Think of a Maserati as the classy, less flashy cousin to Ferrari, and you're just about there. An iconic Italian car manufacturer with taste. In the 1990s, design maestro Marcello Gandini dreamt up a subtle everyday Maserati - and what you see here is its ultimate iteration: the Ghibli II Biturbo. Looks don't scream sports car heritage, but the figures prove otherwise. Foot flat to 150 mph, while cossetted in supple Italian leather chairs and you're in your hilltop villa in Tuscany very quickly indeed.
Maserati is a grand name that's long teetered on the edge of extinction. After a period of ownership by Citroën, by the 1990s Maserati was controlled by a combination of the giant Fiat group and the eccentric Argentinian born racing driver and carmaker Alejandro de Tomaso, who had rescued the company from bankruptcy and whose Pantera and Mangusta sports cars are legendary, not least for their reliability issues. The first Ghibli Biturbo was a bid for actual profit and with tens of thousands sold, it paid off. The Ghibli II added real flair, and real performance.
Since the jewel of this machine is under the bonnet, it's as well that this example's 24-valve 2.8-litre V6 is a pristine piece of Italian magic. Sporting bright red cam covers and the famous Maserati trident logo, it rewards a long gaze as you open the bonnet more often than you strictly need to. Power is 284 bhp, driving through a five speed manual gearbox, with 60 mph coming up in five and a half seconds.
High maintenance
No one has ever said that running a Maserati is cheap, so its both reassuring and a little terrifying to learn that £24,000 has been spent on maintenance with a marque specialist in the last nine years. This is a car that needs its own savings account.
But every penny that you spend and that's been spent in the past is worth it. Those bolstered black leather seats are waiting when you open the driver's door. Wood trim, speaking of the era, adorns the dash, which also shows off the traditional Maserati oval clock. Analogue of course, as is the original radio/cassette player. Seven spoke alloys are factory fitted, protected by the huge bulging wheel arches that give this second series of Ghibli Biturbo a real presence.
These Maseratis haven't always been popular. There are those who unkindly said the looks recalled Ford's second generation Cortina. But as we've said, that relative subtlety is part of the point. Those bulging wheel arches more than hint at the power after all. And values are rising for this very usable Italian classic. Prices remain though at new hatchback level, but we'd suggest not for much longer. This delightful Biturbo is for sale through 4 Star Classics at £19,995. That's a steal for a piece of Italian motoring history that will also be good for the supermarket run.
