Buying a car that comes with its bits mostly spread out on the ground is frightening enough, but when it’s an Italian exotic, you’re on a whole ‘nother level. For the brave, find this Maserati Ghibli here on eBay listed at $69,000. Before prospective buyers get too frisky, it’s worth knowing that for some reason, the seller has been unable to obtain the title to this car – consequently, the production year is a mystery. Early Ghiblis had Smiths gauges; the seller’s photos are too blurry to tell for sure, but these look like Veglia gauges, which places it at 1968 or later, but not too late because this example still has toggle switches. It’s a 4.7-liter car, according to the “AM115” VIN; 4.9-liter cars are designated “AM115/49”. Retrieval from Fallbrook, California will require a trailer and a few Rubbermaid tubs.
The dry sump, quad-cam V8 produced about 300 hp; early engines are distinguished by twin spark plug holes, though only one will be in use. This is an early engine; the unused holes are barely visible through the grime here. Most cars were ordered with the standard ZF five-speed manual, though an automatic was available. Four-wheel disc brakes were entirely capable of bringing the car down from a 150 mph top speed. Our seller claims 35k original miles, but in a situation where the title is lost, I think the car has to be purchased as if the mileage is unknown. We’re also told the car “ran when parked for restoration”, but it’s safer to assume that lovely V8 needs a $30,000 rebuild. Once in running order, the Ghibli is best on the open road at speed; most didn’t have power steering, and the clutch is exceptionally heavy.
Originally, Maserati’s new GT was meant to be a two-seater, but Giorgetto Giugiaro gave the shell enough interior space to produce the car as a 2+2. This one will require rejuvenation of every $$crevice$$. The back glass is with the car, and a prior owner outfitted the car with wires instead of the standard Campagnolo alloys.
While I can appreciate a Ghibli as much as the next enthusiast, and while this example’s Verde Gemma green is a striking original color, the reassembly, reconditioning, and repapering work that lies ahead of a new owner here is enough to justify a discount off the current price. This ’68 was sold by RM Sotheby’s in Scottsdale a couple of weeks ago for $145,600 – it’s numbers-matching, with original documentation and manuals, ready to go touring. Far better to wait for that kind of car to come up than spring for this one.
How sad!! Parts car.
I agree. Or very expensive track day car. ( since you don’t need a title for a track day car.) One of the previous owners just didn’t care a out this car. So strip it out for track day fun and sell the rest that you don’t need. Too bad,these are very pretty and fun to drive!
Ghibli’s could be ordered with Borrani wire wheels. Looks like a good project, but a bit too expensive in the current market.
1994, my friend a Jaguar dealer invited me to go along to Monterey to see another friend race in the historics and go to the auction. Didn’t have buying in mind, but a beautiful ’70 Ghibli came across the block with not so much bidding- I threw out 25K and took it home. It was red with biscuit leather interior. A beast around town with no power steering, but on the highway it smoothed out and lightened up into a great cruiser. I enjoyed it for a few years and sold it in 1997 for 35K, just before the Ghiblis started to gain traction in the market.
Frightening piles of nuts and bolts in the Ebay ad.
Sorry..I have to vent… If annoys me to no end when posters say “breaks” instead of brakes….anyone else feel the same? Just my two cents..
voice-to-text software?
Failure to spell.
Hey George. Me Too! I am on Craigslist in Vermont and I see it all the time. it’s definitely people from the computer age who decided to take grammar into their own hands! I send them the following text: ‘People have good breaks and bad breaks, Cars have good brakes and bad brakes!”
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Dem’s da breaks!
Breaks my hart.
….or a 4WD truck with a wench,or an Alpha Romero.
I’d like to see the wench! What does she look like? Is she fun? One of the guys that I track days with. His lady friend is affectionately called “The Lug Wench” She is a great gal! Not bad looking either!.
How about a Camero!
I share this pet peeve. It’s like some people have never actually read anything.
My Mom was an English teacher, so I can totally relate to where you are coming from. One of her pet peeves was saying “you know” every few words.
If the turn signal switch on the steering column is a SINGLES arm (Lucas) switch rather than a three arm Vitaloni, it is definitely the 68 or slightly earlier. The switches were NOT interchangeable as the column surrounds were quite different. This car restored is likely a contender for the most well-designed cars of its era. Best put together lines of many. Stunning shark-like look! It needs the original wheels back, and maybe a few other items as well.
A few?!
It has a single arm
What kind of person allows this to happen to one of the most beautiful cars ever designed?
Totally agree! If this car (not cheap, ever!) was left to such disrepair, what does that says to the maintenance through its life. It’s a shame and I would stay away from it. Maybe it is right for the party that knows this car inside and out!!
As with most of the 60’s and early 70’s great cars, the ones that were economically restored have been done. All that are around now are the ones that were left behind because to restore them you’d be well under water even if they were given to you. This is another one of those leftovers. Maybe at half the price you could make a run at it, but the issue is that it wasn’t “bagged and tagged” when it was disassembled. Without knowing where each nut and bolt went in the first place you’d spend years and thousands of dollars in time trying to figure it out. Even if you spent $20k on paint, $30k for an engine rebuild $15k on a new interior and then another $15k on other mechanical work and $30k to have it assembled you’re never going to compete with a “no issues known history” car. Sad because even if all the parts are there it’s just a parts car now.
Owner dies, gets disabled, ages out. Family finally acts. Common story.
It’d make a helluva cool 4 x4, if he ever decides to basically give it away.
scary in this condition
Funny how far apart European and American markets have gotten. Just a few days ago a very decent car was sold in auction in Paris below 80kEUR.
In US someone tries to sell a parts car with the same number.
We have imported a massive number of cars to Europe from US. With these prices it makes all the sense to buy from Europe & pay the fees and be miles ahead from these prices.
Of are these prices just a dead cat’s last bounce?
PAW – The US car culture has gone berserk across the board.
No doubt that the top tier, 5-star Euro stuff continues to climb. That’s the top end of the Ferrari/Aston/Jag world, where the billionaires play.
You seem to say that the lower tier stuff in Europe is still reasonable. Good.
In the US, we have car auctions on TV. The auction houses Mecum and Barrett-Jackson, and in cahoots with Hagerty insurance, have tried hard to convince the ‘merican car guy that cars below the Tier I range are also “financial investments”.
So if a 429 Mustang sells for $250K, then ALL Mustangs must also be worth more, using the same price curves.
That actually worked for a while. Tier II cars ran into the upper 5 digits. Anything with GTO on it was immediately $50k if it was in decent condition and the revered “numbers match” BS.
That is all crashing very hard, and very quickly. The 1950s stuff has already crashed, as the old buyers from 20 years ago are in their 70s and are not in the market anymore.
They are hoping for a payday, selling what they still have, but have likely already missed that train. Now they just hope to get out of it what they have in it. Soon they will not even achieve that.
Tier II muscle cars are next in line for a huge correction, as those guys are in their 60s now and not buying “project cars” anymore. Many see the writing and are selling out as fast as they can.
The hobby here is entering a “novelty buyer” phase again. That is, guys who want a nice ride to cruise around in and want to pay $10k to 20K max to get it, then sell it in three years.
They don’t give damn about matching numbers low volume production and the rest of it. All of that is Tier I territory and irrelevant at the Tier II level.
It was the car press, along with the auction houses, who pumped up the matching numbers and rarity hoopla, as a way to justify ever-rising prices for what are basically, cars.
Most cars below Tier I never were an “investments”. They demand insurance and maintenance, and registration and licensing and storage. Their attraction is simply driving them around to car shows and the like.
The hobby is returning to roots, and guys who want a decent ride can get one for a decent price, and forget about making a killing when selling it.
“Cars as an investment” has never worked for me,
nor do I want it too.Totally wrong reason to buy a car
in my opinion.
angliagt, i completely agree.
Tens of thousands of guys have been convinced otherwise, and used that to convince the wife that “it ain’t gonna cost nothing in the end. We’ll get the money back and more”
Thoese guys are the ones running these over $50k asking prices for tier II cars. It was all supposed to come true.
Sooner or later they’ll take what they can get, and maybe it’s what they paid for it. Lesson learned.
All too true. I’ve never understood the desire to ‘restore’ something to factory spec. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. True some find pleasure there working on machines, me too. But to chase the ‘value’ on resale?
I’m much more interested in using whatever vehicle I have on a regular basis than simply paying for storage for it being afraid to drive it for losing that ‘value’.
These inspired the Pantera. Most of the idiotic quirks were dumped to market the Pantera, such as poor handling characteristics, electronic issues, stupid engine failures etc. A neighbor had one when I was a kid. That car was never on the road for more than a day or two until something else failed that kept it off the road for months!
Not a good decision to by this questionable parts car for 69 K then wrack your brain trying to find parts and fix it up . You would have the 148k+ in it like the one that just sold that’s drivable. . And it does not need the work or as many headaches. Were you gonna find parts for something like this that is 58 years old . Not a common car like a Mustang or old Camero.
Looks like they’ve sourced the Title to arrive soon, and have dropped the price by $10k. Still not worth it!
Asking price now $59,000
This is a relationship breaker for sure! Even if it were a domestic vehicle, the amount of time and money it will take to get it on the road isn’t worth it IMO.
As a previous comment suggested, if this is the car you want, find one with a title that’s all there instead of this boat anchor.
This listing was ended by the seller on Mon, Feb 16 at 3:20 AM because the item is no longer available
Ended with zero bids. Gee, what a surprise!
Sad…this looks like a case of don’t let perfection be the enemy of good enough. Probably wasn’t that bad until they pulled it apart, sanded it down and lost all the parts. Probably could’ve gotten a way with a serious detailing, interior repairs and just enjoyed it as a lovely classic with genuine patina.
This color with the Campagnolo wheels would be such a knock out