Max at Alfaholics with GTA (R)

Max of Alfaholics in the UK in front of his prized GTA replica

Vintage Alfa leads Maserati GT Coupe

On a race track somewhere in the world a vintage Alfa Romeo GTA leads a more modern Maserati GT Coupe into a turn. This reminds me of my garage. I too have a vintage '71 GTAm (R) in dutch blue that sits alongside my 2002 Maserati 4200 GT Coupe in a dark green (Verde).

Ciao Bella (1971 Alfa Romeo GTAm)

Restoration completed in April 2008 (90% by PMA in California & 10% final work performed by Apex Vintage Racing in Raleigh, NC) For more on this wonderful example of a GTAm visit www.AlfaRomeoGTAm.blogspot.com

Maserati History

Vitaphone take unlikely second in season openerMaserati powers onto podium from 15th on grid
So near, yet so far... the Vitaphone Racing team came within four seconds of winning the opening race of the FIA GT Championship season for the third year in succession, finishing second at Silverstone. Racing the superlative Maserati MC12 supercar, Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini had to settle for second place – and missed out on securing the prestigious Tourist Trophy.
The MC12 has long been the class of the field, securing seven out of ten titles in the three years it has been competing; this is despite the performance of the car being limited by a narrower rear wing and extra weight than its competitors. But the 2008 season did not get off to an ideal start; a wet track, heavy traffic and an unexpected red flag saw Bartels and Bertolini qualify down in fifteenth place, with team mates Miguel Ramos and Alexander Negrão managing to avoid traffic, but could do no better than eighth as they struggled to keep their tires at optimum temperature.
When the race got under way, a heavy mist lay on the circuit – TV long shots showed no cars, only headlights piercing the gray blanket. Bertolini wasn’t going to let the conditions slow him down – he made a charging start, overtaking six cars on the opening lap alone. Making the most of the powerful Maserati V12 engine and the MC12’s great handling, he continued to make progress. Meanwhile Ramos, in the sister car, had held on to eighth until the team brought him in on lap 19. With the track conditions improving the decision was made to fit intermediate tires – and when Ramos immediately went 2s a lap faster, the team knew it was time to bring Bertolini in.
The combination of intermediates and their rivals heading for the pits saw the two Vitaphone Maserati cars climbing up the order; circulating in close company, they were up to 2 seconds a lap faster than the leaders. By lap 39, both cars had made it into the top five; on the next lap it was time for the second pit-stops, with Negrão taking over from Ramos, Bartels from Bertolini.
They each lost only one place during the pit-stops; it was immediately clear that Bartels was on a charge, getting past Negrão on lap 42 to get back into the top five. By lap 46 the two Maseratis had closed on the pack in front of them; Bartels was still fifth, but only 3.2s away from second place! On lap 48 he found a way past the Corvette in front of him to take fourth – and then, on lap 50, the safety car was called into action, to allow a wheel which had become detached from another car to be retrieved. The result was that Bartels found himself less than six seconds away from the lead, a remarkable feat from the eighth row of the grid.

The safety car set up a grandstand finish: five cars within seven seconds of each other, and only 15 minutes of the two-hour race remaining. On lap 54 Bartels made it into the top three; unfortunately Negrão had slipped down the order after making contact with a Corvette going into Copse corner. The battle at the front raged on, with Bartels setting the race’s fastest lap, a 1:47.231, on lap 55. Next time around, he was up to second, going side-by-side with an Aston Martin through Luffield and powering by down the straight.
Only three laps remained, which proved insufficient to allow Bartels to mount an attack on the leader. The Vitaphone team had to settle for second – and Bartels and Bertolini looked delighted with the achievement on the podium. Eight points is a good start to the long, ten-race season, and with Ramos and Negrão picking up two more points for seventh, the team has also begun its title defense with a solid score.

After the race, Bartels and Bertolini were understandably upbeat. “Coming back to score eight points, after our poor qualifying session, was a result we didn’t expect,” Michael said. “It’s a good start to the season. Of course, there are always things to improve, and we’ll be working on them.” Andrea was similarly pleased. “The beginning of the race was quite hard, starting so far back, but we managed to improve, and we scored some important points at the start of the championship. It’s good for the team, because they have been working really hard.”
The next outing for Vitaphone Racing will be on 18th May, at Monza – the ‘cathedral of speed’. The race is on home turf for the Maserati MC12 supercar, so the Italian fans will be out in force, cheering on Vitaphone and Maserati.
----------------

Maserati and Moss – the Perfect PairingA legend’s views on classic Maserati racers
In previous issues of Maserati Monthly, we’ve looked back at some of the famous cars in Maserati’s history, both road cars such as the Quattroporte and Ghibli, and the racing cars for which the Trident is justifiably renowned. This month, instead of profiling one car, we thought we would take a look at several cars, from the viewpoint of a driver who drove all of them. Sir Stirling Moss has been described as ‘the world’s greatest all-rounder’, someone who drove every kind of car on every kind of circuit, including almost every racing Maserati during the 1950s.
He also maintained a comprehensive diary, which recorded everything from his racing exploits to the night life – one entry ends “John took Pat & I to Milan and we checked into the Palace. Had a good meal at the B. Napoli & then went to the Jazz Club VG. Bed at 2:30am”. The diaries were used as the basis of the fantastic book “Stirling Moss – My Cars, My Career”, written with noted auto historian Doug Nye. It's a must-have for any racing fan, and any Maseratisti. An indication of the status that Moss achieved during his dazzling career is that the foreword was written by no less a man than Juan Manuel Fangio, who won the Formula One World Championship no fewer than five times, his final title coming at the wheel of the Maserati 250F. Fangio, of course, is often regarded as the finest driver in history, winning about half of the races he contested. And Fangio regarded Moss as his equal and successor.

The book has separate chapters for each car Moss drove – some getting just a page or two, others being covered in great detail. It is hardly surprising that his two stints with the Maserati 250F grand prix car take up eleven pages – the car propelled Moss onto the world stage in 1954, and took him to the runner-up spot in 1956.

Another version of events is contained in the authorized biography of Moss, by Robert Edwards. This has more flowing narrative, taking events in chronological order rather than splitting them up according to the cars being driven. We have looked at both books, and together they give a very complete overview of Moss’ racing exploits in Maseratis.

The incomparable 250F was Moss’ first significant encounter with Maserati. He had been campaigning a succession of British cars, such as HWM, Cooper-Atlas and ERA, with little success; his family ordered a new ‘customer’ 250F for the 1954 season – at a cost of £5,500! At first, relations with the factory were somewhat strained – Moss insisted on a right-side throttle pedal instead of the traditional Italian arrangement of the throttle being the center pedal, and to get the seating position Moss preferred his mechanic, Alf Francis, actually crept into the factory at night and altered the chassis tubes.

From the first time Stirling drove ‘his’ car, chassis 2508, in its first test at the Autodrome of Modena in April 1954, he loved the car. To quote Edwards, “And it was the most amazing fun. As Stirling started to explore both his own limits and those of the car he realized that he had found, potentially, the ideal dancing partner. If he did not step on the Maserati’s toes, then it would treat him gently in return, but being Stirling, his first steps were far from tentative ones.” Indeed, according to Edwards the 250F did much to shape Moss’ approach to the cars he drove later in his career. “The great thing about the Maserati was that it handled so well, the years of experience that had fed into the design were evident. Stirling was always happiest in a machine that had evolved, as opposed to one which had been designed from scratch. Simply sitting in the cockpit, he could tell that at least a generation of know-how had gone into it; it made every single-seater he had driven up to that point (apart from the brief outing in the Alfa 159) seem crude by comparison.”

The combination of Stirling Moss and Maserati 250F proved to be quick right from the start, and the first race win came within a month, in a Formula Libre event in Britain. Unfortunately, victories were few and far between in 1954; in too many races he was forced to retire by niggling problems, some caused by the team’s unfamiliarity with the car. At other events the team’s ‘customer’ status held them back – in particular, Moss used fewer revs (and thus got less power) than the factory team, because he would have to foot the bill for any engine damage!
A cutaway drawing of the 250F six-cylinder engine fitted with carburettors and a longitudinal section through the same unit.

Yet the potential was clear; in his first grand prix in the Maserati, the Belgian GP held on the daunting Spa-Francorchamps circuit, he finished third, behind Fangio – who won the race in a ‘works’ 250F, and the Ferrari of Trintignant. ”I really had taken to the Maserati… above all, it was just a lovely car to drive. It steered beautifully, and inclined towards stable oversteer which one could exploit by balancing it against power and steering in long sustained drifts through corners,” is how he described it.

Despite being a customer team, Moss and Alf Francis became accepted by the factory – to the point where Alf was accorded the singular honor of having his own workbench within the racing workshop. The Managing Director of Maserati, Omer Orsi, also encouraged Moss to use more revs, offering to pay for any engine failure that ensued. Paradoxically, the success of Moss in the 250F meant that the car saw less use; he was snapped up by Mercedes-Benz for the 1955 season, so the Maserati was used only for non-grand prix races.

Mercedes withdrew from motorsport at the end of 1955, in the wake of the infamous crash at that year's Le Mans 24 Hours. Moss joined the Maserati works team for 1956, as team leader; he won the Monaco and Italian grands prix, and finished on the podium in Belgium and Germany. At the end of the season he was second in the championship, just three points behind Fangio.
As a result of his good performances in the 250F, Moss also raced numerous Maserati sports cars. One example was the 300S, a car which Moss adored. Hardly surprising: in sixteen races, he won nine and took another four podium finishes. “With a record like that, can you see why I have such fond memories of these beautiful cars?... No doubt about it, apart from the ‘Birdcage’ this was my favourite front-engined sports Maserati… one of the easiest, nicest, best-handling sports-racing cars ever made,” was his verdict.

The combination proved successful right from the start, with Moss and Carlos Menditeguy winning the Buenos Aires 1,000km race, then taking victory in the 1,000km race at the Nürburgring with Jean Behra. More victories followed; his final race in the car was in Denmark in 1958, where he finished second. “That was the last time I raced any 300S. It really was one of the nicest of all Maseratis. I remember them and the team, the Orsis, Alfieri, Bertocchi and the other mechanics, with affection. I had found my feet at top level driving their cars, and for three seasons enjoyed a lot of success with them.”

Edwards agreed – in his assessment: “Maserati’s sports cars were very good indeed. Aside from his Aston Martin commitments, Stirling was free to use the new Maserati 300S which was an inspiring car to drive as well as being utterly beautiful. It had the usual Maserati characteristics; neutral handling spiced with a slight natural oversteer and an F1-derived engine which seemed unburstable. The transmission by Valerio Colotti was well-night perfect and it was to be years before it was surpassed, from Stirling’s point of view.”

And the car that surpassed it was, naturally, a Maserati; the Tipo 60, first in a series which became universally known as ‘Birdcage’ due to the intricate latticework of tubes which made up the chassis. Edwards again: “It was as different from previous offerings as it could be; and a quick trip around the Modena test track revealed that it was faster (and more agile) than any 250F, despite its tiny 2-liter engine. Stirling found it enchanting, and after marvelling at the ingenuity of its space-frame construction which provided huge strength as well as being light, asked to see it again later in the season.”

Moss only completed five races in the Birdcage, and scored three victories. The combination won first time out at Rouen, and again in the Cuban GP in Havana. The finest race came in the 1960 1,000 Kms at the Nürburgring, where he shared the car with Dan Gurney. The pair lost half a lap fixing a broken oil pipe during a pit-stop before Dan took over the car. “This was the kind of driving the ‘Birdcage’ allowed. On lap 24 he was 1 min 35 secs behind Phil Hill’s Ferrari. Next lap the gap had shrunk to 47 secs, the lap after that 15 secs and on lap 28 he came hammering past the pits in the lead.”

Stirling’s verdict on the ‘Birdcage’ was simple: “A fabulous car – light, very nimble, fantastic brakes, super steering, enormous torque and good power.” He had no way of knowing that the ‘Birdcage’ would be the last Maserati he would drive during his career as a racing driver; in 1962 he barely survived an enormous accident at Goodwood, an accident which left him in a coma for over a month. He never raced again as a professional driver, but his name and personality remain synonymous with the phrase 'driving legend'.

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TAS finally apologizes

TAS apologizes... but alas it is too late. Unfortunately my campaign to notify potential customers via Better Business Bureau and internet sites will potentially take its toll on the company. Maybe this will be a good lesson for this company and they will teach their customer service reps better manners.

The e-mail exchange between Brad Winkfein (one of TAS owners) and me (some 4+ months after the fact):

-----Original Message-----
From: Brad Winkfein
To: 'JP Saleeby'
Sent: Tue, 6 May 2008 4:50 pm
Subject: RE: 2002 Maserati GT Coupe (Green)

Mr. Saleeby,

First of all I would like to apologize to you for the manner in which you were treated. Regardless of the circumstances it is inexcusable to treat a customer poorly or to respond in a hostile manner and you can rest assured that the proper discipline has been enforced. Communication is the key to resolving any issue, when the parties involved fail to communicate the end result will always be unpleasant.

In reviewing the emails it is obvious where and when the problems began and regretfully it is too late to recover or reach an amicable solution.

Saleeby: Sunday, January 06, 2008 8:17 PM See not to Straightline. Went over the car with Ken... there was a new chip in the findshield that is pretty big... big enough to warrant a repair or replacement. It is not just sand blasted... almost goes all the way thru. Would like to file a claim with you to have that fixed.

Saleeby to Straightline Sun, 6 Jan 2008 9:13 pm: TAS dropped off the car about 3PM today. Transporter did a good job, however there was residue of "oil" on the hood indicating it was under another car (oh well), and there was a large stone chip in the windshield that was not there during the inspection (I could tell it was a fresh chip because there was dust and glass fragments around it), will report this to TAS tomorrow. All in all the car looks good. Under the hood the oil was quite low and the oil cap was almost impossible to remove.. had to use a block of wood and a mallet to break the seal. Don't think the oil was changed in quite a while. None the less, the car was as described and I am pretty happy with things. Planning to take her in for a complete servicing in either Greenboro, NC or Atlanta, GA's Maserati dealerships. Will await the paperwork from you guys so I can get my license and tags.

Merritt Tue, 8 Jan 2008 2:14 pm: Generally windshields are not covered on open shipments. *If there is a claim, it will need to be filed with the carrier and their driver. If you have any questions or need any assistance, please call or email me back at any time.

Saleeby Tuesday, January 08, 2008 1:35 PM: That cannot be true... the driver had a sheet outlying all scratches and mares on the car. This stone chip was new and recent (acquired on the trip). **Please follow up on this as a claim should be filed since damage ocured when the car was transported. *You guys are covered for this I am sure. Why would you not be?
Please pass this information along to Ken who was the driver you booked for me.

Merritt Tue, 8 Jan 2008 3:01 pm: ** Ijust got off the phone with Ken (K&L Autotransport) and he says the pit that you are talking about was already there when he picked up the vehicle from Straightline and is clearly marked on the copy of the BOL that I have. I don’t see anything new added to the BOL after delivery. If you have a copy of the BOL, please send me what you have because everything I have has it marked before shipment.

Saleeby Jan 8, 2008, at 8:45 PM: **Ken pointed out to me some very minor "sand blastings" that were noted on his BOL. However, this particular "chip" was quite significant and NOT on his BOL. I can take a photo of this and email it to you. ***My inspector from CarChex gave an "Excellent" report to all the Glass.... he would not have given such a good mark with this type of chip. One cannot ignore this as it is in the direct line of vision of the passenger seat rider. As I recall my PPI inspector was a passenger during the test drive. No way he would have missed this. So the chip had to of occurred after the Inspection and before the time of arrival in Bennettsville. Other evidence was the fact that there were tiny pieces of glass shards and "dust" from the apparent rock or debris that hit the windshield. Thank you for your consideration, What is the next step?

*Our terms and agreements state the carrier is liable for all damages, according to the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Association we are not allowed to carry insurance on vehicles that are transported by other carriers. As is our policy stated in our terms and agreements you were instructed to deal with the carrier and we would assist you through the process.

**Merritt did follow and called Ken the driver for K&L Autotransport

**If the damage is not marked on the bill of lading as an exception at the time of delivery it cannot be proven that the damage occurred while in transport. No insurance carrier nor carrier will pay for damages without proof that the damages occurred during transport. In this situation the driver said he had marked the chip at pick up and that it was preexisting. He denied your claim at that time and without a bill of lading to prove otherwise there is little that can be done.

***While an inspection is a credible source for the inspection of a car it is very little help in this situation. The inspection did not occur immediately before the vehicle left and does not provide any chain of custody documentation in the way a bill of lading does. There is no proof that the chip did not occur after the inspection but before it was loaded therefore it is not reliable. The inspection is also questionable because you stated you had problems checking the oil and that the oil was low, this leads me to believe the inspector was less than thorough.

It is our goal to provide each and every customer with quality service but in this case it did not happen and for that I am sorry. The emails that followed these are responses from two individuals that are angry the problem is that one is allowed to get angry and the other must try to accommodate, he is not allowed to become angry. While I disagree with the customer service in this situation it is my opinion that the proper outcome in regards to the claim was reached. I disagree with your second suggestion the cost to repair windshields is considerably more than a happy meal and I don’t think that we should bare the expense of paying for a damage not caused by us to a property not owned by us. Damages to vehicles while being transported are unfortunate and We provide a service as a shipping broker we are not the carrier we never had possession or even saw your vehicle. For example if I use a mail store to ship a package through UPS and damages occur while in the possession of UPS I would file my claim with UPS not the mail store. I am sorry that there was damage to your windshield it was unfortunate and I am sure that it detracted from the excitement of getting the car but the policies and procedures that are in place are there to protect all parties. If they are not followed the system breaks down a driver that fails to list or mark a damage when he picks up the vehicle is liable for that damage. I know it is of little satisfaction to you but since you were so adamant the damage occurred during transport we have added K&L to our do not use list of carriers. Our carriers must be trustworthy and honor their responsibilities his refusal to pay your claim proves otherwise.

Please feel free to contact with me with any questions

Best Regards,

Brad Winkfein

Managing Operator

Texas Auto Shipping

4740 Frank Luke Drive

Addison, TX 75001

972-248-9121 ph

972-346-6880 fax

www.texasautoshipping.com

brad@texasautoshipping.com

This email and any attachments are intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. It is the property of TexasAutoShipping, LP and its Affiliates. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email, any attachments thereto, and any use of the information contained are strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify me at 972.248.9121 and permanently delete the original and any copy thereof.

---

From: JP Saleeby [mailto:jpsaleeby@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 10:19 AM
To: brad@texasautoshipping.com
Subject: Re: 2002 Maserati GT Coupe (Green)

Brad,

Nothing against you personally... but there was some confusion about the BOL. The car was dropped off late in the day and under extreme time constraints that did not allow for a complete inspection in the conditions at the time. I do accept the "minor" sand blasting of the windshield, however, there was a fresh "chip" as evident by the "rock dust" still present on the windshield that was at issue. I had a PPI done and it was so big that the inspector would have notice it. It did not leave TX with that on the windshield... I am almost certain.

My issues are this:

Ms. Merritt was rude and NOT a good representative for your company. You should counsel her in the ways of providing good customer service. I take issue NOT with TAS per se or you for that matter, but rather in the manner in which the situation was handled. I KNOW customer service as a director of an ER. I handle hundreds of patient complaints and consider myself expert at conflict management and a purvayor of good customer relations.

As a gesture of good customer relations I would suggest in the future to provide 1. better e-mail and phone relations (I have copies of the corrrespondences with Ms. Merritt) and I will forward them to you. 2. For the price of a Happy Meal for heavens sake... send a windshield repair kit to a customer. It is by far the cheapest way to keep a customer happy and reduce the risk of "bad press"...

I was quite furious with the encounter with Ms. Merritt... that I went on a campaign to "let the world know" how I was treated. I cannot (nor will I) take any of this back... but it should be a lesson to be learned. Now it is your turn to do damage control. For me it is obvious... re-train or get counseling for Ms. Merritt. If her attitude towards your customers doesn't change... consider termination.

Regards,

JP Saleeby, MD
www.saleeby.net
(800) 965-8482

PS: Email threat to follow.

-----Original Message-----
From: Brad Winkfein <brad@texasautoshipping.com>
To: 'JP Saleeby' <jpsaleeby@aol.com>
Sent: Thu, 1 May 2008 6:39 pm
Subject: RE: 2002 Maserati GT Coupe (Green)

Mr. Saleeby,

I am the owner of Texas Auto Shipping and it has recently come to my attention through the Better Business Bureau that you apparently have an unresolved issue with Texas Auto Shipping in regards to the transport of your vehicle.

My understanding (which may not be correct) is that there was a chip in the windshield that we would not pay to repair. According to the bill of lading that was completed by the driver and signed by dealer the damage to windshield was a pre existing condition as it was marked on bill of lading at origin Never the less a damaged windshield is excluded from coverage if it is not a result of driver negligence. The risk of normal wear and tear resulting from driving the vehicle are much the same as transporting the vehicle on an open carrier, in both instances they are exposed to the road. If vehicle needs to be protected from this risk then enclosed shipping is required.

Texas Auto Shipping was not the carrier and any claims in regards to damage should have been submitted directly to the carrier that transported your vehicle. We should assist you in the claim process and act as a mediator between the two parties but we are not the liable party. While we are not liable for the damages it is still important to me to make sure your interest is protected and that you fully understand the process. In this case the damage was on the vehicle when the carrier picked it up. The dealer that sold the vehicle should have repaired the windshield and this information should have been given to you at that time.

If possible I would like you to forward all correspondence that you sent and received in regards to this matter for me to review. My reputation and that of my company is very important to me and I would like to discuss the matter with you at your convenience. I hope to speak to you soon in order to rectify this issue.

Best Regards,

Brad Winkfein

Managing Operator

Texas Auto Shipping

4740 Frank Luke Drive

Addison, TX 75001

972-248-9121 ph

972-346-6880 fax

www.texasautoshipping.com

brad@texasautoshipping.com