This Maserati wasn’t a very good car in many ways. Here’s why I loved it anyway
The German rivals were arguably better, but our Ghibli Trofeo had us questioning why all those objective measures matter
Our time with M600 GHB was short, but it made plenty of friends during its stay. I was its notional custodian, but John Barker, Jethro Bovingdon and Stuart Gallagher all spent meaningful time with the 572bhp, 203mph, £136,575 Modenese M5 rival that is the Ghibli Trofeo over our three months in it. Though we all tend to have slightly different takes on cars, we were very much aligned on the big Maser, each developing a real soft spot for it despite knowing it fell a long way short of its class rivals.
Enzo Ferrari famously said that when buying one of his cars you paid for the engine and got the rest for free. Well, this provocative soundbite could just as easily be applied to the range-topping Ghibli. And not just because the heart of this old-school slugger is indeed a Ferrari-derived V8. The Trofeo is all about its motor.
Where German biturbo V8s are ruthlessly effective, the Maserati Ghibli’s is a warmer, more excitable character. Attention tends to get grabbed by the headline 572bhp, but it’s the torque – all 538lb ft from just 2250rpm – that shaped the driving experience. Especially on roads slick with rain and fallen leaves. In short, the rear-drive Maser was decidedly traction limited. Pick your moment and it was a lot of fun, but for the most part, when just wanting to make progress, we were happy to keep our palms dry and rely on the traction and stability systems to do their thing.
Chassis-wise the Trofeo was an odd blend of floaty primary and brittle secondary ride. In Normal it lacked body control and felt heavy on its springs, but rode reasonably well at low speeds. Sport contained the vertical movement nicely, but made the ride fidgety, while Corsa gave the powertrain more voice and response but tied the suspension down too tightly. Most of the time I found myself wanting a Normal+ chassis mode with a Corsa- powertrain, but the sad truth is that even if it had a Miracle mode it wouldn’t know which way a similarly priced M5 CS went down a challenging stretch of road.
Having spent the previous year with a 450bhp supercharged V8 Jaguar F-type I expected the Ghibli to at least get into the high-20s mpg on a motorway run (the Jag would easily manage early 30s), but however gently I drove it I’d struggle to beat 23. I know, I know. You don’t buy a near-600bhp supersaloon to go hypermiling, but the Maser really liked a drink.
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The interior was a welcoming place to be, though the infotainment system looked and felt a bit shonky. Little things betrayed a lack of attention to detail – the heated steering wheel ‘switch’ located on the left-hand side of the touchscreen being one of them. On the plus side the dark red leather brought some welcome colour – something German equivalents tend to lack – and the analogue speedo and tacho dials looked nicer than soulless digital instruments.
M600 went back just as it was due its annual service, so we never had a chance to experience a Maserati dealer or discover how much the service would have cost. What we do know is that official dealers are thin on the ground. My nearest two, for example, are both roughly 70 miles away.
What has our time with the Trofeo told us? First and foremost, that Maserati remains one of the most intriguing and charming brands. The Ghibli is a throwback to a time when Italian exotics were just that: mysterious outliers that majored on style and speed, and paid little heed to mainstream competitors. That the Trofeo beguiles and bemuses in equal measure suggests those qualities are still intact. Whether they remain so in the marque’s transition to EVs remains to be seen.
Supersaloons have always been gloriously esoteric machines. Compared to huge super-SUVs they are also deliciously discreet. M600’s darkest of dark blue paintwork made it super-stealthy, but it still managed to pull peoples’ eyes away from their smartphones. It clearly has charisma to spare.
All in all, it’s one of those cars that makes you question the conventions on which magazine road testing relies. By almost every objective measurement the Trofeo is trounced by its more capable German rivals. That these cars – specifically the (now hybrid) BMW M5 and (now discontinued) Mercedes-AMG E63 S and Audi RS6 – are all characterful in their own distinctive ways also denies the Maser the opportunity to charm its way out of trouble. Yet despite feeling at least one and possibly two generations beyond its sell-by date, there’s still something immensely likeable about this outmoded and now discontinued supersaloon. It would take a special kind of madness to spend £130k on one, but to those who have, evo salutes you.
| Duration of test | 3 months |
|---|---|
| Total test mileage | 4157 |
| MPG | 23.5 |
| Costs this month | £0 |
| Purchase price | £136,575 |
This story was first featured in evo issue 309.
