1968 Maserati Ghibli Spider (Ghia)

In 1967 Maserati presented its new coupé, the Maserati Ghibli, following it up two years later, in 1969, with the open-top version, the Maserati Ghibli Spyder, two vehicles that would rewrite the history of road cars. The Maserati Ghibli was a sports car proposed in the coupé or spyder variant with a front-mounted engine and the dimensions of a real supercar. The hood, long and tapered, projected forward with sleek lines that concealed the headlights and sophisticated racing world technology. Together with the Maserati Simun, the Maserati Ghibli Spyder was one of the final projects designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Ghia before he opened Italdesign Giugiaro in 1967. The steel bodywork of the Maserati Ghibli Spyder was constructed by the Vignale factories in Grugliasco before being assembled with the mechanical parts of the car constructed in Modena.

Maserati built only 125 Maserati Ghibli Spyders between 1969, the year the model was launched on the market, and 1973, when it was replaced by the Maserati Khamsin. The 2-seater boasted highly elegant lines and extremely refined solutions: the fabric roof, for example, could be folded into a compartment covered by a special panel to give the open-top car a clean, tidy and sleek look. For the most demanding customers Maserati also produced a special hard top which made it easy to use the car even in the most adverse weather conditions. The large windows of the hard top gave the Maserati Ghibli an extremely unique look but fewer than 25 Maserati customers purchased it, making it into an extremely difficult-to-find accessory nowadays.

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Named after a North African windstorm, Ghibli production began in 1967 on Maserati's 41st anniversary as an independent company.

Like a lot of young designers, Giorgetto Giugiaro, then working for Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin, was busy trying to out-wow his competitors at Bertone and Pininfarina and win body supply contracts for his employer. He penned the two-seat Ghibli coupe in only three months and in 1969 the Ghibli spyder. Ghia took orders for a total of 1150 coupes between 1967 and 1972 and 125 convertibles.

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