Ghibli II gathering

Ewan · May 28, 2013

Dickyb - the Cup that is possibly for sale is grey. Are you tempted!? You should come to Prescott on June 9th if you are.

Malcolm - the French Blue car used to be owned by Armin Dehdar, hence the number plate you remember.

Andyk - After Armin the French Blue car was owned by Alex Gardner. He may still have it, but I'm not sure. It's one of the two cars that I'm not certain of their current ownership details.

Andyk · May 28, 2013

Read, great info.

StuartW · May 28, 2013

Ewan said:
Dickyb - the Cup that is possibly for sale is grey. Are you tempted!? You should come to Prescott on June 9th if you are.

Malcolm - the French Blue car used to be owned by Armin Dehdar, hence the number plate you remember.

Andyk - After Armin the French Blue car was owned by Alex Gardner. He may still have it, but I'm not sure. It's one of the two cars that I'm not certain of their current ownership details.

Is it #400185 that may be for sale Ewan? Beautiful car if so!

Ewan · May 28, 2013

It's not car 400185. That particular car has, unusually, the standard wood instead of the Cup carbon fibre interior inserts (one of two UK cars built with the wood interior). The car that may be for sale is the other grey car (there were/are 2 UK cars in grey).

dickyb · May 28, 2013

Ewan said:
It's not car 400185. That particular car has, unusually, the standard wood instead of the Cup carbon fibre interior inserts (one of two UK cars built with the wood interior). The car that may be for sale is the other grey car (there were/are 2 UK cars in grey).

That'll be 400202 then! Grigio Vulcano with Pelle Rosso, lovely car, saw it for sale about 5 years ago. As you know I am currently investigating a 2 litre GT project car but would be interested to find out more about the Cup if you have more details.

I'm not sure if I will be able to make Prescott on 9th but I'll try, I grew up only a few miles away in Winchcombe and am often in the area but hadn't planned to be on that date.

StuartW · May 28, 2013

Ewan said:
It's not car 400185. That particular car has, unusually, the standard wood instead of the Cup carbon fibre interior inserts (one of two UK cars built with the wood interior). The car that may be for sale is the other grey car (there were/are 2 UK cars in grey).

Both lovely cars and yes, the interior colour of 400202 is very striking - what a delight these cars are!

Ewan · May 29, 2013

Before anyone gets too excited, let me just double check with the owner that he is still interested in selling.

dickyb · May 29, 2013

Interesting anorak fact about UK Ghiblis, 2 cars were mistakenly supplied with KM/H speedos from the factory. One is 400203 (a Blue car) and the other I think is a yellow car 400183. I looked at the blue one a few years ago, some of you may know it as it has a Ghibli Open Cup engine and was built by Owen Developments to produce 365bhp, I have the dyno printouts somewhere.

ZAM400209 · May 29, 2013

Hello team- sorry for the delay.
I have the Paris-Blue Cup article in the car now to take to work and scan in for you- however today is now an inadvertent trip to the hospital.
My lady-wife is going to have to have a bit of attention.

All being well I'll be back at work and scanning articles in the next day or so...

Ewan · May 29, 2013

I've checked with the owner of the grey/red Cup and he is happy to sell. But he is not actively advertising it - it'll be a word-of-mouth sale.

Richard and Stuart - I have sent you both a PM with the owners details so that you can make contact. Good luck! If you're quick you could even own it in time to bring it along to the Ghibli Cup reunion on June 9th. And join the Cup convoy to the factory next year for the Maserati centenary celebrations!

ZAM400209 · May 31, 2013

ZAM400209 · May 31, 2013

hmm...

despite significant effort- that didn't quite go up as I'd hoped.

This car was being sold by Moda Cars at the time I think. This was James Pumo's business before Eurospares. I spoke to him at the time on the phone about this article and asked if it was him driving in the pictures and he laughed saying it was his mechanic, a chap called Deano.

JimP

Ewan · May 31, 2013

When I had a silver Cup, I thought that was the best colour. When I bought my dark blue Cup, I thought that was the best colour. But when you look at this French Blue Cup...

Andyk · Jun 1, 2013

Thanks for sharing that one......Def the best colour for me on a Cup...Stunning...But then my M3 sort of that colour...

del mar · Jun 3, 2013

dickyb said:
Interesting anorak fact about UK Ghiblis, 2 cars were mistakenly supplied with KM/H speedos from the factory. One is 400203 (a Blue car) and the other I think is a yellow car 400183. I looked at the blue one a few years ago, some of you may know it as it has a Ghibli Open Cup engine and was built by Owen Developments to produce 365bhp, I have the dyno printouts somewhere.

Morning,

Mine also has a KM speedo 400211, i believe it always has done, creates all manner of problems when you run an HPI report on it !!! I did drive the dark blue one that had the Open Cup engine, it was a wet day somewhere near peterborough about 5 - 6 years ago. At the time it was the best car i had ever driven - was it faster than mine ? Not sure i can tell the difference between 330 and 365bhp. I spoke to Owen Developements about the car it appeared that in trying to get 330bhp on the dyno they removed the rev limiter and lo and behold wrecked the engine. Eurospares managed to find an OC engine that had suffered water damage at a factory somewhere.The CEL light was set to flash as a gear change light as it ran an after market ecu - not sure if buy that though. The suspension didnt work, but it did come with some nice balck leatehr cushions on the backseat !

Del

Ewan · Jun 3, 2013

As I understand it, they all had KMH speedo's when imported, but then Meridien swapped them to MPH prior to handover (unless the owner specified otherwise). Next time I'm at Meridien I'll ask them. If Glen or Nigel come to Prescott I'll quiz them as if anyone will know, it's those two.

ZAM400209 · Jun 4, 2013

that's all quite crazy.

Del; you know that 400211 spent a bit of time in Italy? It might have been swapped back to that speedo during it's time over there.

Mr Pearce has a gearchange light and I'd be prepared to pay a significant sum to find out how it works!

dickyb · Jun 4, 2013

del mar said:
Morning,

Mine also has a KM speedo 400211, i believe it always has done, creates all manner of problems when you run an HPI report on it !!! I did drive the dark blue one that had the Open Cup engine, it was a wet day somewhere near peterborough about 5 - 6 years ago. At the time it was the best car i had ever driven - was it faster than mine ? Not sure i can tell the difference between 330 and 365bhp. I spoke to Owen Developements about the car it appeared that in trying to get 330bhp on the dyno they removed the rev limiter and lo and behold wrecked the engine. Eurospares managed to find an OC engine that had suffered water damage at a factory somewhere.The CEL light was set to flash as a gear change light as it ran an after market ecu - not sure if buy that though. The suspension didnt work, but it did come with some nice balck leatehr cushions on the backseat !

Del

I stand corrected on the KM/H speedos, I was reliably informed that only 2 UK still had KM/H speedos but looks like there could be more.

I looked at that car too Del! It was very cheap for a Cup, about Â£9k if I remember correctly, I think it was up in the North East somewhere, a guy called Neil was the owner. I spoke to Andy Haywood at Bill McGrath and he knew the car and suggested it was ok but not great. I was a bit concerned about the lack of history, broken key in the fuel filler and broken suspension plus it was fitted with budget tyres! I suppose looking back none of that really mattered considering the price. I believe that the previous owner was a Japanese car fan and was into the tuning scene. He'd previously had a Toyota Supra that was souped up to fook as they say in those circles

. He bought the Ghibli for a change, he spent a fortune on it after the rolling road test revealed it was only developing about 260bhp. This is where Owen Developments came in. The owner also added the lovely cushions you mention Del, as well as an equally lovely rear spoiler. I think he was ridiculed for it and eventually removed it.

A few pics for your interest and some dyno printouts: