by Mike –
Here is my pick for the classic car for sale today that I would like to own. This was the practical super car from Maserati. The Bora succeeded the Ghibli with 571 being produced from 1971 to 1980.
The steel body was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro of ItalDesign, always a plus for me.
1973 Maserati Bora 4.9 Liter
The seller says,
* High-cost european bumper conversion
* Service records spanning 25 years
* 20,310 original miles
* 4.9-liter dohc V8/330-horsepower
* 5-speed ZF-transaxle
* Upgraded electronic ignition
* Campagnolo lightweight alloy wheels
* Power windows
* Power adjustable pedals
* Complete original factory manuals
* One of the finest anywhere
This Maserati Bora is for sale on eBay with a starting bid of $96,770 and a Buy it Now price of $99,000.
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The Bora has always appeared to be a little compact yet the style still holds up after all of these years. With the price increases of other classic cars from the same era the Bora, like the Ghibli, seems like a good buy.
I like the European bumper conversion – it looks the way that Giugiaro intended. This example has low miles so if it was cared for properly it should be in good shape. The seller did not mention any restoration work. It would be a plus if it has not been restored – one question for a potential buyer to ask the seller.
Let us know what you think about this classic Maserati Bora in the Comments.
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Looks like a great example of an early production 4,9 liter Bora. It is not a real European bumper conversion (European models have the splitted, chromed “oval” grill with the large Maserati trident in between). However, replacing the ugly US plastic bumbers by a chromed one, gives a nice front.
One of my very favourites. It can look a bit heavy viewed from the rear 3/4 but a beautiful car for all that. Have seen one close up and looks even better than in pictures. Wish I had 99k.
Hello:
I was fortunate enough to own one as companion to my Ghibli. This car was designed and manufactured when Maserati and Citroen we collaborating (or did Citroen own Maserati at that time, I do not remember, shame on me). Through this collaboration it has some Citroen features, amongst others the hydraulic boosted brakes. These were phenomenal, in the Maserati one had a proper pedal while on the Citroen one only had a rubber “pear” not unlike some old windshield washer things on the floor. This last one took some serious getting used to. With the Bora it felt as a normal pedal with the difference that they were as good as fade proof with constant pedal pressure. Quite a change with my Ghibli where the brake booster lived in the fender well, separated from the road slpash only by a flimsy metal panel which promptly rusted. It being outside, away from the engine heat made also that, in the winter, when freezing, the booster froze and quit cold (literally and figuratively). I can confirm you that it can be quite hair rising to stop this heavy car with four disc brakes and without boost!
Another particularity was that the seats were fixed, as in some other mid-engined car. The peculiarity was that the steering wheel instrument pod and pedals moved back and forth hydraulically! Very smooth and precise, just a knob, no pulling or pushing needed.
It being an early mid-engined era car, it had it pesky details. Accessibility to the engine was not too bad as long as one did not need to access the front or the oil filter. The latter was on the right-front of the engine somewhere up there and one could only see the top. No space to even put a wrench on. It was a special design with kind of a plate metal formed hex head “bolt” welded on it. The air-conditioning compressor was mounted backwards, as on my Ghibli, thus making it something specific and special and expensive. The worst thing was the belt and coolant hoses layout. The coolant hoses actually went through the belt, meaning if you had the misfortune to throw a belt, one had to drain the coolant as the hoses had to be taken off. Naturally with the engine being virtually in the car, one had to first take out the seats and then the rear “wall” of the cockpit. This made a roadside change of a thrown belt a virtual impossibility.
But, I liked it, although I preferred my Ghibli, I cannot really pinpoint why, just a personal feeling. This does not take away that I would frown up on one when the opportunity presents itself. The sound of this DOC V8 was music and could be heard and enjoyed very well in the Bora, the engine only being inches away from your ears.
For those who think now “Ghibli” what kind of “beast” is that (very few I am sure), or are curious to see what my Ghibli looked like I posted some pictures http://www.hulstaertphoto.us/maserati-ghibli/ If I find more I will post them also, unfortunately I have no pictures of my light blue Bora with the stainless roof.
Well now you make me want one of each! Although I am partial to the Ghibli.
And if you read this recent post you would get the impression that a Ghibli may be a good buy as well:
https://mycarquest.com/2013/06/maserati-ghibli-iso-grifo-or-ferrari-365-gtb4-daytona-which-one-do-you-like-the-best.html
To me the Ghibli stands head and shoulders above the Bora in the styling. Mind, I do not pretend the Bora is not good looking but the Ghibli is considered by many as one of the most elegant cars ever. I also lke the Daytona for its “turdy” look. And, indeed, there is little wich can beat the sound of a V12 going full bore.
The Ghibli has one little known weak point. If it has been idel for several tears, the segments seem to stick and if not driven carefully and at reasonable revs have the tendency of seizing and even rip off the head of the piston, as I experienced at my depends. And, to add insult to injury, the pistons are next to impossible to find, at least then. At that period I also had a second Ghibli, a special one with double clutch. The problem with this one was that one of the discs had to be adjusted with the engine out, te second on, the raditonal way. We were able to figure out how to do it. We even went to the factory were nobody knew neither. We also inquired for the piston, they did not have any but drove us to the specail department, 40 miles further where they machined one down to the correct compression ratio. All for the price of a regular piston !
All in all, if I would have to choose, i would first go for the Ferrari 275 GTB4 (precessor of the Daytona, prefer the styling) and the Ghibli
I have owned a Bora for 12 years and have totally rebuilt 90% of the mechanicals on the car myself. There are always stories surrounding cars like this, the Citroen hydraulics is one example. They are the one thing that lasted the longest before needing repairs on my car. When they did need repairing it was not the end of the world, some O’rings for the hydraulic switches( Maurice Laporte in New Zealand can overhaul the switches for you around $300.00 if your not comfortable doing them yourself) and the all the spheres rebuilt and recharged with nitrogen cost me less than $5oo.oo. All the roller bearings (engine and wheel bearings) can be brought from local bearing companies. The ZF gearbox can be expensive but parts can be bought from RBT TRANSMISSIONS in America. I have never experienced freezing of the brakes as I live in Australia. I presume the hydraulic oil would thicken in sub zero temps and could cause some braking issues, but your the first person to mention this problem in all the years I have owned the car. Changing the belts on the side of the road could be a problem, but if the car is properly maintained this should not occur ( the fiberglass engine bulkhead is not a normally removable item as it is bonded to the body). The only problems I have had when driving about have been from the electronic ignition failing, but there is a section in the owners handbook that tells you how to bypass this unit and run directly off the coil, and this works fine. The Bora for me is a great car to drive and to work on everything on this car is engineered for a reason and to facilitate repairs, probably because it was hand-built. I can’t understand why they are not worth more than they are? though they have increased in recent years they are still a vastly undervalued motor car Kind Regards.
Bora169. Love to have a chat with you. I also am in Australia and currently restoring a 1972 Bora. I have also dealt with Maurice and is the perfect gentleman. Please contact me if your up to a chat with another enthusiast.
.Regards
Greg
Hi Greg,
Interesting to hear from another owner. Can you tell me a bit of your cars history, how you came by it, what number is it? There are probably ten or so Bora’s in Australia at a guess, I personally know of 7 counting your car as a new addition. Regards Ken.
Ken.
Thank you for responding to my email.
My cars original delivery was England. Imported in Australia from what i have been told 2007 Chassis number AM 117157. Original color was Verde Indy but it has been painted red. I intend to restore it to the original green color. I am doing a complete restoration, motor ,hydraulics, bare metal respray. I hope to keep as much of the interior as possible but definitely not the carpets.If you are interested in photos please send me your email. Do you live in Sydney? I was lucky enough to attend the Maserati Centennial celebrations in Italy last month as by sheer coincidence i stayed at the same hotel with a fellow that owned this car in England about 25years ago. He has some magazines etc and is posting them to me.
Regards
Greg
This is a truly awesome car… to look at at least. I’ve never driven one of these babies, but I can’t wait until the day comes. Red is my all time favorite color when it comes to cars. It’s just classic.
Guigiaro is also one of my all time favorite designers. He also designed the Spyder and the Iso Grifo. Absolutely gorgeous designs in my book!
Hi Greg
my email is kenagn@hotmail.com I would love to see some of your photos, unfortunately I Iive in Perth so meeting up is a problem, I will be moving to Brisbane in a few years which wouldn’t be so bad. Interesting with the colour change of your car, I actually went the other way my car, it was originally metallic sky blue but is now rubino rosso metllaic? Back in 1979 I worked up north and used to visit a mate in South Hedland regularly, he had a poster of a rubino rosso metallic Bora on his lounge wall next to a poster of miss Poland. I used to say Wal I’m going to have a car just like that one day (I couldn’t afford miss Poland) he’d say to me Ken you’ll never get one of those! About 2 years ago I tracked him down and invited him over to see me, when I showed him the car he stood there in stunned silence for about a minute before climbing into the drivers seat and looking up at me said SH** as he shook his head.
You will have fun restoring your car, if you are mechanically minded and can do the work yourself it will be a rewarding experience. If you can restore the seats rather than retrim it would be a good move, apart from retaining originality you need to find a master craftsman to trim Bora seats. They are without a doubt one of the most challenging jobs ever. I redid mine, but the trimmer was a good friend of mine and specialises in old cars. I did a lot of the work stripping and reassembling and cutting the latex rubber strips for the ribs, it took weeks! The hydraulics are no big deal except for the headlight/pedal and seat raising cylinders. They were originally a Bosch product from the Grosser Mercedes and are no longer available, I figured out how to dismantle mine after giving up several times, a mechanic told me they were throwaway items! They are actually glued together by a factory injection process, if you look closely you can see one 3 mm and some 1.2 mm exit holes in the cap of the cylinders. I had all the cylinder seals remade locally for about $260.00, the Citroen hydraulics I took to a local guy who rebuilt them all for $300.00. The seal material these days is superior to original which is a bonus. Your car is one of the first imported into England in 1972 to Citroen Cars of Slough, mine was made in 1972 but sold and licensed in 1973. I much prefer the earlier cars mainly because they have a better looking steering wheel and column stalks, incidentally these are like gold. There are guys out there selling stalks that are close to right for $1000’s usually from old Alfa Romeo’s they are Vitaloni products but some just don’t fit without serious modifications. I could go on for a days about what I’ve done over the years but I let you digest this lot first. Regards Ken.