Italian Dessert in the Desert: Chasing the Dubai Sunrise in a Maserati Ghibli SS (28 Photos)

Emotional material of the publication Petrolicious about a rare classic sports car Maserati Ghibli SS, which will definitely not leave no one is indifferent.





It's only 5 am on the clock. Traffic at this time is still calm, and when I arrive at the place, the impressive Tomini Classics showroom emerges from the darkness of surrounding buildings. It's close to the iconic hotel Burj Al Arab Jumeriah in the shape of a sail, the most luxurious in the world, and not only in terms of postal codes - here you can meet truly luxury items.



Around the first corner, visitors are greeted by a flawless Bugatti EB 110 with small mileage. A silver rocket from France is surrounded by several the best sports cars and grand tourers produced by European manufacturers since the 1960s. My alarm went off so early that I could jump into one of these cars: a 1971 Maserati Ghibli SS. Together with Miguel, assistant manager of Tomini Classics, we heading to the desert to meet the dawn on an abandoned road among the dunes. I've always wanted to rent a classic car in the desert; a landscape with a clean, minimalist look that doesn't work reproduce without dump trucks filled with sand - exactly what is not enough in my portfolio up to this point.





However, classic cars and deep history are not the first thing that comes to mind when talking about Dubai. The largest city The UAE has earned attention for its rapid growth, huge and complex construction projects, and in just a few decades was in among the most expensive cities in the world. From a car enthusiast's point of view, Dubai has become home to many extravagant cars - where do you think they go all those multi-million dollar hypercars? Wealth, and in some ways the need to stand out against the background of Rolls-Royces, Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Gelendvagenov from AMG, over the past few years have opened the way for a rare collectible classics. And this despite the fact that the local climate and ubiquitous sand cannot be called the optimal environment for these cars. Well, at least they don't have rain and snow!



Tomini Classics is a "side project" of a family-owned shipping company Tomini Group. The direction of classic cars began with a carefully selected private collection, and the first copy in the garage was appeared in 2010 E-Type Series 1. Since then, the hobby has become a business that is ready to compete with institutions with a longer history.



The owner, Mr. Sheikh, still drives one of these cars. almost every day, and a team of four detailers and eight mechanics maintains a fleet of 70-100 constantly changing models. Although what concentrated in Tomini, showcases Ghibli. Collectible two-door sports car from post-war Europe, carefully examined in Dubai. “We are not interested in restoration projects or pre-war instances, with the latter it would be too difficult - most of our cars older than the country itself,” adds Miguel, laughing.



4.9-liter Ghibli racing engine with four camshafts wakes up with a typical V8 growl. Miguel careful and precise shifts the 5-speed ZF transmission with a click, and we begin our trip to the Al Qudra desert. An orange glow flickers on the horizon traffic is sparse and temperatures are well below their daily peak. Other words, everything is ready for Maserati to demonstrate what what she does best: high cruising speed. Our smiles stretch from ear to ear after each downshift transmission. I assume that to overtake trucks on a multi-lane highway a high-torque engine does not require these shifts at all, but we want enjoy the symphony played by four Weber carburetors with downdraft and dual throttle. Who would have done otherwise?



Motorists are more likely to present this elite Italian Gran Turismo on winding alpine road than here, on endlessly straight roads between the dunes. But he belongs to this place: Ghibli is the name hot and dry desert wind that happens in Libya, so we not too far from the origins, right? In 1966, when Maserati wedge-shaped profile debuted at the Turin Motor Show under spotlights booth Ghia, he managed to conquerbe a lot of hearts. Later production steel bodies (with aluminum hoods) were taken over by Vignale. A more powerful Ghibli SS appeared in 1969 after the first - with 355 "horses" and a maximum speed of 285 km / h. Stunning numbers for those times! In total, only 425 copies left the plant for the period from 1969 to 1973. SS Berlinetta.



The body, drawn by Giugiaro, turned out to be smooth, and although it has certain edges, it still looks very streamlined. True, I don't I think that the master imagined how his creation scurries through the desert landscape. After a 40 minute journey, we found the right place to a few photos, and the performance was not long in coming. Blue paint Celeste (Italian "Heavenly") changes shade every 5 minutes, while the rising sun makes the sky shimmer from dark blue to rich orange and back again. I whisper several times I say to myself "wonderful", and it seems to me that Miguel, who sees the car every day, agrees with me, even despite the habit. Now we both understand why Giugiaro named this silhouette his favorite. work of that era.