MASERATI 430 - LAYLA

Due to impending daughter's wedding. the recent purchase of a riverside bungalow and my VW campervan I am reluctantly offering up for auction my Maserati 430 as I am just not getting the use out of it. It comes with MOT until next April and tax until the end of August so is ready for use straight away. We have had two long classic car runs with it this year as well as a round trip to Manchester (450 miles)  but other than that we have only done a handful of short outings. Even after sitting for a week or two it has always started first time so no worries there. The eagle-eyed among you will see that the plate on the front says "Broadland MG Owners Club Heritage Run". I didn't swap this from another car. this charity run is open to all classic and interesting vehicles and we enter it each year. In 2014 we will probably use the campervan. I will be keeping the plate.

This is a powerful luxurious car but be aware it is also 24 years old so it is not perfect. Please. if you are not sure about these cars do arrange to come and view but do not expect me to do wheel spins and burn ups. Original performance data say that this 4 door "family saloon" can do about 150 mph and accelerate from 0-60 mph in 5. 3 seconds. I have never tried these limits but can say it doesn't lack power for normal use!

Last year I foolishly (in hindsight) sent it to my local garage for its MOT. I have used a specialist classic car mechanic for a few years now for my various "fun" cars but at the time his workload meant he couldn't see to it straight away. My local garage is excellent for modern family cars but this one flummoxed them! I got a call after a few hours to say they couldn't start it and they then took over two weeks to try and sort out this starting problem (I had never had a problem up until then) before finally giving it an MOT and telling me to take it away! From then on it did have a bit of a starting problem but I found a technique that worked and we did various classic car runs and outings with no real problems except the power didn't seem to be as good as it had been. Early this year I treated it with a visit to Autoshield the specialist Maserati and Ferrari garage. this was the trip to Manchester. They know everything about these cars and in fact one of the mechanics has this model himself. They worked out that my local garage had really mucked things up. there were wires disconnected. parts missing. parts fitted incorrectly and settings on the fuel system that were way out. They sorted all these out and at the same time they changed the cambelt. As the MOT was due soon they didn't fine tune the engine. we left it that I would drive back home and let my classic car mechanic sort out the MOT and then maybe go back for a final tune up. The drive back was fine. I didn't need my "special technique" to start it and it ran much better although it still needed that final tweek.

It received its MOT and we have done a couple of runs and the odd outing since but lack of time has meant I haven't been back to Autoshield for it to be tuned properly. They. or other older Maserati specialists. are really the best as they can plug it in to their computers which have the necessary data. Autoshield. despite specialising in such luxury cars. are very reasonable with their pricing. They are certainly cheaper than main dealerships of our Honda family car. Although perfectly drivable as it is she would benefit from that tune up.

The bodywork appears to be undented but there is a small amount of rust showing at the top of the front wings. This is similar to what happened with my previous Maserati and should be easily dealt with. The paintwork. being 24 years old. is a little tired with the odd rub and scratch. It might benefit from some T-Cut treatment or could just be left as it is.

The interior was originally all cream coloured but the driver's seat had some wear along the side so I searched for a replacement. I sourced the full interior of another 430 which was blue and have so far replaced the front seats. I think it goes well with the blue exterior. The rest of this extra interior will be included in the sale as well as the original front seats. it includes the glove box. door panels. carpets. centre console and I think the front dash but without the instruments as well as some other bits and bobs. The woodwork is good and the car comes with that sought after gold clock which can be worth a few hundred by itself!

Italian electrics. what can I say? Like my previous Maserati this car does have its quirks at times. The other day I noticed that the front passenger window wasn't lowering. It has done that before and was fixed by tinkering with the wiring in the door itself. I obviously didn't tinker it properly last time! The driver's door key should operate the central locking but it seems to be a bit hit and miss over which doors it may or may not unlock. the driver's door always works though so the others just need to be manually done sometimes. I have not investigated that. I learnt to live with it. What electrics do work? Well the boot release is fine along with the fuel cap release. The sliding sun roof works both tilting or retracting. I never quite got to grips with the heater/climate control system. probably should have read a manual but I could get it to send air through and vary the temperature.

The numberplate is included. it almost reads BITURBO!

There is a load of paperwork that comes with this car. some of it shows that Autoshield regularly serviced it a few years ago for a previous owner. I also have a manual on a computer disc which I will include.

That is quite a story so for the moment I will stop. I have taken many photos so please take a good look at them all as they do form a big part of the auction details. Feel free to ask any relevant questions and I will try to answer them.








































OK. here comes the serious bit.

Please be reminded that bidding on an eBay auction is a legally binding contract. If you are the buyer I will expect a deposit of £200 to be paid via PayPal within two days. The balance can be cash on collection or by bank transfer however the car will only be released after all funds have cleared.

Please do make arrangements to view this car if you have any doubts. these cars are not for everyone and this car is definitely not perfect.

Not so serious bit.

The title of this auction says "Layla". We christened her that after finding out that this car's original owner was Eric Clapton. there is some photocopied paperwork to show this.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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