The Maserati Ghibli is 55 years old

Hello Garagiste and Garagisti!

Today we are talking about a milestone among the iconic Italian cars that has just celebrated its 55th anniversary: the Maserati Ghibli.

On November 3, 1966 a rainbow ripped through the gloomy sky of the Turin Motor Show: at the Ghia stand for the first time the public could lay their eyes on the taut lines of the newborn Ghibli. A car destined to remain in the annals of Maserati. The Ghibli, designed by a very young Giorgetto Giugiaro working for the Ghia studio, was named after a wind, in full Maserati tradition. A North African wind that is hot, dry and, not surprisingly, impetuous.

With the Ghibli, Maserati presented a grand tourer with a sporty yet elegant DNA. It was fitted with a 4700cc V8 engine derived from the Mexico and capable of developing 330 HP (6000 rpm). This powerful V8 pushed the Ghibli to 265km/h and made it touch 100km/h in 6.5s. Four years later, the SS was presented with an increased displacement of 4900cc and 335HP (5500rpm) capable of raising the speedometer to 285km/h.

We were talking about the sporty DNA. In fact, in order to keep the center of gravity lower and to be able to lubricate well all the parts of the engine even at high revolutions and independently from the lateral and longitudinal accelerations, it mounted a dry sump. This allowed the engine to be mounted lower than standard.

These mostly mechanical and sporty goodies were accompanied by the luxury and elegance of leather seats, air conditioning, adjustable steering position, reclining seats, rear window with defroster, electric windows and so on (optional in some versions).

We want to add a couple of curiosities known to few. The first: some of the lucky customers of the Ghibli were given an object that is still considered a masterpiece of Italian design: a custom Campagnolo corkscrew.

An anecdote, on the other hand, tells us that the Ghibli was chosen by an important industrialist from the Veneto region, who loved to enjoy the cool temperatures in his home in the Dolomites during the summer. But how could he bring a 4.7-metre car (an uncommon size in the late 1960s) to his villa along the narrow roads of the Dolomites, and how could he adequately shelter it from the weather of the mountains? So he had an entire road widened and built a special garage that still exists today!