Road & Track’s review of the 1971 Maserati Ghibli isn’t overly kind. Heck, even the deck dished out shade: “A beautiful car that promises more excitement than it delivers.”
A Corvette, the report noted, cost a third as much as the $22,000 Ghibli and did nearly the same thing. “In size, weight, performance and passenger accommodation the Ghibli is …
A Corvette may have done things better back in '71, but it can never match the looks of the Ghibli. I'm curious what Road & Track thought of the Iso Grifo, given it's somewhat a hybrid of the two.
There were a trio of great looking Italian super cars in that period, the Ghibli, the Daytona and the Lamborghini islero.
The Ghibli was arguably the prettiest but had a live axle and a relatively low revving V8. The Daytona looked great and had an excellent engine. The Islero was made in very low numbers so is the least well known of the three but had the most interesting engine, a 4 cam V12 with very good output, and suspension and brakes that matched it, but the styling was a bit more sedate than the other two. I owned the Islero and loved it!
The hybrid cars like the Grifo looked great but the low rev American V8s were a let down and they were a half a grade below the thoroughbred Italians (and I don't say that as a car snob - I have owned several big Jensens).
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