Oxfordshire Limited Edition – August 2019

218 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition|August 2019

IanLammingassessesMaserati’slatestGhibli

ITALIAN BEAUTY

I

heardsomeonesaytheotherday,

‘well,it’sjustacar,isn’tit’andin

somecasesthatistrue.Formost

ofusmake-ends-meetworkers,the

humblejalopyisjustthat,humble,a

meansoftransport.

Buttherearejustasmanypeopleout

theretowhommotoringismuchmore.It

isanartform,asport,ahobby,statusand

independence.We,asIincludemyselfin

thisgroup,maynotbeabletoaffordthe

carswewouldlovebut,nevertheless,wecan

appreciatethem.Forme,thedamagewas

doneatanearlystage,whenIopenedmyfirst

packofTopTrumps,agenine,andwitnessed

thepower,speedandbeautyoftheMaserati

Bora.Thatchildhoodobsessionwiththe

brandcontinuestoday.Let’sfaceitMaserati

couldproduceabin-wagonandI’dloveit.

Thankfully,theyoffersomethingmuchmore

appealing,theGhibli,agracefulandelegant

saloonwhichputsbeautybackintothesector.

Maseratiprofferstwovariants,both

equallylovely.GranLussoforpeerlesslevels

ofluxuryandGranSportifyouareabitracy.

Thedifferencesaresosubtleitwouldtakea

trueconnoisseurtospotthem.Me?I’dhave

either,astheybothcomewiththebestoval

shapeddashboardmountedclockthereis,

withpointersandeverything.

It’sironicthatthereallyhighachievers,

whogetthemostexpensivecars,are

offeredsaloons,possiblyoneofthedullest

marques.That’swhereGhibliscoreshighly

becauseisfarfromdullandisafeastforthe

eye,carryingabadgeofhonourwithtrue

sportingheritage.

It’sasaloonbutnotasweknowit,

boastingelegantlinesandthegorgeousface

ofanItalianbeauty.Youwillbeproudto

leaveitinthegraveldriveandmorethan

happytoparkitinthemoresalubrious

streets.Insideisarepasttomatchthe

aesthetics.Itiswonderfullycomfortable,

gloriouslytactileandmarriessportscar

‘It’sasaloonbutnot

asweknowitboasting

elegantlinesandthe

gorgeousfaceofan

Italianbeauty’