Maserati Ghibli (1967)

The Maserati Ghibli is essentially a sports car built by Maserati in 1967. The two door two seater GT was introduced at the 1966 Turin Motor Show. It signaled Maserati’s comeback to racing since the 1950’s and even did better than the Ferrari Daytona and the Lamborghini Miura.

The Ghibli was was powered by a 4.7 litre engine developing 315 hp. The dry-sump twincam V8 engine with four twin-choke carburettors is different from the ones used in the other cars manufactured by Maserati at that time. The Ghibli is named after an Egyptian desert storm wind and has a distinct look, styled by the famous Giorgetto Giugiaro, who worked for Ghia at that time. This is what Giugiaro said about the design of the car “A very striking, long, flat bonnet, full-width radiator grille, pop-up headlights, a sharply angled windscreen, wide squat sidelights that ended in a vertical segment, and very clean flanks even though the coach-line did have lots of movement to it. The rear end was high for aerodynamic efficiency as well as functional reasons (the two fuel tanks lie behind the rear axle and have a very raised neck).”

Maserati Ghibli

Famous owners of the Ghibli were Sammy Davis junior, Peter Sellers and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Henry Ford II was so impressed with the Ghibli that he even offered to buy up the company.

The Ghibri had a single-plug Bosch distributor with auto advance, coli ignition and two concentric gear pumps. It could be operated by a 5 speed manual or a 3 speed automatic transmission. The chassis was tubular steel ladder-frame platform chassis. The brakes were servo assisted, hydraulic, independent dual circuit ventilated discs. The Wheels were magnesium alloy fitted with Pirelli tyres. The Ghibli could reach a top speed of 265 kilometers per hour (164.5 miles per hour). It also had two 50 litre tanks that allowed the car to travel almost 450 miles at a time.

In 1970 the Ghibli upped its specifications when Maserati replaced the engine with a 4.9-liter V-8 with 335 bhp to fit the American market and their stringent emission control requirements. The Ghibli lasted till 1973 when the new Maserati Khamsin took its place.