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Maserati Ghibli S: Who cares what Joe Walsh thinks?

404bhp worth of twin-turbo Ferrari V6 is no error

Vulture at the wheel When Joe Walsh sang “My Maserati does 185, I lost my licence so now I don’t drive”, he was lying. In 1978 no Maserati could do that speed.

He could have had been talking km/h, in which case it might have been an earlier-generation Ghibli: that did 155mph, or 174mph if he had the Ghibli SS. The Ghibli S reviewed here won’t do 185 either – it tops out at 177 – but it is still plenty quick enough to get your licence taken away.

But that’s not what’s so really, really special about this car. What makes it quite so desirable is that it’s a Maserati for BMW money. That’s like going to The Fat Duck instead of Nandos. True, the particular Ghibli S reviewed here costs £80,000, but £17k of that is options. The regular Ghibli starts at under £50,000 for the diesel and not much more for the petrol-engined version. The diesel is not sold in America and as El Reg has so many US readers, Maserati thought it best that we look at the one which sips from the right pump. Well, not quite sips. More like gulps, but we’ll come to that later. What we could not test, dear American readers, was the four-wheel-drive Q4 version, which you get and we do not.

Photo Guy Swarbrick

Wow. And this is subtle compared to other Maseratis

shutterstock_264479627-neptune

Bologna's Fountain of Neptune

Image: Shutterstock

But who’s to complain when you get handed a keyring with a trident logo – a logo based on the trident from the 16th century Fountain of Neptune bronze statue in Bologna and designed by the only one of the seven founding Maserati brothers who wasn’t part of the family car business.

The nautical theme is also reflected in the gloss black shark-mouth grille. Not as pronounced on the Ghibli as with other Maseratis, but still something that makes you think “wow” as you approach it. Pictures don’t do it justice, even these ones shot by Guy Swarbrick. And the white of the review car is supposedly pearlescent, but didn’t seem to be so. The side vents are another shape that is very Maserati and the aggressiveness of the front is helped by the LED daytime running lights.

Photo Guy Swarbrick

Rear lights are a bit unexciting

Maserati pioneered LEDs with the “boomerang” lights on the back of the 3200 – which everyone marvelled at – but then it took them off for the subsequent 4200. The Ghibli's lights are similarly restrained. The company needs to take rear light lessons from Lancia.

One of the issues with making a sportier car a four seater is how much space to give to the back when length and size always look less racy. Maserati has erred on the side of legroom. It might be 29cm shorter than the Quattroporte, but it’s still a shade under five metres and rear-seat passengers didn’t feel like they were sitting in second class.

 
Next page: Ferrari fireworks

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