Maserati Biturbo: the fantastic plan of Alejandro de Tomaso

When Alejandro de Tomaso acquired Maserati in 1976, he had ambitious plans for the marque. His plan was to combine the prestige of the Maserati brand with a sports car that would be more affordable than the earlier high-priced models that had traditionally made up the Maserati range. The Biturbo was initially a strong seller and brought Italian prestige to a wide audience, with sales of about 40,000 units. Sales figures fell in subsequent years, due to enormous problems of reliability (much better on the '90s models), until de Tomaso sold the company.

The Maserati Biturbo is a sports car introduced by Maserati in 1981. The Biturbo was a two-door, four-seater notchback coupé featuring, as the name implies, a two-litre V-6 engine with two turbochargers and a luxurious interior.

The car was designed by Pierangelo Andreani.

The Maserati Biturbo was the first ever production biturbo engine.

The 2 liter version featured wet aluminium sleeves coated with Nikasil. The aluminum 90 degree SOHC V6 engine was roughly based on the 2.0L Merak engine. Itself based on earlier V8 Formula One Maserati engines, designed by Giulio Alfieri (1924 - 2002). The last street version featured over 150 hp/liter and 140 ft·lbf (190 N·m)/liter torque.

All Maserati models from the Biturbo's introduction in 1981 until 1997 (except the Quattroporte) were based on the original Biturbo architecture, among them the four-door 420/425 and 4.24v, the Spyder, the Karif , the 228 and 2.24v, the Maserati Racing and the later Shamal and Ghibli II.

Two years after Biturbo introduction was unveiled four door family version. This version has longer wheelbase, 2.6 metres (100 in).

The Spyder version was introduced in Turin Motor Show in 1984. The car was designed and built by Zagato. This version has shorter wheelbase, 2.4 metres (94 in).

The last model of Biturbo age it's called Shamal.

Dedicated to the true lover of top-level sports-car driving, the car stands at the top of the range in performance and technical attributes, with no sacrifice in comfort and class. Designed by the Maserati Design Centre in conjunction with Marcello Gandini. A powerful 325-bhp engine, mounted on an extremely rigid chassis, a system of active intelligent suspension, electronically adjustable, an overdimensioned braking system and a six-speed gearbox make the Shamal a car that is as thrilling and safe over high-speed bends and long motorway trips as it is docile in bumper-to-bumper city traffic.

" In conclusion, the Biturbo age was fantastic for sales (more than 30 cars/day) and for a resurrection of the Maserati brand, was very interesting under technical aspects but was also a hard period because the company, maybe, was not ready for a massive production.
Anyway the Maserati Biturbo Dream is still living and the testimony are the 500.000 results on Google, the Biturbo Club all over the world, the smiles and the emotions that feel the owner for his 228 or 430 (more, believe me, more than the tears and the swearword)."

Maserati Biturbo Video on MinMO TV: http://madeinmodenamotorvalleyandmore.magnify.net/video/Maserati-Biturbo

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