I spotted an ad a couple months ago on a Maserati Ghibli rolling shell which was minus engine and transmission. Wonder what it would be like if some enterprising sort grafted in an LT5 and ZF six-speed from a ZR1? (maybe parts of the suspension, too - but probably converted to coil-overs instead of the leaf springs). Lunatic? Well, it is still a V8 - except 5.7L versus 5.0L. Quad valves instead of two. Redline 7200 instead of 5500...and quite a bit more power. It also could solve the perennial ZR1 issue - the car didn't have sufficient style to go along with that gem of an engine. OK, so let the ridicule begin....
you woudn't be the the first to think of this... Back in the 50's there were a bunch of Fcars and Jags etc rolling around texas with small block chevys... More reliable running gear with easily available bits ... Ol Shel ran an Cad Allard and started with a MG with a ford stroker under the hood. I am sure there are people still out there doing this (I know lots of Nissan Z's with Highbred Chevy power so It is not a question of can it it is should it or can you afford it
Actually, I was not interested in paying a little over 20,000 for a mere rolling shell. Complete cars that run (coupes) sometimes show up for around 40K. I thought it might go down in price after a while, but it seems to have disappeared now. Anyway, it seemed like a somewhat more elegant idea than the usual iron small-block pushrod engine.
I think its a great idea, only I'd reccomend an LS1 instead. Cheaper, more common, probably more potential, and most importantly much easier to service.
However, the idea here was to go UP in displacement rather than down, keep the tradition of overhead cams, and not spend 3.5 times as much for the engine as the donor car shell...and I assume Kizdan means not the F1 transmission, too? Another and better point that I may be getting from this, however, why in the world could not Maserati have taken more of a styling cue from a car (the Ghibli) that was so beautiful in its day that it was considered a valid competitor to the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 and the Miura, even with a solid rear axle and a 5500 RPM long-stroke V8? (I mean of course the current front engine coupe and roadster...) I think a lot of collecters may soon be kicking themselves for not picking up Ghibli project cars at low cost while we all had the chance. So many got their tops cut that the coupe might someday be a valuable rarity! James
Love the Ghibli, a neighbor had one when I was growing up, perfect shape and the trophys to prove it. If you can, I'd say do a stock restore...but for a hot-rod the ZR1 engine is great (keeps the oddball factor too, anyone can do a OHV V8).
