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Staged or Legit: 1968 Maserati Ghibli

staged-or-legit-1968-maserati-ghibli

When I first looked at the photos of this 1968 Maserati Ghibli barn find that is being auctioned off by Silverstone Auctions, I questioned whether it was a true barn find or if it was staged by the auction house. It has all the dirt and grime that a true barn find would have, but these photos look too perfect to me. Let’s take a closer look at this find, but I will let you guys draw your own conclusions.

staged-or-legit-1968-maserati-ghibli-engine

The engine is covered in a thin layer of dust and hasn’t been touched for a while. The auction house doesn’t state the condition of the engine, but I would assume it is going to need to be gone through. This 330 hp 4.7 liter V8 is an Italian thoroughbred and will likely need a full rebuild, as sitting will have likely caused the seals to dry and crack.

staged-or-legit-1968-maserati-ghibli-interior

The interior looks complete and in surprisingly nice condition. It will need a good cleaning and some leather treatment. Sadly, this car has the three speed automatic transmission, which will have an impact on the resale value and more importantly the fun factor. The auction house doesn’t list the mileage, but for the interior to be this nice it can’t be too high.

staged-or-legit-1968-maserati-ghibli-rear-corner

The auction house estimates this Ghibli will trade hands for between $18K to $24K when it hits the auction block on May 17th, but I’m not sure if it will reach their estimate. If it is as clean as it looks in these photos and the engine isn’t seized it might make it there. Now that you’ve had a chance to look at it, do you believe that this is a true barn find or has it been staged? Leave your opinion below in the comment section.

Comments

  1. Avatar Tom

    Staged…look at tires close up…seats been wiped down…both sides arm rest door panels and
    rear compartment areas too clean. this was a daily driver.

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  2. Avatar twokc

    First thought was it was staged. That little peek a boo shot with the cover draped over it yells staged. But looking it over I think its legit.

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  3. Avatar Scarecrow

    I bet that it really is a barn find, maybe they just wanted to make it look nicer with such photos; which really do look very nice

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    • Avatar scot

      ~ i left out 230/250/280 SL Mercedes as well as 507 BMWs.i’m sure there are others. they will have to wait.

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  4. Avatar scot

    ~ i don’t really care if it’s staged. i WANT one of these. long been one of my favorite cars, nearly beats out the Aston-Martins, Montiverdis, Iso/Bizzarinis i lust for, equally. very few shapes make me salivate as this one does. ‘ding’, Pavlov’s slobbering scot.

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  5. Avatar Mel Stark

    If you buy the car for let’s say $15k, engine/trans work for another $40k, attention to paint and interior could cost another $25k or so. All that for a $90,000 car?
    Is it worth the trouble?

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    • Avatar Cardog

      Yes.

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  6. Avatar Vintage

    Fake fake fake. Ok, that may be too strident for this case, but I doubt any “barn find” with a commercial connection/auction house connection. Barn find as this site knows it is a breath of fresh air. The “barn finds” of shows like CCC are too frequent to be plausible. Remember the 3 cars “found” in a garage last year? The F daytona, 246 and the maser? Those cars had an implausible amount of “dust”. I call those complete fakes. Same for this car – using “barn find” to pump up the value. Stepping off my soapbox, I totally want this car if I did not already have a great project in my garage…

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  7. Avatar shawnmcgill

    Staged – it isn’t in a barn, and it was doubtful ever lost (ergo, can’t be “found”). Calling it a barn find is a way to have it show up on search engines, and an excuse for not cleaning it up.

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    • Avatar Foxxy

      I agree Shawn, The ad says it was in dry storage for 14 years. I don’t consider it a barn find. Just someone that parked it for reasons unknown and are now trying to get rid of it. I think it takes a more than a little dust to make it a true barn find. I would look at it real close for expensive repairs that made them park it. jmo

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  8. Avatar Charles Gould

    This car should easily hit the estimates of 18K to 24K in my opinion.
    If the buyer is very careful, and very lucky, he may get away wthout a complete engine rebuild, and I would not touch the paint on this slightly patina-ed original car.
    It is absolutely gorgeous in its current condition, and should not be gussied up to be absolutely perfect like every other restored car.
    They can only be original once, and I never understood why automobiles are the only type of antique that we completely erase all history in order to make them perfect. You would never do that to an original painting or an original piece of antique furniture.
    All of the minor blemishes tell a chapter in its half century of survival. Why would you ever erase those on a car that has survived so well.
    Chas

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  9. Avatar paul

    Barn find or warehouse find whatever it really comes down to climate, a really hot humid climate would make the interior deteriorate faster so it doesn’t look like that, was it driven in snow conditions creating rust ? Did they repaint the car, or is it original paint, what ever the situation who ever buys the car will have very deep pockets & a wonderful car when done.

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  10. Avatar jim

    staged. looks like active warehouse. if it was stored there it would have a lot more dirt/damage.

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  11. Avatar Mr Nick

    Staged. At least those photos are. The tires give it away: The sides are decently clean while the tread is quite dirty. If it hadn’t been moved in a long time the sides of the tires would look much similar to the tread, but the tread appears to have been used recently.

    Barn find? maybe – but not in that location.

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  12. Avatar Aaron

    Staged,thats all that needs said

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  13. Avatar Tom

    Who cares? Nice Car!

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  14. Avatar Dolphin Member

    A neglected Ghibli rolled into a….grain elevator?!? Somehow that doesn’t fit with the over-the-top writeup, but if you want to market it as a barn find sometimes you have to make do any way you can.

    The estimate is surprisingly low given that breathless writeup. There were 1,149 of these made, so they aren’t especially rare, but the parts would be worth more than the estimated valuation, so I’m guessing that the auction houses’ strategy is: Low estimate draws them in….they fight it out….sale price is well above the estimate.

    The range for a 4.7 Ghibli Coupe in #2 condition is about $75-95K, but this car is more like a #3-minus assuming it runs and drives OK and isn’t rusty underneath. But given how hard it is to stop the urge to fix and upgrade things on a beautiful exotic like this “as long as we’re in there”, you could easily throw more money at it than the car will be worth as a #2. If the drive train and electrics need major surgery, the buyer will be deeply underwater. Unfortunately the writeup is a vague outline of “The Ghibli” and says almost nothing about THIS Ghibli, so there are a lot of unknowns. Best approach would be to inspect with a Maser expert and a fully charged battery and see what happens.

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  15. Avatar milt sylwester

    Staged, why else would exotic sports car be parked in a grain silo???

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  16. Avatar Michael

    Definitely staged!

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  17. Avatar Clay

    One pic shows the car with the cover being half off like it was being uncovered there.Would you store the car next to the doorway where everything going in and out could leave a “lasting impression”on it?

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  18. Avatar Chris

    Might have been a barn find or left in someone’s garage, but a grain storage facility or being near one would leave a lot more dust. I’m thinking it has been sitting somewhere else for many years, moved or bought and moved, and the seller is hoping for someone to jump on this and take him off the hook. Beautiful car, but not worth a restoration beyond drivr because of that auto trans. Pull that Maser engine and trans and put in a heart transplant of a SBC and a good American auto trans. Be nice to know why the car was parked in the first place.

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  19. Avatar Tim Waters

    Buy it, get it running and drive it. Would change anything except that putrid red carpeting inside. Yuk.

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  20. Avatar Andacar

    I say staged. If I was going to hide a car like this in a grain elevator I’d put it way off in a corner, put it up on blocks and cover it. I’d probably also surround it with crates or other stuff to keep away the curious. No way would I put it right next to the front door to get smashed and right next to the central machinery. Somebody would have put stuff on top of it and next to it. And in a grain elevator it would also likely have become a nest for every varmint in the vicinity.

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  21. Avatar Jim Mosley

    Staged. The nearest to a barn this car has been was passing one on the hiway.

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  22. Avatar Mark

    Tough to tell on this one. Why would someone park a car in front of a door for years? The even distribution of dust on the tires makes me believe it was driven to it’s current resting place not too long ago. It might have been in the corner for years and then pushed into the light for photos. That’s what I would do if I were trying to sell it. Also just noticed the new battery in back. hmmm.

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  23. Avatar Josh Mortensen Staff

    Just wanted to give you guys an update, we heard back from the auction house and as it turns out these photos were staged for the auction catalog. It was actually found in a small garage in Coventry, UK. I asked them if they could send us some photos of it when it was in the garage, so with any luck we can see what it looked like when it was discovered.

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  24. Avatar moody

    staged…staged staged .. absolutely…staged … there is no way that this car was parked that long at the same location with out the tires get dry or saggy marks on the ground?! may be some one discovered it and prepped it into a presentable condition and then said oh oh ….and re -thought about it ! then staged it to give the car more importance and rarity status …………that has been said ………………… its a wonderful car ! and I agree with the gentleman who said “its gonna go to some one who has deep pockets”. because its gonna cost beside the wait and the agony !way more than it worth!!…these cars still on the market with a wonderful condition for any where from :$ 50,000 daily driver clean– to–$125,000 with low miles un-molested condition wonderful condition…so there..!

    Like 0
  25. Avatar Connor

    It sold for £31,625

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