25 Jul 2022 – Driven To Write

Maserati for the Masses (Part Two)

Continuing the story of the Biturbo and the models developed from it.

The 1982 Maserati Biturbo was a fundamentally sound design, but a rushed development programme and hasty scaling up of production to meet strong initial demand had damaged its reputation for build quality and reliability.

In a later interview⁽¹⁾, Giorgio Manicardi, Maserati’s International Sales Manager, laid the blame for the Biturbo’s early quality and reliability issues firmly at Alejandro de Tomaso’s door. Manicardi had wanted to launch the Biturbo at a price of 22 million Lira, but it was de Tomaso who insisted on the sub-20 million Lira starting price. “As a result we lacked the [profit] margin to implement quality controls,” Manicardi contended. Moreover, de Tomaso allegedly maintained an iron grip on the project, to the extent that he rejected importers’ pleas for a cover to Continue reading “Maserati for the Masses (Part Two)”

Driven To Write is a collective of writers, fuelled by a passion for the motor car, its culture, its people and their stories. Our aim is to provide a distinctive voice and a diversity of automotive writing you may not find elsewhere. We hope you will join us on the journey.

DTW is non-commercial, self-funded, and contains no advertising.

All original content (words and images) hosted on this site remain the sole copyright of the authors and may not be reproduced or re-purposed in whole or in part without their written permission.