Maserati Khamsin: Remembering Marcello Gandini's V8-Powered Wedge-Shaped Masterpiece

Born in Turin on August 26, 1938, Marcello Gandini was the son of a former orchestral conductor and composer who wanted to steer his son towards a similar career by introducing him to the piano at an early age.

However, the young Gandini became fascinated by the sounds of powerful engines, and his favorite "instrument" soon became one that used pistons, not keys, to make music.

Although he continued to study music until the age of eighteen, Gandini abandoned his classical music studies and decided to pursue his passion, even if that resulted in a rift with his family.

After quickly making a name for himself as a hugely promising automotive designer and engineer, Marcello Gandini was hired by Bertone, where he was the apprentice of famed stylist Giorgetto Giugiaro.

In 1965, Giugiaro left Bertone to start his own company, and his 27-year-old apprentice became the coachbuilder's chief designer.

Gandini flourished in this new role, making Bertone an internationally renowned design powerhouse.

He took on projects for several carmakers, notably Lamborghini, for which he designed iconic models like the Miura, Urraco, and Countach.

Styling-wise, Gandini was one of the designers who influenced the so-called wedge-shape boom of the late 1960s and 1970s.

The focus on aggressive lines and drastic angles led to several Gandini-designed masterpieces like the aforementioned Countach, or the iconic Alfa Romeo Carabo concept.

Nevertheless, Gandini also created a wedge-shaped masterpiece that has been unfairly forgotten: the Maserati Khamsin.

From Bertone Concept to Maserati's latest GT
In the early 1970s, Bertone began a collaboration with Maserati, and the first vehicle that resulted from the collaboration was a concept shown at the 1972 Turin Motor Show.

While it didn't yet feature Maserati badges, the concept continued the company's tradition of being named after a wind. Therefore, the car was christened Khamsin after a hot, violent gust blowing in the Egyptian desert.

Designed by Gandini, the concept showcased one of the most appealing interpretations of the wedge-shaped styling language.

Dramatically low-slung, it featured a long and sharp front end with pop-up headlights and off-center hood grilles, while the fastback roof section met the kammback rear end to form a spear-shaped silhouette that looked good from absolutely every angle.

The reaction of the press and the public was overwhelmingly positive, so Maserati decided to green-light the production of Khamsin, which became Ghibli's successor as the brand's flagship front-engine GT.

The production version was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 1973 and went into production a year later.

It was nearly identical to the 1972 concept car, save for the rear taillight panel. In what became the Khamsin's most striking feature, the panel was now made from clear Plexiglass rather than black-painted steel, allowing for improved visibility when backing up and boosting the car's futuristic appearance.

A state-of-the-art Italian chassis brimming with French tech
Under the beautifully sculptured steel body panels, the Khamsin hid an advanced monocoque chassis with a separate tubular rear subframe.

Since Maserati was owned by automotive giants Citroen when the Khamsin was developed, the car received a multitude of hydraulically actuated components manufactured in France.

The list of Citoen-designed components was quite hefty and included power disc brakes, power steering, the power driver's seat adjustment mechanism, a hydraulic clutch, and a headlight lifting mechanism.

While Ciroen's famed hydraulic suspension was not employed by Maserati for the new front-engine GT, the in-house designed suspension system bordered perfection as far as comfort and performance, earning a heap of praise from the motoring press.

Unlike the Ghibli's system, the Khamsin's was fully independent, with double-wishbones and thick anti-roll bars front and back, as well as two shocks on each side at the rear.

Elegant, comfortable, and surprisingly powerful
The new GT had an elegant cabin with leather upholstery and two ultra-comfortable front bucket seats that took comfort to a superior level.

Between the front seats and the ample trunk, Gandini designed a rear bench seat that allowed Maserati to market the car as a 2+2 seater. However, there was virtually no legroom in the back, so the bench was only good to accommodate a coat and a small backpack.

Nevertheless, the story was quite different under the hood, where there was enough room for a quite special 4.9-liter V8.

The Khamsin's production debut coincided with an oil crisis that affected manufacturers worldwide and forced them to switch to smaller, less powerful, yet more fuel-efficient engines.

Maserati was one of the very few carmakers who stubbornly opposed downsizing and dropping the compression ratios of its engines. The good part of this strategy was that the Khamsin's all-aluminum DOHC V8 made no less than 320 hp (net) and a generous 482 Nm (355.5 lb-ft) of torque.

The right car at the wrong time
The bad part about Maserati's strategy was that the market's appetite for powerful and thirsty exotics plummeted during the car's production run.

Despite the fact that it was the gorgeous, elegant, and very powerful GT that many enthusiasts dreamed about, few were willing to bite the bullet and buy one.

To make matters worse, US safety regulations forced Maserati to add some of the largest and ugliest bumpers it had ever produced on the American version of the Khamsin. Moreover, US regulators didn't allow the taillights to be mounted in the plexiglass panel. That meant they had to be relocated just underneath the panel, which ruined the best part of the car.

The hideousness of the US version affected sales even more, so in the end, only 435 units were produced during the model's eight-year lifespan.

The Maserati Khamsin was one of those rare GTs that ticked every box on a hardcore enthusiast's list. It was beautiful, comfortable, powerful, and handled like a dream. However, it was produced during a nightmarish era for the automotive industry.

Thankfully, classic car enthusiasts have started rediscovering this Gandini masterpiece, as the steadily rising value of a surviving example in great shape has now reached $102,447, according to classic.com.

For more on this underrated yet epic Maserati, we recommend watching the following episode of Jay Leno's Garage.