"HI Maseratisti,

In 1995 Maserati purpose built 25 ‘Open Cup’ variants of the Series II Ghibli to compete in the “Ghibli Open Cup Championship” in Europe, an event for long time Maserati Customers and Enthusiasts. Two more were produced for collectors, including this particular vehicle that was ex-factory to Australia by the Australian Distributor to race in the GTP series.

Of the 27 cars produced, only this car was officially converted to right hand drive. At least five have since been confirmed destroyed, further increasing the rarity of the ‘Open Cup’. It became truly unique when the Distributor made the vehicle road compliant and registered it. It is Victorian registered with a Brown Davis designed and installed roll cage. Being road registered, the vehicle can be driven in transport stages of tarmac rallies as well as to and from events without the use of a trailer.

The other (LHD) car in Australia was raced for 2 seasons in the GTP series by Alfie Constanzo and co driven by a rising 17 YO Dean Canto at Bathurst and a win in the 1998 OAMPS Endurance Classic at Sandown.

The Ghibli ‘Open’ Cup came equipped with a 2.0 litre twin turbo charged, 4 valve per cylinder V6 engine that generated an incredible 330 bhp or 165bhp per litre and was more than capable of producing over 400 bhp with minor modifications. The Ghibli ‘Open’ Cup had, at the time, the highest ever per litre power output of any street legal car, surpassing the Bugatti EB110, Ferrari F40 and Jaguar XJ220. It also features similar track times to that of the Ferrari 355 Challenge, a considerably more expensive vehicle designed to compete in the Ferrari Challenge Series.

The Maserati Ghibli ‘Open’ Cup car is an amazing feat of engineering and design. Its pedigree reaches beyond its unique place in Maserati history to automotive history itself.

When this particular car arrived into Australia it was set up and campaigned in one race where it unfortunately had an engine failure. It was subsequently parked up whilst its sister car did all the hard work for the remainder of the racing season. Ultimately the Maserati Concessionaires at the time decided to modify the car to be able to road register it and it was subsequently sold to its current owner in August 1997. In his ownership the car has competed in Targa Tasmania in 1998 as well as a number of other tarmac rallies and track days. That said the majority of its circa 37,000km have been travelled on the public roads.

The photos show the car fitted with race seats, however, the original road car seats accompany the car which are unmarked and ‘like new’. Additionally there are four spare rims and a number of miscellaneous spare parts that will accompany the car. The car also has a CAMS log book.

The provenance of this car is unquestionable. It is a one owner car and that the Maserati factory has confirmed it is a genuine ‘Open Cup’ car that was originally produced in February 1995 with a 1996cc 4V engine, external colour “rosso Maserati”, internal colour “pelle nera”.

Be sure this is no ordinary Ghibli and it in fact makes a Shamal look a little tame !

Priced at $85,000.00 AUD (£39,500 approx.), this is a unique opportunity to acquire a very rare world market car.

Given our weak dollar and the strength of your market I'm sending quite a few cars to the UK. The process is quite straight forward and the cost in a 20-foot container is approx AUD $4,000 plus insurance at 0.5% of the insured value (underwritten by Lloyds of London).

For further information please contact Mark Jansen at mark.jansen@oldtimeraustralia.com."