Maserati Ghibli review

This review has been on the web for quite some time, but I thought I'd put a link to it here anyway... just for completeness!

It's interesting that they only give it three out of five, but give it four out of five for value? Still, I'm not complaining... one of the good things about the Ghibli is that it's exclusive... so I don't want people going 'round saying how good it is and then lots of people wanting to buy one... I want it to remain a secret!

An example of what I mean is the older BMW M3s (against which the Ghibli was pitched). Technically, these are very good cars (although I'm not so keen on the aesthetics of them), but they're really common and all sorts of unscrupulous characters own them! Also, since the M3 is essentially a hot version of a mass produced car (the BMW 3 series), you inevitably get people who think that simply sticking an M-Power badge on their crappy 318 will transform it into a racing machine... or at the very least trick people into thinking that they indeed possess the real deal.

At least with the Ghibli there's no risk of this happening, since a Ghibli is a Ghibli. In my humble opinion, there shouldn't be different versions of a car. It should be designed for a specific engine... specific suspension... if a car manufacturer thinks that they can improve a car model, then they should do so and then only offer that car (which is how the Ghibli evolved). When BMW bring out an M version of their car, what they're really saying is that the "normal" car is sub-standard. A car should be designed for a specific purpose... a Grand Tourismo (GT) car is designed with one objective... to get from A to B as quickly and as comfortably as possible. This is what the Ghibli fulfils. A classic Fiat 500 was designed to be small and cheap... and this is what it is. It's not designed to be small, cheap... and fast. So don't buy a tuned Fiat 500 and think that you're cool.

Think of a Fiat 500 and you think of a little bubble car with skinny little wheels. Think of a BMW 3 series and... well, you don't instinctively think of the M version... you think of a four seater saloon. Think of a Ghibli and you instantly think of a fast car.

Blimey... this has turned into a bit of a rant!