According to the CarFax report provided by the seller, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Maserati Spyder has had a remarkable 10 owners over the course of its life. Will its price have you wanting to take it to eleven?
I have discovered that there is a certain correlation between our votes and the TTL, or “Time to Live” of the ads we judge. If we overwhelmingly vote down an ad, it generally has a low likelihood of being pulled by its author, thus validating our opinion. Contrastingly, if an ad gets pulled during our decision process — as was the case with yesterday’s 2006 Pontiac Solstice — then it’s very likely that the votes will end up being in the seller’s favor. Justifying my theory, that Solstice was apparently sold as t the ad was pulled by the seller while we were the process of voting. At the same time, the Solstice took home a huge 83 percent Nice Price win at its CAN$7,950 asking price. See? The system works.
Yesterday’s Solstice may have been nice, but what if you wanted a convertible sports car that was a bit less... let’s say, plebeian? Say something with a racing heritage and maybe a bit of Italian flair thrown in for good measure.
If that sounds like the cut of your jib, then this 2002 Maserati Spyder should be right up your spinnaker.
Maserati introduced the Tipo M138 Coupe and Spyder to the U.S. in 2001, initiating a new-found dedication to the American market. A new Quattroporte would follow two years later to round out the reinvigorated lineup. The company developed the Coupe and Spyder siblings under the ownership of Fiat and the parentage of Ferrari, the latter having been given control of the marque. Because of that connection, the cars carry a drivetrain with rich Ferrari lineage.
The engine is the Ferrari/Maserati F136 V8, a 4244cc all-alloy mill that was factory rated at a healthy 385 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque. A less positive attribute of the marriage of marques is the Ferrari-designed Cambiocorsa six-speed gearbox fitted to most of the cars, and this one in particular. These always require a deft touch to drive smoothly at low speeds and can suffer from comically short clutch lifespans.
This Spyder has done a mere 68,000 miles over the course of its nearly two-decades of life. The seller claims that the car is “blast to drive,” and in regards to the mechanicals, says that the “Engine sounds amazing ,transmission shifts very good. Suspension and brakes are tight.”
Aesthetically, the car has a lot of hits and only one obvious miss. The Blu Mediterraneo Metallic paint looks to be in terrific shape and is complimented by a set of handsome factory alloys. The blue cloth top seems to fit without issue and while the rear window is plastic on these early cars, this one seems clear and unclouded. On the downside, no word is given in the ad on the age or tread depth of the tires, nor when the last major service was performed.
The interior is where the car shows its age. As a positive note, the dashboard buttons and switches don’t appear to have turned gummy and unpleasant to the touch, a common problem on these models. Less happily, the leather on the passenger-side airbag cover is puckering as though the underlying padding has given up the ghost. A similar situation afflicts the seats, although the leather itself seems to have held up remarkably well, with no tears or rub-throughs evident in the pics. The cream and blue color combo has also held up very well, and as a fun aside, the air vents in the dash are the same type used on yesterday’s Pontiac.
Other pertinent info offered in the ad includes the car’s title status being clean and the offer to ship the car for an additional cost. It also states that the reason for the sale is a recent purchase of a Porsche 911 Turbo. The CarFax overview provided in the ad claims a history clear of accidents, but rife with owners — ten in all to date. That’s like Elizabeth Taylor marriage numbers.
To become lucky number 11, one would only have to come up with the seller’s $13,900 asking price. Well, that and a bit more should you need it to be shipped to you because you’re too lazy to actually go and buy the car in person. I don’t know, maybe you’re under house arrest or something, I’m not here to judge.
You are, however, here to judge and now it’s time for you to judge this Maserati and that $13,900 price. What is your verdict? Is that a good deal for this Spyder as it sits? Or, for that much, would you demand the rarer manual over the Cambiocorsa?
You decide!
Chicago, Illinois, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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