Description
15th Feb, 2025 11:00
The February 2025 Auction
1989 Maserati Karif
A stunning piece of Italian motoring art
Estimate
£15, 000 - £17, 000
Buyer's premium: 15. 00%
Lot details
Registration: B3 PGP
Chassis: ZAM339B00KA190009
Odometer: 38, 000
Transmission: Manual
MOT: January 2025
Huge amount of paperwork
Stunning looking example
RHD UK registered
Blistering performance and 1980s chic
Now then folks, here’s an opportunity that may never come around again! We are offering a Maserati Karif Coupe finished in Rosso Maserati with contrasting Pelle Avorio trim with walnut wood trim. An absolutely amazing combination and very Italian, in fact, it could only be the Italians who could create a car like this and we should feel gifted that they chose to sell some of them in the UK. The Maserati was first registered on 19/ 12/ 1989 to its first owner, a Mr A Zagorsky of London, by the then Maserati dealer Grayshott Motor Co. of Surrey. This is confirmed by the original service book, which contains 7 stamps, and is accompanied by some original sales brochures and dealer information, a host of older MOTs, invoices and receipts. It even comes with a breakdown of the servicing, details of previous owners and a lovely letter from Maserati showing its registration details. All lovely history to have, and something you don’t usually see a lot of but it’s a gift to have with this car.
These words at the time of its launch sum up the Karif:
"While the Karif does hark back to great days, it is still in keeping with the new philosophy, this car does not compete with any Ferrari model, even though it will be priced closely to the GTB. It is a car that can be used every day and can be driven in a city with ease; you cannot say that about any Ferrari. Of course, the car looks quite normal, it's international. An enormous amount of effort and time has gone into the Karif developing the engine, which is quite different, developing the suspension, into developing the final drive, there's been a long wait, but we wanted something unique" (Alessandro de Tomaso, launch in April 1988 at the Geneva Motor Show)
“The Karif can accelerate with the sort of alacrity of a Porsche 911 Turbo, yet looks almost as discreet as a Ford Escort, it easily matches the performance of the Ferrari 328 GTB" (Car magazine April 1988)
During this time, Fiat were the majority shareholders and restricted production to just 200 examples, with 25 right hand drive. The Karif offered here is Number 9 and it presents very well. This is a very rare opportunity to acquire a future classic. Values of the unwieldy Maserati Shamal have tripled in the last year, and most of these rarer Maserati's are in private collections or have been acquired by museums.
To some, this is the perfect Maserati in lots of ways; great colour combination, the only one to have; a private plate, which suits the car very well; the paintwork is in great condition; the interior is fabulous, even down to the iconic dash clock, quad exhaust, de-chroming; and great wheels on good tyres. To add to the car’s desire, here’s some numbers that will make you understand what it is all about:
285 bhp
0-60 in 4. 8 seconds
Top speed of 158 mph
Apparently only 200 Karif’s were made and only 25 where RHD
Chassis number 9 so it is an early example
The history also tells us that it has been in 3 major Italian car collections, hence the condition. It comes with a fresh MOT so is ready to enjoy straight away. This would be a very hard car to replicate with its colour and specification, let alone its history. Noone will ever build a car like this again - go on, you know you want to…
