One to Buy: 2 owner 26,000km unrestored 1976 Maserati Khamsin
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To style the body and interior for its new front-engined Grand Tourer that would effectively replace the outgoing Ghibli and Mexico, Maserati turned to Bertone, a design studio at the height of its powers and a leading light in the avantgarde wedge movement.
Having been unveiled in prototype form at the Turin Motor Show in November 1972, the production-ready Khamsin (which was the last Maserati designed by renowned engineer, Giulio Alfieri) made its debut eleven months later in Paris.
Named in typical Maserati fashion after a desert wind, the Khamsin was based around a steel monocoque bodyshell into which was dropped a 4.9-litre all-alloy dual overhead cam 320bhp V8. Transmission was through a five-speed manual ZF gearbox and a limited-slip differential. A three-speed Borg-Warner automatic was offered as an option.
By the time production was discontinued in 1982, Maserati had completed 430 Khamsins, a stunning example of which is currently on offer at the Thiesen Automobile showroom in Hamburg: chassis AM120190.
Configured in the handsome colour scheme of Blu Metallizzato with Beige leather upholstery and contrasting Marrone carpet, the car was delivered through Maserati’s French distributor, Thepenier in Paris. The first owner, Dr Peron of Neuilly, registered the car on February 23rd 1976 and retained it until his death in 1981 by which point the car had covered 22,000km. Dr Peron’s widow subsequently stored AM120190 for the next 34 years.
Since acquisition by its most recent owner, the car (which has now covered a little over 26,000km) has been technically overhauled and represents a very rare opportunity to buy a low mileage, low owner, unrestored Khamsin.
