EVO magazine
'I BOUGHT ONE'
A 1994 Maserati Ghibli Automatic
Jeremy Smith
This late 1994 car is a fine example of an early non-ABS Ghibli in standard factory spec, distinguished by its flat-spoke 16in wheels. Later cars had retro-look 17in alloys.
'When I first saw the Biturbo, back in the '80s, I knew I wanted one - as much for the interior as for the performance. However, it wasn't until about three or four years ago that I started trying to find one. After test-driving a number of different models (and there are quite a few), I found that the Ghibli was the best in the range and that, strangely, I preferred the autobox to the manuals I'd driven. There's something so effortless about the smooth way the performance is delivered, quite unlike any other car I've driven. It also holds the road superbly in the dry and is a relaxing drive both around town and on motorways.'
'The Ghibli is reliable and practical too. I can get my two kids in the back or even adults at a squeeze and the boot is big enough to go away for a weekend. Apart from maybe an M3 there is nothing to beat it for performance and practicality and the Ghibli wins hands-down on the style of the interior.'
'However, there are a few drawbacks. Parts and servicing are expensive - I've just had the dreaded engine-out 48,000-mile service - and you need to keep a careful eye out for rust. You do need a specialist to look after the car and there are only a few good ones in the country. I'm lucky because I live close to Bill McGrath's but I'm not sure I would keep the car if I had to travel 100 miles or so to a garage.
I've thought about selling the Ghibli a few times and remain open to offers, but I'd probably go and buy another Maserati. There just isn't another four-seater with the same blend of style and power.'
AND I BOUGHT ONE TOO!
A 1997 Maserati Ghibli Cup
Scott Crane
Fastest and most focussed of all Ghiblis is the Cup, distinguished by its dazzling five-spoke Speedline alloys and slightly Lower ride height. Body is the same as all Ghiblis, but it's a very different animal. The high-revving 2-Litre engine needs working harder, but the rewards are huge.
'It all started in a car park in Soho back in '96. It was a black Maserati Ghibli and love at first sight. I'd never seen anything quite like it before - understated on first impression, but up-close strong, muscular lines that I was immediately smitten with. Four years, a Biturbo Coupe and Spyder later, Mr Metcalfe's very own Ghibli Cup was posted for sale in this publication. I had been following its progress in the 'Fast Fleet' articles and knew it was the car for me. So I bought it. I'll never forget the day I first saw it when the garage doors were pulled back - I was almost back in Soho again only this time the Ghibli was a bright red Cup and - crucially - mine.
'Enough about the looks, what about the drive? The acceleration is phenomenal and a lot more progressive than my previous Biturbos. A couple of times I hit the rev limiter as it can climb the gears at quite a pace. I love the engine; the fact that it's a 2-litre V6 producing 330bhp blows me away! I've been on a couple of tracks with it and have by no means taken the car to its limit yet but I think that the two members of the Hertfordshire Constabulary I 'spoke' to on the M1 last summer might disagree with me there; it's dangerously easy to attain high speeds in this car without noticing.
'As for maintenance, apart from regular servicing, in the the two and a half years I've had the Cup I've only had to replace the radiator and invest in a new set of S02s. Though I also had the front re-sprayed and new cam covers, but that's 'cause I'm a fussy git! All in all, it's still my dream car - an outrageous performer and beautiful to behold.'
AND SO DID I!
A 1997 Maserati Ghibli MY94
Enrico Pederzolli
I bought my 2-litre Ghibli, that produces a stomping 306 bhp, in Italy. And, I'm laughing because I don't have to worry about having to pay £#4,500 plus VAT for one of my turbochargers! Mine only cost £#1,170 plus VAT!!!!
"The Little Ghibli stays at home"
The greatest shame about the Ghibli is, for UK buyers at least, the BEST GHIBLI OF ALL will be left at home. It has only a two-litre version of the twin-turbo V6, but before you dismiss it as an Italian tax-breaker, consider this. Its engine comes direct from the Barchetta racing car, which means 306bhp at 6250 rpm and 276 lb ft of torque. It also means you get a six-speed gearbox as standard.
"Its punch is extraordinary. A day at Goodwood with the entire Maserati range confirmed it to be a better car than even the mighty V8 Shamal. The engine is smooth, incredibly flexible given its small capacity and soaked in torque: I found you could balance it through Goodwood's fiendishingly tricky corners with a precision and confidence I cannot remember from another turbo car. Maserati's UK importer says it will not sell the car because it feels customers would react against being asked to pay £#35,000 for a two-litre. They would if they drove it!"
- Andrew Frankel, Autocar, 1993. Maserati Ghibli - Buying Guide
The Maserati Ghibli - 'Very few cars at any price will entertain and involve like the Ghibli'
'Understated aggression, a charismatic twin-turbo V6 engine, four seats, and all for less than £#20K. So what's the catch?'
By Jethro Bovingdon
The following article first appeared in the March 2002 issue of EVO car magazine.
Published with the kind permission of EVO www.evo.co.uk
In the annals of evo history, the Maserati Ghibli is perhaps the most important car ever produced. If it hadn't been for a chance meeting between a Ghibli-owning farmer and a bunch of discontented and soon to be unemployed motoring journalists, then this very magazine may never have happened. But this, isn't just a trip down memory lane for our illustrious overlord, evo MD Charles Harrison Metcalfe. It's a guide to how you can get your hands on a genuine piece of Italian exotica for under £#20,000.
Maserati had been in the wilderness with the shoddily constructed Biturbo for more than ten years when the Ghibti was launched in the UK in 1993. The company had a reputation for producing fast but fragile cars - a stigma that it is still striving to shake off - and the cars sold in tiny numbers. The Ghibli was an evolution of the Biturbo theme, but a radical. enough departure to be taken seriously against the German opposition. Its 2.8-litre V6 produced 284bhp and 305lb ft - sufficient to endow the Ghibli with supercar-slaying performance - the muscular styling oozed understated aggression and the chassis improved upon its wayward predecessors almost beyond recognition. Maserati was back.
Unfortunately very few people seemed to notice. Despite fantastic write-ups in the motoring press, Ghiblis trickled out of the official concessionaires, Meridien in Lyndhurst, at a glacial rate. From 1993 '98 Meridien imported 150 Ghiblis, and another 17 were imported in '99 by Ferrari UK when it took over the rights to sell the trident-bodged cars. This means that Ghiblis are scarce on the used market. Fortunately there are specialists who will help you find one. And, thanks to that rarity, the network of specialists is almost certain to have knowledge of any Ghibli in the UK.
There are pitfalls to buying a used Maserati but do your homework and you'll be rewarded with a car with huge performance, bucketloads of charisma and an extra helping of Italian flair. There are cheaper performance cars, but none offers the Maserati's blend of practicality, passion and pace. In truth very few cars at any price will entertain and involve like the Ghibli. And if it's good enough for Harry...£# Evolution£# All Ghiblis share the same sheet-metal, whether an early '93 example or one of the final 1999 cars. But don't be fooled into thinking they're mechanically identical too. For, as we'll see, some Ghiblis are definitely more equal than others. In the UK there were three distinct models and one very rare special edition.
The new-generation Ghiblis first went on sale in 1993 for £42,000. They rode on seven-spoke 16-inch wheels and are distinguished by their lack of ABS braking. The engine was a development of that used in the last of the old Biturbo range - the 222 4V and 430 4V - and featured a new engine management system comprising of direct injection and a separate ECU for each bank of cylinders. These first cars were offered with either a ZF five-speed manual or ZF four-speed auto. The auto was the more popular choice in the first couple of years on sale but later the split was 75:25 in favour of the manual.
In '95 the Ghibli gained bigger 17-inch wheels in the style of classic Maseratis, together with a Bosch ABS system, in which form it became known as the Ghibli ABS. Otherwise it retained all the internals from the earlier car, including the Torsen differential with its oil-cooler - and therein lies a problem. A development from the Biturbo arrangement, the diff was under a lot of strain with all that turbocharged torque - hence the need for an oil-cooler. Maserati, in its wisdom, fitted the cooler directly below the axle and only inches from the tarmac - it means sleeping policemen are a real no-no. The diffs also have a tendency to whine and occasionally bang. On cars with 16-inch wheels the cats can also ground-out with alarming frequency.
The big shake-up came in '96 with the launch of the Ghibli GT. In came the rear axle from the recently developed Quattroporte (which in turn had taken it from the Ferrari 456), while tubular rear lower wishbones borrowed from the Ghibli Open Cup one-make racers replaced the earlier pressed steel trailing-arm set-up, and the clunky five-speed ZF gearbox was ditched in favour of the much sweeter Getrag six-speeder used in the Quattroporte and BMW M3. The four-speed auto was still an option. The most obvious visual clue new alloy wheel style - now a ribbed seven-spoke design manufactured by Mille Miglia, though the diameter remained at 17in.
The GT is the most desirable of the standard Ghiblis, not only because of these upgrades but also due to the dramatic improvement in build quality over the previous versions. Protection against rust was increased and the general fit and finish was a marked step forward. In '98 the factory was shut down for a comprehensive modernisation; when it reopened 250 Ghiblis were produced before production ended the following year. These are probably the very best quality Ghiblis made, though GTs generally have an air of quality that the earlier cars lack.
A recent trend in the secondhand Ghibli market has been the increase in the number of lhd Italian imports to the UK - probably around 30 so far - and experts expect the numbers to grow due to the weak used values in the home market. Apart from the obvious disadvantage of lhd, these Italian cars are quite different from UK or 'Export' models as they were dubbed.
Draconian tax laws in Italy mean that any car with an engine of over 2 litres is heavily penalised and hence the Ghibli was only offered with a 2-litre version of the twin-turbo V6 throughout its production life in the home market. Perversely this relatively tiny V6 produces a thumping 306bhp - 22bhp more than UK cars - and greatly affects the character of the Ghibli. Not because it is much quicker but because it requires more effort to extract the performance. The rev-limiter is set higher at 6750rpm (6250rpm for the 2.8) and maximum torque is down from 3051b ft at 3500rpm to 2751b ft at 4250rpm.
Hardly a VTEC, the 2-litre engine nevertheless changes the overwhelmingly torquey nature of the Ghibli 'Export' and means you have to be more committed to drive it quickly. For some this is a good thing and the Italian-spec car is a more rewarding drive. Prices are as much as 30 per cent lower for a lhd Ghibli and as the model changes came in to force a year earlier in Italy (i.e. the GT was launched in '95) an import can be a very good buy. Be wary of very early '92 import cars, though, as they don't feature direct injection and have a cruder suspension set-up at the rear.
The 2-litre engine also features in the fastest and most focussed of all Ghiblis - the 330bhp Cup. Based on the first Ghibli Open Cup series racers, the roadgoing Ghibli Cup was produced alongside the GT from 1996 to 1998. Only 86 were made, of which 26 were rhd. The Cup has larger, four-pot Brembo brakes with drilled discs, shorter, stiffer springs and changes to the suspension bushing, 17-inch split-rim five-spoke Speedline alloys, a freer-flowing exhaust system and a modified engine management system. Mechanically the most important change was the adoption of roller-bearing turbos to cope with the boost needed to achieve 165bhp per litre.£# 'The Cup is perhaps the ultimate evolution of the Biturbo concept'£# Inside, the Cup eschews the traditional lavish wood trim in favour of carbonfibre and leather. Drilled pedals, a smaller Momo Corse steering wheel and aluminium gearknob confirm the Cup's more uncompromising nature. Harder-edged than any other recent Maserati, the Cup is perhaps the ultimate evolution of the Biturbo concept. It is also likely to be the most desirable Ghibli for years to come.
The earliest Ghiblis are slipping down to around the £10,000 mark and even a late '99 car can be had for under £20,000. The important thing is to speak to the people who have looked after it - chances are it will be one of the small handful of specialists - and ascertain that it has been maintained regardless of cost. If it hasn't you could be facing some frightening bills. Find a good one, though, and you're in for a treat. Fabulous one minute, frustrating the next, you can guarantee life with a Ghibli will never be dull.
WHAT THEY SAID AT THE TIME -
'With a quad-cam, twin-turbo V6 doing the talking, this Ghibli offers some truly startling performance figures. It also provides huge grip followed by progressive, easily controlled drifts' - Autocar
'Magically special moments come when you work harmoniously with the Cup, keeping the engine in the singing rev band, using the roadholding and handling to its best advantage, wallowing in the sheer excitement of the massive thrust of the engine'- Performance Car
SPECIFICATION
Maserati Ghibli (and Ghibli Cup)
Layout - Front engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine - V6, twin-turbo, 2790cc (1996cc)
Max power - 284bhp at 6000rpm (330bhp at 6750rpm)
Max torque - 305lb ft at 3500rpm (274lb ft at 4000rpm)
Transmission - Five-speed manual (six-speed post-'96) or four-speed automatic
Suspension - Front: MacPherson struts, coil springs, arb
Rear: '94-'95 semi-trailing arms, coil springs, arb
'96-'99 multi-link, coil springs, arb
Steering - Rack and pinion, PAS, 3.0 turns lock to lock
Brakes - Front: 283mm vented discs (307mm vented discs)
Rear: 283mm solid discs (316mm vented discs)
Wheels - Front: 7 x 16 (8 x 17) Rear: 8 x 16 (9 x 17), alloy
Tyres - Front: 205/45 ZR16 (215/45 ZR17)
Rear: 225/45 ZR16 (245/40 ZR17)
Power to weight - 208bhp per ton (235bhp per ton)
0-60mph in 5.6sec
Max speed 165 mph.£#
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.JPG)
