1969 Maserati Ghibli Spyder grabs $920k at auction

The 10-day Mecum Kissimmee 2017 was the venue where no less than 1,981 cars went under the hammer at the event organized at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida. You are looking at the star of the auction, a lovely 1969 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Spyder that managed to top the sales charts by fetching no less than $920,000, within the estimation made by the auction house.

It is one of the first ever made and a rare sight on the streets taking into account Maserati made only 125 Ghibli Spiders during the model’s five-year production run. It is actually even rarer than that seeing as how only 25 of them had the 4.9-liter version of the V8 engine, while the others received the smaller 4.7-liter unit. Linked to a five-speed ZF manual gearbox, the engine pushes out a healthy 330 horsepower to those stunning chromed Borrani wire wheels backed by disc brakes.

This early build was recently subjected to a thorough restoration process involving among others applying a fresh yellow coat of paint. The thoroughly tweaked black leather interior appears to be in great condition, as are the dashboard bits and all of the instrumentation. Some “minor but acceptable wear” is visible, although that wasn’t much of an issue for the new owner who agreed to pay close to $1 million for the 170-mph, two-seat spyder designed by none other than Giorgetto Giugiaro.

In case you're wondering, here are the top 10 highest-grossing cars from the Mecum Kissimmee 2017 auction:

1. 1969 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Spyder at $920,000
2. 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible at $775,000
3. 2005 Porsche Carrera GT at $625,000
4. 1963 Chevrolet Impala Z11 ‘Old Reliable IV’ at $525,000
5. 1957 Chevrolet Corvette Big Brake Airbox at $450,000
6. 1963 Pontiac Catalina Swiss Cheese at $430,000
7. 1980 BMW M1 at $400,000
8. 1963 Chevrolet Impala Z11 at $340,000
9. 2006 Ford GT Heritage Edition at $327,500
10. 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Split Window Coupe at $300,000