I will never forget the day I first saw a Maserati Ghibli. I was in a gocart circuit watching a race and a friend arrived in a brand new Maserati Ghibli GT. It was silver with black hide and grey alcantara interior and I could not take my eyes off it. I was mesmerised by the aggressive yet fine lines, the Italian hide smell, the gold Maserati watch and of course the sound of the V6 biturbo engine. This lady was a beauty and I was in love, and guess what, she was Italian, rear wheel drive and biturbo, matching all my criteria with an extra turbo on top. I was about to get “married” but there was a final twist I didn’t yet know.
After spending a few weeks searching I had made my decision, I would order a metal grey Maserati GT with tabac hide interior. This colour combination was amazing and the car looked beautiful. I wanted to avoid the dealers in Greece and buy the car directly from Italy so I went to a friend that had a connection with the dealers there to place the order. I still remember the day, sitting at his office, he picks up the phone, speaks in Italian for a few moments and then hangs up. “So?” I say, “everything ok?”, “Sure” he replies, “they can order the car exactly as you want it or…” he adds, “Or what?” I ask confused, “Well, they also have something else you might be interested instead, something very special”, he replies, “a Maserati Ghibli Cup”, “only 57 were ever made and this is number 19, it has only done 2,000 km and is waiting in Vicenza in case you are interested”, “but it is yellow and it costs significantly more than a new GT, so think about it” he adds. Confused by all this, and not very keen on the idea of spending even more than the already high price of the Maserati Ghibli GT for a car where I wouldn’t even get to choose the colour, I went home to study what makes this Cup model so special.