque (which is better for road-use!).