Quattroporte II Bertone "prototipo" for sale

THis car once belonged to my friend M.L. here in Germany.
We were invited to the Goodwood Festiaval of Speed in 2000 or 2001.

Somewhat strange looking car but impressive.

VEEEERY slow....

But its the only car from approx. 12 examples that runs and is reliable!

Ciao!
Walter

 

Just found the details about this car in my archive:
AM123*004*
Color: bianco. Interior: pelle marrone
Delivered to Auto Paris, spanish importer, on 03/22/1975
Displayed at the 1975 Barcelona Motor Show
Registered in Castellón province

 

Hi Its owned by the collector to whom I sold my QP 1. He did spend a lot of money on the car at Prestige in the UK and I think at McGraths. He had the I,II and III as well as some others. Very good collector so the car would be nice.

If you wanted one this is really the only working example. He did show it at some UK club events too as I am sure I saw it in some photos.

Ciao

 

I remember seeing a driving example at the 1994 Maserati International event in Cortina but I don't know if this was the one?

 

The current owner (for whom that dealership is selling it) did an enormous amount of work on the car. It was before that in poor condition, did not run properly.

I drove it for my book near Goodwood house during the International meet 2009 and while not very fast it is very impressive and a true pleasure to drive: you hear the engine more than expected. The inside is beautiful and very roomy.

With the brand new V8 which was being planned for it (and that engine's one off prototype was tested in a Citroen SM, it is now refitted into an SM which I also drove for my book and articles as discussed here previously) it would have done very well but then suddenly it was all over and de Tomaso killed the QPII.

That engine has an ouptup of 260 to 280hp so it would have been much faster and since this is a sedan the fact that it was a front wheel drive while shocking was not technically an impediment.

Bob it is likely this car that you saw if it was in this color. The only other cream one I know of is now a fossil as it went to the middle east and literally sat in the desert for years.

MS

PS: it would be nice if a moderator corrected the thread title.

Wrong:

Quattroporte II Betrone "protipo" for sale

Correct:

Quattroporte II Bertone "prototipo" for sale

Thanks!

 

Hi Marc.

I just don't remember the color but in 1994 they were rolling out the QPIV during that event which is why they had one around. I think it might have even made an appearance in Cortina but I'd have to check my slides (in long term deep storage) or the HI8 video which I do have available.

I agree that it looks to be in wonderful condition but from a styling perspective it's not much of a looker IMHO. Fantastic that it's been preserved.

What V8 are you speaking about that would have been the eventual production power plant? I thought there was already a "protipio" V8 in a SM? Is that the engine?

 

Hi Bob:

Yes the engine that was tested in an SM was the very first block made to that new specification.

It was destined to be fitted in the QPII after the first 50 cars.

The engine was tested in an SM because there were only a dozen QPII shells whereas there were 12900+ SM's made so they found it convenient.

If you look up the SM V8 discussion we had here in the past you will find out more.

I did an article in the French version of Classic & Sports Car a short one in Autoweek and was quoted in Octane UK.

best regards,

Marc

 

That was a different car and came from Germany also.

Ciao!
Walter

 

This one is for sale here : 1974/3 Maserati Quattroporte II ('75) for sale: Anamera AM123*024
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It seems that many of them were sold via the Spanish importer.

Another one just arrived in France also with spanish reg.CARROSSIMO.com » MASERATI Quattroporte II 1974 ? article 1
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So what would a nut and bolt restoration of the QP II cost?

 

A very big nut!

Kind of neat in a way. Certainly very unique.

How did it get in such bad condition considering how rare it is? That always mystifies me.

 

I've seen two of them up close and personal.

They are completely sh*t really. Piss poor quality, ugliest dashboard I've ever seen, really ugly body, citroen parts, so on and so forth.

Unique yes, but oh my god... what an awful car. Reminds me of those early bitubos... with the bonus of citroen stuff in them...

Oh the horror...

 

Mechanically they are SMs, so that aspect of a restauration should be fairly well known. Body parts and details are unique to the model though and probably very, very hard to find.

 

There is a Khamsin nose evident in that last picture. Are you on the scent Marc??!!

((-;

Cheers all.

Mark.

 

Pity it has the looks of a lovechild between early versions of the Cressida and 929.

 

I don't know that very many consider it a thing of enormous beauty but it is historically interesting. Clearly it was a financial flop. Quirky comes to mind as the proper adjective. Maybe even Edsel like?

 

LOL, quirky was exactly the term girls used on my old Biturbo in high school, sadly, not the reaction I was looking for. Coulda done better with a rusty Jeep with no doors, if you know what I mean. So, that was my next car, and the next, and the next.

 

I still get great reactions and complements for my Biturbo.

 

One of the founders of the swedish Maseraticlub, Staffan Enhörning left a lot of material collected during + 50 years. Here are Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login some original press photos as well as a book describing all technical details. Interesting g to read the introduction and the ”sales arguments”

 

That booklet is extremely rare, I have had one for years and only ever saw one other.

 

Even more so when only 13 QP IIs were produced!

 

It looka a bit like a Peugeot 604...I like the triple wipers. Can we see some of the other QP IIs here?

 

When I have time after KHAMSIN CINQUANTA I will expand. I sold several of them. Here are photos from a trip a few weeks ago when a buyer and I travelled 2000kms in his one off Citroen SM Tissier flatbed to pick up project AM123-032. The seller owns the restored AM123-020, a very unique situation!
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