Maserati Ghibli (1967)

The first Maserati Ghibli, internally the Tipo AM115, is a grand tourer that Maserati built from 1967 to 1973. It was developed under the engineer Alfieri and shown on the Ghia stand at the Turin motor show of 1966, and it took its name from the dry Libyan scirocco wind, following Maserati's custom of naming cars after winds. The first cars were made in March 1967 with a 4.7 litre V8 of 310 CV fed by four carburettors, a top speed of 270 km/h, a five-speed manual or three-speed automatic gearbox, pop-up headlights and a fuel tank divided into two halves. Giorgetto Giugiaro drew the low, sharp body for Ghia, and it sold better than its direct rivals the Ferrari 365 Daytona and the Lamborghini Miura. A Spider appeared in 1969, with only 125 built against 1,149 coupes, and from 1970 the Ghibli SS had a 4.9 litre dry-sump V8 of 335 CV and a top speed of 280 km/h. Production ended in 1973 when the Khamsin replaced it.