The Original Maserati Ghibli Is a Timeless Grand-Touring Benchmark

For more than a century, the name Maserati has conjured visions of the quintessential Italian sports car, long before the Ferrari marque was a twinkle in Enzo’s eye. Founded in 1914 by three Bolognese brothers (Alfieri, Ettore, and Ernesto Maserati), the automaker forged its reputation on successful grand-prix race cars, and, after the war, hand-built sports cars powered by inline-six engines.

A quad-cam V-8, developed in the late 1950s for competition, set the stage for later production GTs. The first series-production Maserati road car was the 3500 GT, debuted in 1957 and built through 1964. It features a coachbuilt body that is a perfectly proportioned design, expressing the elegant and reserved aesthetic for which Carrozzeria Touring of Milan was known. Maserati—unlike Ferrari, who almost exclusively relied on Pininfarina for its signature style—worked with numerous design houses throughout the 1960s, such as Frua, Ghia, Bertone, and Ital Design, creating some genuine masterpieces—one as different as the next.

Which classic Maserati should be a would-be-owner’s first choice comes down to aesthetic preferences, intent, and, of course, resources. (We’ll discount anything with “biturbo” appended to the rear decklid, for reasons having to do with reliability.) The glory days of Maserati road cars spanned a couple of decades, and despite ownership transitions—the Orsi family, Citroen, De Tomaso—the company maintained a continuity of sorts. Hand-built cars such as the first Quattroporte and Mistral express the true Maserati spirit, but the original Ghibli (not the 21st-century iteration adopting the name) was a Maserati masterpiece which, many would say, has since been unequaled by the marque.

The Ghibli, along with the De Tomaso Mangusta, was penned by Ghia’s young Giorgetto Giugiaro (then 28 years old) in 1966. The model was in production from 1967 through 1973. Between the Ghibli and De Tomaso’s Mangusta, the question of which is more beautiful is open to debate, but without question, the Ghibli is the one to drive. A 4.7-liter, quad-cam V-8 engine (offered in 1969 with 4.9 liters in the Ghibli SS variant) is the quintessential workhorse, and made the Ghibli a comfortable, refined GT alternative to Ferrari’s Daytona or Lamborghini’s Islero and Jarama models. If the Ghibli suffers by comparison, it’s only because it falls four pistons short of having V-12 bragging rights, a mostly irrelevant distinction when it comes to performance.

As for the Ghibli’s performance, it was outstanding for the day. A total of 425 coupes were built with a 4.9-liter engine option, which boosted output to 335 hp and gave the vehicle a top speed of 174 mph, making it Maserati’s fastest road car produced up to that time.

The Ghibli catapults two people in comfort across any long-haul road trip, stirring emotions and a five-speed ZF gearbox into the bargain. A three-speed automatic transmission was also offered, and while not as desirable as the manual, it makes entry into the Ghibli world more affordable. The Ghibli coupe was cleverly marketed as  a 2+2, but the cushions behind the front seats—with no backrest—can hardly be counted.

While the 125 examples of the spyder version produced are well into six-figures today when it comes to price, they are no aesthetic match for the 1,170 coupes built. All classic Ghiblis have a tubular frame with a spot-welded steel body. A double-wishbone suspension with an anti-roll bar is up front, while the rear uses a not-so-sophisticated live axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, perfectly serviceable for the Ghibli’s role as a grand tourer.

Selling for about $20,000 in 1972—roughly the same as a Ferrari Daytona or Lamborghini Jarama—Maserati’s original Ghibli has never attained the market value of its contemporaries that have a horse or bull on the hood. Still, exceptional examples are well above $150,000, with a concours-quality car commanding twice the price.

Yet it’s possible to find an example in good condition—fit with a 4.7-liter, five-speed transmission—for around $125,000 to $150,000. Automatics can take a 25-plus percent haircut. An old car today, the Ghibli is best suited to mechanically inclined owners who like wrenching and chasing occasional Italian gremlins. Still, the sight of a real Ghibli on the road, or even on a concours lawn, is a reminder that the Maserati model was—once upon a time—as good as an Italian luxury grand tourer could get.

Click here for more photos of this 1972 Maserati Ghibli SS 4.9 Coupe.