I've always wondered if there was a back story on the name selection of some of the older model and racing maseratis....names like Mistral, Ghibli, Khamsin, Bora, Merak, Kyalami, Shamal, Karif, Tipo, and Trofeo. Not very Italian-sounding yet, very distinct (ok - trofeo = trophy). Anyone know the origins of these names?
1946-1969 A6 · 3500 · 5000 GT · Mistral · Quattroporte I · Sebring · Mexico · Ghibli I
A6 - Alfieri 6 cylinder
The 3500 & 5000 were the engine size of the cars.
Mistral was the start of a Maserati tradition of naming the car after famous winds. The Mistral is a cold strong dry wind in France.
Quattroporte is Italian for 4 Door.
Sebring is in honor of Maserati's win at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1957 with a 450S
Mexico is in honor of the (Cooper) Maserati win at the 1966 Mexico GP in F1.
Ghibli is another wind this one in North Africa
1970-1979 Khamsin · Bora · Indy · Merak · Quattroporte II · Quattroporte III · Kyalami
Khamsin another wind. This one in Egypt that blows for 50 days. It is also Arabic for 50.
Bora another wind blowing from the Adriatic Sea area.
Indy in honor of Maserati's wins in 1939 & 40 at the Indy 500
Merak is named after a star.
Quattroporte. Version 2 & version 3
Kyalami in honor of Maserati win at the South African race.
1980-1999 Biturbo · 420 · Spyder I · Quattroporte III Royale · Racing ·Shamal · Karif · Barchetta · Ghibli II · Quattroporte IV · 3200 GT
Biturbo either means 2 turbos or the sexual prefence of the turbos not sure?
420 - 4 doors 2 liter
Quattroporte Royale was a built to order luxury version of the car made for a number of people that were Royality
Racing just a more performace version of the then current model Biturbo.
Shamal again a wind this one blows through Iraq. These winds became famous during both Iraq wars. In the 1991 war it moved up the timetable for the invasion to avoid them. In the current war, it slowed the advance on Baghdad until the Shamal wind past.
Karif another wind from Somolia
Barchetta is Italian for little boat. This name is used by many Italian manufacters for open cars.
Ghibli ll & QP lV is the 2nd and 4 version of each car
3200 is engine size GT is Grand Touring or Gran Turismo
2000-present Coupé · Spyder II · GranSport · Quattroporte V · MC12 · GranTurismo
Coupe - traditional name of a 2 door closed car.
Spyder - traditional name for 2 seat Italian convertables
Qp V- number 5
MC12 - Maserati Corsa 12 cylinder
GranTurismo - Grand Touring which is actually the type of cars that Maserati has always built for the road.
Racing Vehicles 26M · 8C · V8RI · 8CM · 8CLT · 8CTF · 8CL · 6CM · 4CL/4CLT · A6GCM · 150S · Tipo 63 · Tipo 65 · 250F · 200S · 300S · 350S · 450S · Tipo 61 "Birdcage" · Tipo 151 · Tipo 154 · MC12 GT1 · Trofeo
Concept Cars: Birdcage 75th
26M - Type 26 (for the year inwhich it was 1st built 1926) M for monoposto (single seater)
8C - 8 cylinder Corsa (race)
V8Ri -V8 independent suspension
8CM - 8 cylinder Corsa Monoposto
8CLT - 8 cylinder Corsa Linguette (Tubular Frame)
8CTF - 8 cylinder Corsa Testa Fissa (fixed head)
8CL - 8 cylinder Corsa Linguette (in line)
6CM - 6 cylinder Corsa Monoposto
4CL/T - 4 cylinder Corsa Linguette (Tubular Frame)
A6GCM - Alfieri 6 cylinder "G" was a cast iron block "C" corsa "M" monoposto
150S - 1.5 liter sport
200S - 2.0 liter sport
300S - 3.0 liter sport
450S - 4.5 liter sport
250F - 2.5 liter Formula
Tipo 60, 61, 63, 64, 65 - Tipo (type) are internal company designations for each model. The 450S was Tipo 54. These cars were the different types of the Birdcage concept.
Tipo 151 - internal company project name
Trofeo - Italian for trophy
Birdcage - Is actually a nick name for the structure of the tipo 60 - 65 race cars. It was made up of a series of small tubes that resembled a "Birdcage"
