Lowest Mileage TC Around?

[mensanguy]

3,000 miles?

Seems possible.. check it out

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165450238256?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l3160&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=a138b466eb06406b8213a59fbbf9338f&bu=43205158169&ut=RU&osub=-1~1&crd=20220426053726&segname=11021&sojTags=ch%3Dch%2Cbu%3Dbu%2Cut%3Dut%2Cosub%3Dosub%2Ccrd%3Dcrd%2Csegname%3Dsegname%2Cchnl%3Dmkcid

[pesd]

Odometer check,  minor issues???    looks like a beauty though.

[ghostymosty]

The car appears to have no wear except a darkness of the door woodgrain at the inner bottom and the driver seat switch may have been pushed down by a couple of threads. That first mileage listed may have been the mistake due to someone typing in 100 instead of 001. 

[wild bill]

ghostymosty,   How did you get inside info?  I see no inside pictures.

 

[wild bill]

Okay, found all the pictures at the seller sight.  What a nice car.  Didnt see the vin on our vin update list.  Does anyone know the original owner?  Just curious.  Pictures dont show the tool kit, and cant see where the umbrella would go.  But wow what a nice looking car.  Changed my view of the light yellow color.

[gymowner]

ok... so to answer all your questions lol. i bought the car! i did some research prior to flying into chicago to purchase. from the pictures listed on the website there was a letter sent to maserati with a return letter sent back to the original owner. i said "what the hell"... googled him and he appeared! phone number and all. i made the call. an elderly gentleman answered and after a few questions it was the original owner. he remembered the car well after a bit of mind jogging. he owns/owned an aviation company in the danville area of illinois. he verified to me without me even asking that he sold the car in 1996 to a friend in his town with "less than 100 miles on it". he said he owned many many cars and parked it originally in one of the hangers and drove a few laps once  a month to "keep it fresh". his only request was that the second owner "keep it nice and try to keep the miles low". there also is a signed receipt that i have to the 2nd owner back then from the original owner with the bill of sales at 96 miles. so my belief is that when registering the car the dmv made a mistake. i will try to rectify this with the dmv. i own another TC and looking up, down, inside and out i can confirm to the best of my abilities that the car had 3150 at purchase. leather is brand new. all lenses are crystal clear.

 

car has the cd player and original key fob for locking and unlocking the car. probably one of the first out there. stereo sounds terrific. the car has the tool kit, the umbrella with a "made in italy" sticker on it, the original window sticker in plastic and a host of literature that i never have seen before. i spoke with rick out of florida who in my opinion is a guru on these TC's. i told him what i was paying for the car and he said "if you can get it for that, consider it stolen!". so no, i did not buy it for $20995... lo... much less. had the car shipped back to las vegas and now i have the very car i wanted 33 years ago, with the maserati  16v engine and probably one of the lowest mile TC's with the 16v in existence.

 

i am selling my automatic 1989 TC. 88,500 miles. it was repainted in a medium/deep green (originally red) and looks striking with the black haartz cloth top and ginger interior. perfect italian color that should have been used from the factory. interior very nice but at some point the drivers seat should be reupholstered. looks ok but i am being fussy. everything works. air conditioning works fine but i am having the common vacuum issue that at acceleration, the air vents blow down for a few seconds till the vacuum stabilizes then blows back to the air vents. not an issue when using the heat ducts. windows work fine (back driver small window is a little slow but works), locks, power mirrors, antenna and seats work fine. cruise control works. the original radio on/off button sticks which causes the antenna to stay up so i disconnected the radio. i had the upper half of the engine rebuilt about 4 years ago and rear brakes rebuilt last year. also through rick i put on a daytona performance smec unit that was "plug and play" and a blow off valve from a porsche. about 40 extra ponies. all lift struts (trunk, engine, tonneau cover and stowage cover)  were replaced. if anyone is interested or knows of someone who wants to give the car a new home please contact me, john, at 815 258-3422. the car is in las vegas. i will accept what the market feels the car is worth but please be respectful with your bids.

 

Edited June 26, 2022 by gymowner (see edit history)

[wild bill]

Congrats on the new purchase.  I would love to smell it sometime.  Bill

[mensanguy]

Glad to see that all my snooping around and posting oddities led someone to the car they really wanted!!!

[Hemi Dude]

Low miles showing on the odometer usually spells trouble on a 33 year old car. Check out the fuel and brake system carefully, moisture damage in either can be catastrophic. 
Does the odometer even register when you drive the car?

[Hemi Dude]

This was the fuel pump and sending unit from an '89 Arizona bought and owned TC with only 16,000 miles showing on the odometer.

I replaced these items as well as the entire fuel tank on this car. The car, otherwise, was in pristine condition.

[gymowner]

Thanks hemi. I will. So far in a month of ownership I have put on about 100 miles. The odometer works as it should. The only issue is I need to recharge the freon as the system hasnt been touched in many years. At this moment I'm not driving the car much due to excessive heat so it is parked nicely in the garage. I will certainly continue with keeping miles low.

[gymowner]

I actually thought I wasnt found of the light yellow, beige color combo but I have to say it is really growing on me!. I have never seen such beautiful,  perfect rims on a car let alone on from 1989.

 

Good story. When I was chatting with the original owner he started telling me he almost didnt buy the car. The story goes he went to a personal friend that owned a chrysler/dodge dealership in chicago area. when the TC came out, he had to have one with the Maserati engine. So he ordered it and was explicit that no miles get driven on the car. Well he said the car came into Chicago Navy Pier by boat.  I didnt know that could happen but they then DROVE the car the 20 miles or so to the dealership. He was furious! He wanted it flat bed towed to the dealership. With a lot of persuading by his friend, owner of the dealership he went through with the purchase... on one condition. That the dealer flat bed and pay for the car to be sent back to Danville illinois!

[Hemi Dude]

On 6/27/2022 at 6:04 PM, gymowner said:

I actually thought I wasnt found of the light yellow, beige color combo but I have to say it is really growing on me!. I have never seen such beautiful,  perfect rims on a car let alone on from 1989.

 

Good story. When I was chatting with the original owner he started telling me he almost didnt buy the car. The story goes he went to a personal friend that owned a chrysler/dodge dealership in chicago area. when the TC came out, he had to have one with the Maserati engine. So he ordered it and was explicit that no miles get driven on the car. Well he said the car came into Chicago Navy Pier by boat.  I didnt know that could happen but they then DROVE the car the 20 miles or so to the dealership. He was furious! He wanted it flat bed towed to the dealership. With a lot of persuading by his friend, owner of the dealership he went through with the purchase... on one condition. That the dealer flat bed and pay for the car to be sent back to Danville illinois!

I have to wonder about people who buy a car and insist on no, or very few miles be put on the car. It is as though they want to imagine having their own Automobile Museum, just for them to admire and worship their monument parked in their garage. 

I’m just a poor old mechanic who worked most of my life in dealerships as a line mechanic. Personally, I feel that cars are meant to be used, maintained, and kept in as nice condition as possible and at the end of the line, having racked up as many miles as they could over the years. My ‘89 TC has had that opportunity and I was very glad to see the odometer roll over to 300,000 miles on my way back from the TCA Owners Club meeting last September. My TC still looks fairly nice and runs very well. If it could talk, it would tell all those garage queens, “I’ve been everywhere. Many wonderful highway miles over the years.”