Bonhams Auction: 1970 Maserati Ghibli 4.7 Spyder By Ghia

Tony’s Take: What is it with Bonhams? Why would they put a car online without any description? One assumes the auction house will eventually tell us more about this drop-dead gorgeous 1970 Maserati Ghibli 4.7 Spyder By Ghia. Meanwhile, a little internet sleuthing reveals . . .

This is the same car sold in 2021 when it was . . . black? Yup. Back in November, Sotheby’s sold the Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed two-seater for $672k.

Equipped with twin-choke Weber carburetors, the Ghibli 4.7 Spyder’s V8 is good for 335 hp, powering the car to a [theoretical] 168 mph. [The more powerful and rare Spyder SS holstered a 4.9-liter powerplant.]

Maserati built just eight-three 4.7-litre Ghibli Spyders. This example is one of only twenty-five left-hand drive cars, one of an unspecified number of LHD’s equipped with a manual gearbox (Yankees preferred a slushbox).

This Ghibli also comes complete with factory air conditioning, power steering and a Becker Europa radio. And here it is!

According to the description, an owner in Ontario, Canada repainted the Ghibli “where it was enjoyed for several years prior to being restored [at a cost of $85k] to its present black-on-black color scheme.” So who repainted it yellow? That’s insane!

Less insane: “The standard Ghibli wheels were replaced with a set of original Borrani wire wheels. These wheels were sourced through Carlo Borrani himself, who agreed to sell the then-owner four of the last 12 handmade wheels at a cost of approximately $12,000.” Yeah baby!

Sotheby’s also said the Ghibli’s “believed to have been driven 50,000 km [31k mi] from new at time of cataloguing.” Since then? * crickets * So a great car with unknown miles and a big yellow question mark. Bonhams hasn’t published an estimate yet, but there’s plenty of useful intel.

Past three transactions

High, low over five years

So let’s take the average, add in strong demand and peg this one at $750k – $850k. Downside: Would the new owner pay to put the car back in black? Stranger things have happened.