Ghibli SS - Return of the prodigal son

Hurricane52

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1,211
After a number of years gently twisting his arm, my go to bodywork man, Craig Wilshaw, has worked his magic on my 1971 Ghibli SS.

Craig did all the hard work, repairing the frilly bits no one ever sees and agonising over all the details of the intricate compound curves, which everyone sees.

I made the tea and helped put it back together again, so I now know my car inside out. Most of the bodywork components had the chassis number stamped into them. It gave us a real insight into how they were produced and put together.

I bought the car from its first owner 22 years ago, as a 30th birthday present to myself. It had been repainted in the eighties in Blue Sera, a lovely dark blue with a hint of purple. Having found a couple of early period pictures of it, I promised myself I would return it to its original lighter colour one day.

We found the factory colour under the door handles and in other places which weirdly must have been left on the car when first repainted.

Today I drove it home. What a treat. Looking forward to the Spring and better weather, so we can celebrate its 50th birthday.

Think I’ll be cracking open an Italian organic red tonight to celebrate its return. I might even get the old honeymoon photo album out to remind me what it’s like driving a Maserati over the alps.2B43F2E0-0A86-4B2C-8E19-B258C3603D26.jpegF82ECE70-A30A-4E24-A085-F0074F547267.jpeg33922E4F-E883-40E3-BD1E-643F560EF4C9.jpegA9C08640-9539-40E8-AFE7-9BB606B7B82C.jpegB24CEEFA-915F-4C0C-9418-1F42607A33A9.jpegF6D1FCDB-3D97-4B2C-A9D0-FC3E9F17A23E.jpegD7DB0BCC-0396-4331-82F6-ED1921B5D4F7.jpeg
 

Hurricane52

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1,211
A thing of beauty...even with the comedy exhaust pipes
Good spot. Next time you do a Ghibli, one of the first jobs is to remove the back box to avoid serious damage to your shins. Sounds better than the GTS though, so it’s worth it.
 

Hurricane52

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1,211
Lovely... did I see this at Gaydon back in 2009/2010 at an Italian car event?
I think the only event it has been to outside of Wales since we moved here twenty years or so ago, was an Italian car day at Stanford Hall probably around that time. A rare treat for me as I went on my own.
 

Hurricane52

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1,211
Addendum-

We had just one major cock up. After installing the original windscreen into the new rubbers for the sixth or seventh time, over a number of days, we were as happy as we were ever going to be with it. It’s a heavy, massive piece of glass with a weird shape at the top corners and for anyone who has never done it before, those chrome inserts have a key role in its design, with a unique profile which will test the patience of any saint. The trims on the windscreen pillars had two screws inserted through them which kiss the edge of the screen and tweak the rubber and chrome insert ever so slightly. Out came our slightly narrower fettling screws and Craig carefully replaced the originals.

“I’ve cracked your screen”.

I had my head down the footwell doing another job and I thought he was joking. Once I saw the colour had drained from
his face, I knew he wasn’t. I had to sit him down with a cup of tea until the shock wore off.

The crack was tiny, less than a inch, but we both knew it wouldn’t stay like that.

As shock turned to despair and then eventually resolve to do something positive, our gumption returned and I set about finding a piece of glass that might fit.

Well, would you Adam and Eve it, Chris McNabb, the parts supreme at McGrath Maserati in Hertfordshire had a reproduction in stock. Fetching it was another matter. With the pre-Christmas lockdown in place and the Heddlu keen to fill their Twitter and Facebook feeds, we plumped for a delivery. The chaps at McGrath’s built a bespoke crate and packaged it as best they could.

On its arrival in West Wales, it wasn’t jingling or jangling. Phew. The 6mm thick new screen was much lighter and fitted the new rubbers beautifully. Turns out that our original screen was 9mm thick and probably never really sat perfectly in the aperture from new, hence the screws which pass through the side trims. They’re not needed now, so safely stored in the ashtray, as a souvenir.AD3272EF-1184-4342-BD56-4E334DB3C194.jpeg