This former F1 driver and Top Gear host said, ‘This Maserati was one of the most underrated cars and one of the most panned by the press.’

A former Formula 1 driver and a legendary figure on Top Gear, Tiff Needell has driven just about every fast and exotic car the automotive industry has to offer. Yet among the cars he champions most passionately is an Italian sedan whose commercial success never really took off: the Maserati Ghibli. In his view, the automotive press has not done him justice.

Guest on the show Cars & Money, in a lengthy interview posted on YouTube in August 2026, Tiff Needell looks back on his career and his years at Top Gear and Fifth Gear, Formula 1, and even the most impressive cars he’s ever driven. As the conversation unfolds, the former driver also mentions a car for which he clearly still has a special fondness: the Maserati Ghibli.

«I love the Maserati Ghibli,» he explains, recounting how he drove the model when he was a brand ambassador. And his assessment of the car’s reception is unequivocal: in his view, it was «one of the most underrated cars and one of the most panned by the press.».

A launch that may have influenced the reviews

Above all, Tiff Needell offers an interesting explanation for this bad reputation. Maserati In particular, the company had chosen to showcase the Ghibli with its diesel engine during press test drives, in the hope of attracting customers accustomed to German sedans, particularly Audi and BMW. An understandable business decision, but one that, in his view, may have contributed to giving a poor first impression of the car.

Tiff Needell is also quite critical of the way auto launches are conducted. He explains how the views of just a few journalists can quickly become the prevailing opinion. According to his account, sometimes all it takes is for a respected colleague to criticize, for example, a car’s suspension quality for that remark to be picked up by other journalists present at the same event (Italpassion confirms this point…). In the case of the Ghibli, Needell believes this dynamic worked particularly against it.

A Maserati that he really enjoyed driving

His personal experience, however, is quite different. The former TV host describes the Ghibli as a particularly elegant four-door sedan, but also as a truly practical car. In particular, he highlights the spacious interior and a trunk large enough to hold luggage and golf clubs. «I loved it,» he says simply.

The Ghibli, however, never achieved the success Maserati had hoped for. For Needell, its reputation doesn’t explain everything. Changes in the market also worked against it: just as SUVs were becoming a must-have, traditional large sedans were gradually losing ground. He even cites Rolls-Royce to illustrate this shift, noting that customers are now happily turning to the Cullinan rather than a classic sedan.

In hindsight, the Maserati Ghibli may have fallen victim to a particularly unfavorable combination of factors: a poorly timed launch, criticism that snowballed, and a market that was already turning away from sedans. Tiff Needell, for his part, has clearly never changed his mind: this Maserati deserved better.