[DeTomaso] Another Tjaarda car

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/4/09 9 40 59, cclark at ix.netcom.com writes:


> This 1978 Maserati Kyalami was listed and sold on EBay in 12 hours
> for $24k back in October. Supposedly a Tom Tjaarda design when he moved
> to Maserati.
> 

No on two counts--Tjaarda designed the De Tomaso Longchamp, but when De 
Tomaso bought Maserati, he had Pietro Frua spiff it up to turn it into the 
Maserati Kyalami, basically by restyling the nose and the tail, leaving the rest 
of the car unchanged, and substituting the Maserati Bora engine for the 
351C:

http://www.pietro-frua.de./graphics/pics_big/1976_maserati_01.php

Tjaarda never 'went to Maserati'; he was the head of Ghia until October 
'77, freelanced for a few months on jobs for Fiat, and then was hired by Fiat 
in July '78 to be the Director of the Advanced Design Studio.

The Kyalami is a pretty neat car.   There's a decent amount of info about 
it here:

http://www.maserati-alfieri.co.uk/alfieri102.htm

Note that they claim that it's wider than the Longchamp, but it's not, 
unless they're measuring the lips of the front fenders?   The body is different 
from the windshield forward (on the Longchamp, only the center part of the 
hood opens, and it and the grille are a unit which tilts forward, but the 
Kyalami has a conventional hood that is hinged at the rear, I *think*).   But 
the glass, roof, doors, and quarter panels are identical; the rear panel is 
changed to accomodate different taillights, but this is a minor difference.

All things considered, I'd rather have a Longchamp! :>)

Mike