Owned by Ivan Ruiz.
I recently imported this 1980 4.9-litre Kyalami from Italy. This was the last Maserati model to utilize the 450S derived V8 engine that was used on many Maserati cars from the 1960s to the 1980s. The Kyalami was DeTomaso’s first new Maserati model and was derived from the Longchamp. Frua was given the task of taking the Longchamp and restyling it to look
more like a Maserati. The results were quite impressive as the car captures the aura of the Mexico but with a more modern look.
Only 201 Kyalamis were built between 1976 and 1983 with both the 4.2 and 4.9-liter engines. Just 75 cars were fitted the 4.9-litre engine, about 20% of all Kyalamis was automatic. This Kyalami has the 4.9-litre engine with the ZF 5-speed manual gearbox. The Kyalami was never federalized for sale into the USA market and are therefore quite rare in the USA.
