MASERATI KHAMSIN 1976 - Test drive in top gear - 4.9 V8 Engine sound | SCC TV

This is the magnificent Maserati Khamsin 4.9. Only 420 were made of which only 335 had a five speed gearbox. It has the legendary roaring V8 engine and is equipped with a very nice beige leather interior and the original wheels. It is a "matching numbers" car.

The Maserati Khamsin (Tipo AM120) is a Gran Turismo automobile produced by Maserati between 1974 and 1982. The Khamsin had no direct successor, with Maserati not making another V8 grand tourer until the 1990 launch of the Shamal. Following Maserati's tradition it was named after a wind: the Khamsin, a hot, violent gust blowing in the Egyptian desert for fifty days a year.

Front view of a Khamsin, showing the three slots added in 1977.
The Khamsin was introduced as a Bertone prototype in Autumn 1972 at the Turin Auto Show. Designed by Marcello Gandini, it was Bertone's first work for Maserati. In March 1973 the production model was shown at the Paris Motor Show, wearing Maserati badges. Regular production of the vehicle started only a year later, in 1974. The Khamsin was developed under the Citroën ownership for the clientele that demanded a front-engined grand tourer on the lines of the previous Ghibli, more conventional than the mid-engined Bora. In 1977 a mild facelift added three horizontal slots on the Khamsin's nose to aid cooling. Inside it brought a restyled dashboard and a new padded steering wheel. One Khamsin was delivered to Luciano Benetton in 1981. Despite the many improvements over its predecessor, the Khamsin didn't replicate its success; partly due to the concurrent fuel crisis that shrunk demand for big V8 grand tourers. Production ended in 1982, with 435 vehicles made (a mere third of the Ghibli's 1274 examples production run) - 155 of whose had been exported to the United States.