Thursday, August 24, 2006

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!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Jonny,
Not a day passes without me reading your absolutely wonderful blog! Since a couple of years I've been driving a 1996 Ghibli GT and I'm very satisfied with it. Although I have little knowledge of the technical side of this car, your adventures in order to improve your Ghibli somehow really fascinate me. Keep blogging, please, and thanks a lot!
Best wishes,
Erik.

PS-ssst: let's keep it a secret how magnificent this car actually is...

Jonny said...

Hi there Erik

Thanks for the positive feedback!

I write this blog mostly for my own amusement and to log all the stuff I find out about the car so that I don't forget it! But I'm really glad they you find it all useful and interesting.

I've no intention of stopping, since it keeps me entertained. Things will probably slow down in the winter though when the car's off the road to avoid the salt.

Good luck with your Ghibli and don't worry... the secret's safe!

Cheers... Jonny.

Anonymous said...

Hi there Jonny,

Nice and interesting blog you have here. Keep on going, it´s nice to see people who cares about this nice car.
Mine is a 1995 Open Cup.
That traction control could be great to drive on wet conditions!!! I will follow your progress!

All the best,

Eduardo