One off Ghibli V8 4v cylinder head

WOW!

 

NOT made for a client.

The factory produced it in their small but very reactive and fertile R & D dept and CHOSE a well known client who was willing to be a guinea pig and drive it extensively.

It was NOT ordered by a client.

When researching the one off "SSS" special Ghibli SS AM115-1726 made for the young VIP client, heir and Thepenier Maserati France financial backer Philippe Cornet Epinat, I found factory correspondence stating no, we will produce a more powerful engine for you as a special order but the four valve is NOT available to you.

The last word, you, kiddo, was omitted because he was important but that was the gist of the letter.

The factory did not pursue 4 valve development after that.

 

Hello John,

Thank you for your post.

I clearly wrote that Frenchman Philippe Cornet Epinat asked for a 4 valve head since he was well informed and knew that they were experimenting with that but that the factory said no; 1926 never ever had a 4 valve head, not for one second.

It was a local Italian client (NOT Cornet Epinat) who got the 4 valve head ON ANOTHER GHIBLI since they knew him well and he was a good enough driver as well as technically savvy enough that he would be a good (and free!) test driver. I did not investigate which car had that head as I was focusing on my article on 1726. FYI I wrote a very comprehensive eleven page article on 1726, the car nicknamed Ghibli SSS in Octane magazine issue #183 about five years ago.

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Typo above, 1726 is what I meant to write, not 1926.