#15 - The Midlife Italian Job
It’s most likely that over the course of your lifetime you will succumb to some form of automotive itch in need of good scratching. It’s an innate feeling which if left unattended, often manifests into something more commonly known as the midlife crisis. Ergo, while not always financially rationale, we often find the best prescription is to…..well give it a scratch!
From big Bentley’s to lary Lambo’s, the urge to have childhood pinup parked on your drive at some stage in your life is undeniable and while what you pick is ultimately down to personal preference, the most frequent popper upper in google search boxes often tends to involve something red with a prancing horse on its bonnet.
The lure of a car conceived in Maranello is hard to avoid. In the increasingly regimented and bland world we live in, the Italians are in many ways the last bastion of heart leading head and performance over practicality. But while this ideology on paper seems faultless, the reality can be slightly more sobering. You see, having a naturally aspirated V12 basking in plain sight as you gently caress the left hand shift paddle and hear the exhaust crackle as it finds a new gear all the while watching the road plunge out of the mountains and down to the Rivera coast is a borderline erotic experience. The bill you receive when you need to change cambelts or a clutch is less so…….unless Sadomasochism is your thing.
And this has always been the biggest anxiety when purchasing an Italian sportscar. They all seem to hit a point where problems begin occurring. Whether electrical gremlins or mechanical failures, 9 times out of 10 it happens outside of the warranty period, with little warning and a substantial dent to your bank balance. At least that’s what you are led to believe.
The single biggest failing of the internet these days is how easy it is to unearth horror stories. You can find thousands of pages about fatal airplane flights, but it’s much harder to read about all the ones where both plane and passengers make it to their destination unscathed and on time. And it’s the same with cars. You always hear the about the guy who bought a Ferrari 355 and then had to shell out nearly the cost again for a new clutch and gearbox. The reality is, that’s the exception not the rule.
Which is how I find myself staring at a dark blue Maserati 4200 GT. It’s a 2003 car which has presided with its current owner ever since it was bought from Ferrari Egham as an ex demo….in 2003. Since then, it has covered a conservative 60,000 miles, comes with a full service history and a suitcase of invoices.
This was and still is a very important car in Maserati’s history. It succeeded the 3200 as the first new car to come out of the Fiat/Ferrari rebirth of the company. The late 90s/early 00s were an awkward time for car design but the 4200 in many ways defied its peers. It was elegant in a traditional GT coachwork way but also looked extremely imposing. However, what really made this car so special was the motor powering it. The Ferrari F136 engine deserves a lot more credit than it often gets. In different guises, it has powered Ferrari, Alfa and Maserati V8 cars for in excess of 18 years…..everything from the Maserati 4200 to the Alfa 8C and Ferrari 458 Speciale have used it. It was awesome but more importantly in the 4200GT, it was the last Maserati to be offered with a manual gearbox option.
Anyway, back to the blue car. It’s currently on the market for £14,500. That’s not a typo…..for the price of a brand new Fiat 500 Abarth you could be driving around in Ferrari powered Maserati. So what’s the catch? In truth, there isn’t one. Yes Italian electrics can occasionally have a mind of their own (an easy reset of the fuse box typically addresses that) but they actually work better when they are driven regularly as opposed to sitting in garages collecting dust. The engine and gearbox are bulletproof as long as you service them regularly and keep fluid levels topped up. A lot of these cars have had thousands of £ thrown at them over the years by their adoring owners. The manual gearbox tends to be more durable (and more fun) than the relatively archaic Cambiocorsa electrohydraulic paddle shift manual. Yes there are some dogs for sale out there but a quick perusal of the owners forums will highlight what to watch out for.
This is a car that has unfairly lived in the shadows of its Maranello brothers for most its life. That’s all about to change in our view as the relative value of these cars becomes better understood. Your apocalyptic downside scenario is you lose maybe £5k if you had to break the car down into parts. Your upside…..well we wouldn’t be surprised if these were trading in the £20-25k price bracket over the next couple of years. So scratch that itch and buy a Maserati 4200 GT……it’s one of the few decisions made from the heart that can actually appease the head.
Happy Motoring,
CC’s Investment Team