1967 Maserati Ghibli

Maserati was established by Alfieri and Ettore Maserati in a small workshop in Bologna operating as a specialist constructor of racing cars. Their first vehicles appeared in 1926 and competed successfully in the Targa Florio the same year. After Alfieri's death in 1932, the daily operations were handled by the remaining brothers, Ettore, Bindo, and Ernesto until 1937 when they sold their enterprise to industrialist Adolfo Orsi, under whose ownership racing car construction continued to be the firm's focus. The culmination of their endeavors was the Maserati 250F winning the 1957 Grand Prix World Championship by Juan Manuel Fangio.

Maserati streets cars embodied the company's racing spirits including the Ghibli that wore a design at Carrozzeria Ghia by Giorgio Giugiaro and introduced in 1966 at the Turin Auto Show. It was named after a Sahara Desert wind and under the hood was a quad-cam V8 engine that was a slight variation on Maserati's proven racing powerplant. It beat the Ferrari Daytona in price (MSRP of $19,000) and rivaled it in straight-line performance, with a top speed reaching 275 km/h (170 mph). For a two-seater, the Ghibli was rather large, measuring 4.5m long and 1.8m wide, yet had a very low height. The dry-sump lubrication system allowed the engine to be mounted deep within the chassis, permitting a low bonnet line and limiting suspension travel ensuring that the tires did not rub the wheel arches. The steeply raked windscreen met a roofline that fell away from the top to the chopped-off tail resulting in a lower cabin area than nearly all of the Ghibli's contemporaries.

The Ghibli and the Mexico 2+2 both used a shortened version of the Quattroporte saloon's tubular steel chassis in its live rear axle form. While many of its rivals used complex suspension designs, the Ghibli employed leaf springs and a single locating arm. The engine was a 90-degree V8 derived from that of the 450S sports racer and first used in road-going form in the 5000GT. It displaced 4.7-liters until 1970 when it was enlarged to 4.9-liter SS form in order to comply with the increasingly stringent emission laws. The horsepower gain was minimal but suitable enough to keep the Ghibli as one of the fastest vehicles on the road. It was capable of 'supercar' performance levels but with all-around drivability, balance, forgiving handling, and exceptional 2+2 comfort. Breathing through four Weber carburetors, the 4.7-liter DOHC V8 offered 330 horsepower at 5,500 RPM and four-wheel disc brakes provided the stopping power.

The coupe body style was joined in 1969 by a Spyder version and production continued through 1972, with a total of 1,274 examples built. The Ghibli SS was introduced in 1969 and came with a larger stroked engine displacing 4,930cc and rated at 330 horsepower. The top speed of 174 mph made it the fastest Maserati road car ever produced at the time. Total SS production amounted to 45 Spyders and 425 coupes. The total Spyders (including the 45 Spyder SS) were 125 examples.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2020