TMC:Southeast

April 2013

La Macchina Sportiva di Pr estigio Italiana

Fellow Members: Spring is here and its time to pull the cover off of your Maserati, disconnect that battery tender, do a little spring maintenance, give her a wash and wax, and hit the road! Well, in Tennessee, the weather has not really cooperated for that first group drive. In fact, Nuccis Italian Cars and Motorcycles was cancelled, along with the spirited drive, fine lunch and Italian wine tasting that were to follow. But fear not, all has been rescheduled for June 1st. I hope the date works better for our members as the Maserati Club sponsored wine tasting was to include more Ferraris and Lamborghinis than Maseratis. In this months edition of La Macchina Sportiva di Prestgio Italiana, you will find some nice pictures and prose from Dwight Lowie on the outstanding New Years Eve party hosted by Kai and Susanne Dyhr. As always, Dwights writing does not disappoint. Additionally, you may find that some people look pretty good in a moustache! Founder and Past President of TMC:Southeast Chapter, Mike Demyanovich, has provided us with a review of the book, Maserati // The Citroen Years 1968-1975, written by Mikes friend Marc Sonnery, with a Foreword by Jay Leno. Information on how to obtain one of these books is included in the review and you can be sure I will own a copy. Interesting facts about ethanol from Mike Gillespie as presented in the Ferrari Club:Tennessee Chapter newsletter will have you cringing the next time you fill up that classic Maserati, or a modern one at that. And A.C. Donahue tells us of his first time. Owning a Maserati, that is, and I think he is hooked. Welcome to the dark side, A.C.! I have to say, Im really proud of this newsletter because it is member written. This demonstrates your belief and enjoyment in this club and those who belong. Lets keep that going, shall we? Tom and Connie, please dont hesitate to supply information and/or articles on the Keeneland Concours dElegance. Anyone have something to say about Amelia Island
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NEWSLETTER

(Ivan perhaps)? Bill and Joan, are we headed to the Louisville Concours dElegance? Tim Gallagher, that 3500 GT is beautiful. Any chance of the story behind it? And lets not forget our Florida members. Wed like to hear from you! Dont forget, if youd like to contact any of the leadership team, you may e-mail all of us at tmcsoutheast@yahoo.com or any of us individually at: Kai Dyhr, Vice President - kaidyhr@gmail.com Tom Rossi, Treasurer - tomr@acctresource.com Geoff Sanderson, gsanderson99@yahoo.com President-

New and Upcoming

New Members
I mentioned these members in the last newsletter, but in case you forgot who they are, TMC:SE would like to welcome M Lanier and Beverly Woodrum from Roanoke, VA and Micheal Spurgeon from Nashville, TN to the club.

9:30am. Please e-mail Kevin Fielden at grigio308@gmail.com with the year, make, model and color(s) of your vehicle before the event. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 10 - 12, 2013 2013 Coppa Alpina at the Topoco Lodge in Robbinsville, NC and surrounding area. A regional Ferrari Club event, the Maserati Club has been invited back. Of course we have, we were the life of the party last year! Lodging accommodations can be made directly with the Tapoco Lodge via their website, http://www.tapocolodge.com. Registration for the event is at http://www.fcacoppaalpina.com. Coppa Alpina is a celebration of all things Italian car owners have become accustomed to, fine cars, great food and wine, luxurious lodging and of course, spectacular drives. Saturday, June 1, 2013 - Nuccis Cars, Motorcycles and Coffee at Nuccis Italian Ice and Gelato in Franklin, TN. Starting at 8:00am, the parking lot behind Nuccis will be reserved for owners of Italian cars and bikes. Breakfast will be available from Noshville Deli for $12.00 per person. Nuccis is located at 2000 Meridain Boulevard, Suite 100, Franklin, TN 37067. At 10:00am, the Ferrari Club: Tennessee Chapter will sponsor a two hour road trip through picturesque Williamson County, ending up at Angelos Bistro for lunch. Following lunch, the Maserati Club: Southeast Chapter will sponsor a wine tasting of wines from the growing regions around the Maserati and Ferrari factories. The price for the wine tasting is $15.00 per person, payable to Geoff Sanderson or The Maserati Club. Discounts will be offered to all attendees by our host, Cool Springs Wine and Spirits. For any club members who wish to stay the night in the Nashville area, I would be glad to arrange accommodations and find a place for dinner Saturday night. Please e-mail Geoff Sanderson at the e-mail address provided on the first page if you wish to do so. Saturday and Sunday, June 29 - 30, 2013 - A picnic, entertainment and the Sensuous Steel exhibit. I am still working on the details, but providing the weather is clear, we will have a mid-summer picnic Saturday afternoon with entertainment in the evening. Sunday, all owners of Italian cars and motorcycles will gather at the Frist Center for the Sensuous Steel: Art Deco Automobiles exhibit. The parking lot will open to us at

Upcoming Events
Saturday and Sunday, April 6 - 7, 2013 - Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL. Unfortunately, AIM Autosport has chosen not to respond to my request for a pit tour, interesting considering a few members of the Ferrari Club were to attend, some of their biggest fans, I would suspect. But all is not lost as Mark Buford has stepped up and arranged a tour of the Multimatic Motorsports pits and transports. Multimatic fields four Aston Martins, one of which is driven by Marks son, Jade, the pole sitter in the last two races. Thank you, Mark, for stepping up for your fellow members and other Italian (and Porsche) owners. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 19 - 21, 2013 7th Annual Motori Italiani - A Celebration of Italian Motoring in Charlotte, NC. Sponsored by the Charlotte Area Ferrari Enthusiasts (CAFE), we tried to attend this event last year, but the weather did not cooperate. Well, lets try it again. Well leave from Lenoir City on Friday at 10:00am EST and take a drive through the mountains provided by Dwight Lowie. Our host hotel will be Courtyard by Marriott Ballantyne. As there is a golf outing that weekend, the only rooms available have two queen sized beds and are offered at $119 per night. To reserve a room, a special webpage has been set up for the Maserati Club at http:// www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/CLTBL? groupCode=MASMASQ&app=resvlink&fromDate=4 /19/13&toDate=4/21/13&stop_mobi=yes or by calling 1-800-321-2211. Our group code is MASMASQ. Villa Antonio will be our stop for dinner Saturday evening. Sunday, we will return at our leisure. Registration for Motori Italiani is $15 per vehicle payable at the event. Registration includes a $10 certificate for lunch at 131 Main Restaurant, about 4 miles from the hotel and the host for the event.. We will be meeting at Ingles Market behind McDonalds at 404 Highway 321 N #1, Lenoir City, TN 37771 around

11:30am, one-half hour before it is open to the public. At noon, we will enjoy a boxed lunch in the Frist dining hall before entering the exhibit. Cost for the boxed lunch and exhibit is $23.00 per person and reservations can be made through Mike Gillespie, 2000 Mallory Lane, Suite 130, Box 158, Franklin, TN 37067. Payment and reservations must be made no later than June 7th. If you have any questions, contact Mike at mgillespie@comcast.net. Saturday, July 20, 2013 - Keeneland Concours dElegance. Currently, this is not a Maserati event, but if anyone would like to make it so... Saturday, October 6, 2013 - Louisville Concours dElegance. Currently, not a Maserati event either, but Bill Dempsey has informed me that it is moving to a much better location. Perhaps we need to create an event? Saturday, October 12, 2013 - Atlanta Italian Car Day in Norcross, GA. Members who have attended this event previously have had nothing but good things to say about it. Ill be going this year, for sure. Friday and Saturday, October 18 - 19, 2013 Eurofest in Spartanburg, SC. Several club members attended this event last year and we had a good time. Are there any other events youd like to add to the Upcoming Events section? Please let any of the leadership team know and we will add it.

haven't noticed, so am I and if you pick on my jokes you'll never find George.) Now back to the party. New Year's Eve we congregated at Susanne and Kai's abode where there was an abundance of good food, wine, whiskey, beer and much, much happy camaraderie. They were terrific hosts.

The huge bottle of wine that was supposed to last all evening was emptied well before the acorn fell.

The Maserati Club South East Chapters New Years Celebration 2012/2013
By Dwight Lowie Seeing as how a New Years celebration is traditionally a time for like minded folk to gather together, The Maserati Club of the Southeast (TMCSE) decided we must, once again, have a New Year's function. As many of you know our group, while nominally called a car club, is actually a drinking club with a Maserati fetish. (OK, OK the joke is older than dirt but if you There were several reports of Peggy trying to sneak the empty out to her car. You may think this unlikely and this reporter did not actually see the act but the lady in question does have a history of her own personnel fetish about huge, empty wine bottles. Makes one think hmmm. Somehow along the way it has become a tradition for us to observe the changing of the year for at least 2

time zones. (Well it gives us more chances to drink.) This year was no exception. The first time around we all got raucous but this reporter is one somewhat hazy about the 2nd.

In honor of our new president's handlebar mustache everybody schnauzered up with some paper substitutes to surprise him. He did appear bemused. As usual the ladies all looked lovely even with the addition, the men not so much.

After the celebration was over for the evening the kind folk from Crossville put all the long distance travelers up for the night which was much appreciated. This reporter could not have made it to a hotel much less home. The morning after hungover, aching heads and all we repaired to the afore mentioned Peggy and Clayton's house for brunch. They were great hosts, the food was delicious and seeing as how we had to break up the party and head home mid day there was very little bubbly imbibed. Always the exception to the rule notice the only two fisted drinker in the group.

A report by Mike Demyanovich on: MASERATI // THE CITROEN YEARS 1968 1975
Written by Marc Sonnery

It would be fair to say that a good time was had by all, especially this reporter.

The history of Maserati as a company is shrouded in mystery. While there are numerous books about Ferrari, virtually little is known about Maserati from the corporate perspective. Sure, theres lots of information

about the technical aspects and driving impressions of the cars themselves, but what about the factory and the personalities that brought these fabulous driving machines to life. Virtually no book exists that delves into the various eras of Maserati, which succinctly put, are: the early years, aka the Maserati brothers era, the Orsi era, the Citroen era, the De Tomaso era, and currently, the Fiat/Ferrari era. The book being reviewed here, delves into the Citroen era, an era that brought us the fabulous Bora, Khamsin, and Merak. Maserati // The Citroen Years 1968 1975 is a 510 page in-depth analysis of the factory, the cars, and many of the people and personalities of that time. The genesis of each model Maserati produced from 1968 through 1975, along with numerous other projects they were involved with, is explored in great detail, along with numerous never-before-seen photographs. Among these many projects are the Citroen SM, the Quattroporte II, and the Ligier Maserati JS2. The author, Marc Sonnery, does an excellent job of interspersing the genesis of the cars and projects with interviews of the people and personalities of that time. And thankfully he did, as many of them are no longer with us. Their thoughts, observations, and insights would be lost to Maserati history without these interviews. If youve ever wondered if Citroen mandated the use of the hydraulic systems in Maserati cars, or if one person was responsible, the answer lies in the pages of this book. If youve ever wanted more information about what type of man and personality the famous Maserati test driver, Guerrino Bertocchi, was, the answer lies in the pages of this book. If you want to know why it took six wheels to build a Maserati, the answer can be found in these pages. Did Maserati design and build a new V-8 engine, besides the beloved one derived from racing and found in virtually all the great GT cars? You guessed it, the answer can be found in this book. Additionally, more detail is presented about the internal controversy and struggle regarding the Bora model. And much, much more! There were so many projects and ideas floating around our beloved Modenese car manufacturer, most of which were unknown until now. You will learn about them here. From my own point of view, I must say the book was extremely fascinating. So much so, that I finished it in about two and a half weeks. Once I started reading, it was difficult to put down. The stories, anecdotes, and interviews are top notch. Although I never gave it much thought, it was extremely interesting to learn

what many of the Italian employees thought about being owned by a French company, quite surprising in fact. The grave realities, when the oil crisis hit, and the responses by both the Italians and the French tells us a lot about the company and the people who worked there. Mr. Sonnery also provides us with some insight into the next era, namely the DeTomaso era, as Citroen was winding down. And we finally learn the real reason why Engineer Alfieri was let go immediately following the DeTomaso takeover.

If you are a Maserati owner and/or enthusiast, I highly recommend this book. In my opinion, Maserati // The Citroen Years 1968 1975 is the definitive book on this era in Maserati history. It is a reference that every owner/enthusiast should have on their shelf. Finally, some of the mystery, at least as it concerns the Citroen Maserati years, can be lifted. ENJOY THE BOOK!! Ordering Information: http:// www.eaurougepublishing.com/site/maserati-thecitroen-years Approximate Cost: $170 (includes shipping) (Cost may change depending upon exchange rate) Wondering what is under the blue cover on the first page? So am I. With its long nose and fastback design reminiscent of the original Ghibli, could this be the 2014 model of the same name? Does the similarity of the powerful rear fenders to the new Quattroporte give it away, knowing that the new Ghibli is expected to be a four-door? We will know April 19th when the veil is removed at the Shanghai Auto Show.

Things That Are Costing You Money & Destroying Your Vehicle
Contributed by Mike Gillespie Preface: Fuel Systems and Ethanol Fuel Older vehicles made before 2004 do not have fuel system components that can stand up to the highly corrosive effects of ethanol-blended gasoline. As ethanol has infiltrated the nation's fuel supply, more and more people are witnessing firsthand how ethanol dissolves rubber and plastic parts over time and draws water into the fuel. Beyond this, ethanol reduces gas mileage (it has less energy than gasoline does). Depending on what state you're in, it may actually be illegal to buy ethanol-free gas at the filling station. Here are the 5 facts you need to know to protect your vehicles and your wallet Fact 1: Ethanol is an alcohol added to gasoline by federal law, which is costing Americans more of their money this year than ever before. A recent study performed by the US Automakers warn drivers that additional Ethanol added to our fuel could cost them $4,000 in repairs on each vehicle they drive. Fact 2: You get lower mileage on ethanol-blended gasoline than regular gasoline because ethanol has less energy in it. E10 users already see a 3 - 5% drop in fuel economy. With E15 being pushed out nationwide within a year, you can expect an even larger drop in fuel economy from this blend. Fact 3: Ethanol attracts moisture from the air, which destroys the quality of the gasoline and strips away a good amount of the octane rating of that fuel due to phase separation. You end up with a layer of poor quality gasoline and a layer of water and ethanol in the bottom of your fuel tank that can damage your engine if it's sucked up into the combustion chamber by your fuel line. Fact 4: Ethanol is corrosive to rubber, plastic and even some metals like aluminum. Over time, this process can destroy seals, gaskets, fuel lines and other key components of your engine costing you breakdowns and extra repair costs. Fact 5: You can protect yourself from the damaging effects of ethanol with Ethanol Defense by Bell Performance. Bell has supplied Antique Automobile Club of America with the above information and they can be contacted at http://www.bellperformance.com/ fuel-treatment/ethanol-defense/. AACA does not

endorse this product nor have they done any testing. This is offered purely as educational and you can make your own decision on the value of the product. We all surely know that ethanol is an enemy of many of our collector cars.

Why a Maserati? The Converted

By A.C. Donahue I have long been a fan of British marques Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin. I have an expeditionready Range Rover in Land Rover AA Yellow, and have been blessed to own four Jaguars. Yes, this is the TMC:SE Maserati Newsletter, and no, you dont need to start booing just yet. In 2010, I was on the prowl for an Aston Martin. Once I got a feel for the markets prices, I wondered to myself what other exotics could one purchase in the same price range. I started looking at Ferraris, Lotuses, and yes, Maseratis. Then I found her. She was red . . no . . Rosso Modiale. Even the color was lyrical. As beautiful as she was, she was equally menacing. Her black OZ Racing wheels and low profile tires put her potential new owner on notice that she would be fast. I watched the auctions listing till it sold. Frankly, I was surprised by the price. Still trolling car websites a couple of weeks later for my next boy toy, and there she was again. It was fate. Fate had clearly put her back on that auction website just for me. I called the seller; the first buyer couldnt come up with the cash; we talked a while; exchanged a few emails; and the deal was done within a day. The 2002 Maserati Coupe Cambiocorsa was mine. I now owned a red Italian sports car. Not just any Italian sports car, but a Maserati. She was in Texas and I was in Kentucky. Now to wait for the car hauler. During that time, I did a lot of reading about the history of Maserati racing and their cars as well as the reintroduction of Maserati in the United States with the model I had just purchased. I joined Maserati forums; bookmarked Maserati websites; and waited. Finally, that day arrived. Oh my gosh! When I heard that thing fire up in the car hauler, I turned and looked at my friend who was there to share the moment with me. He had the same astonished look that I surely did on my face. It was music! A mix between an aria from an Italian opera and

the violence of head-banging heavy metal rock. Next came the reveal, and the smile on my face was found there for days to come. Since that day I have been the doting owner of a passion with four wheels. As I drive it around town, people hear it coming before they see it. Cell phones are constantly seen stealing a memorable shot of my baby. For me, she is my therapy. I work hard and sometimes I have especially long weeks. I get into my baby; fire-up that 4.2 liter V8; flip the paddle; and my therapy begins. Dont tell my wife, but the therapy is pretty much instantaneous. I really just take those long drives to help get out the old gas so that I can put in fresh gas.

Later, the bank's President and its officers all enjoyed a good laugh at the redneck from the South for using a $200,000 Maserati as collateral for a $5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then drove the Maserati into the bank's private underground garage and parked it. Two weeks later, the redneck returned, repaid the $5,000 and the interest of $23.01. The loan officer said, "Sir, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out on Dunn & Bradstreet and found that you are a Distinguished Alumni from Ole Miss University, a highly sophisticated investor and multi-millionaire with real estate and financial interests all over the world. Your investments include a large number of wind turbines around Sweetwater, Texas. What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow $5,000?" The good 'ole boy replied, "Now son, where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $23.01 and expect it to be there when I return?"

Joke for the day

Compliments of Mike Gillespie, but modified slightly for Maserati members. You may have heard this before, but for those who have not His name was Bubba, he was from Mississippi, and he needed a loan. So, he walked into a bank in New York City and asked for the loan officer. He told the loan officer that he was going to Paris for an international redneck festival for two weeks and needed to borrow $5,000; and that he was not a depositor of the bank. The bank officer told him that the bank would need some form of security for the loan, so the redneck handed over the keys to a brand new Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale. The car was parked on the street in front of the bank. The redneck produced the title and everything checked out. The loan officer agreed to hold the car as collateral for the loan and apologized for having to charge 12% interest.

Fino al prossimo tempo

So ends the April edition of The Maserati Club:Southeast Chapter newsletter. Ringraziarla to Dwight Lowie, Mike Demyanovich, Mike Gillespie and A.C. Donahue for their articles and support of the club. Our next issue is slated for around the 1st of May and will include additional events and articles. Until next time