#320 GUILOY – MASERATI GHIBLI “FANTÁSTICO” (1986)

The “Knight Rider” was a great success Worldwide. In Spain, the series was renamed “El Coche Fantástico”, and could be seen in TVE the summer of 1985 for the first time.

Toy companies tried to get some revenues out of the TV series, and some launched cars based on Kitt. As far as I am concerned, no Spanish manufacturer got the rights from the creator of the TV-series to produce the “real” Kitt.

Guiloy took the casts that resembled most a Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am and painted it black. It was an old Maserati Ghibli, whose cast was bought from Pilen a few years earlier. To increase the likeness of the model, they added a red sticker on the bonnet of the car, like that light sensors Kitt had.

Just in case, you still had problems to identify the model, Guiloy added two more stickers with the word “Fantástico” in red on the doors. With that, it was very difficult not to recognise Kitt. The stickers were changed for the Portuguese market for “Justiceiro”, because the TV-Series was renamed there “O Justiceiro”. None of the stickers remains in my car.

The car itself can be seen in the pictures. The base of the car is made in plastic, probably to reduce the retail price of this model.

This same car made by Guiloy was also available in other colours and decorations, as I already showed here: http://toysfromthepast.blogspot.com/2011/08/50-guiloy-matra-simca-ref-60152-renault.html

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MASERATI GHIBLI “FANTÁSTICO”
• Alternate Names: “JUSTICEIRO” (Portugal)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1986
• Company: Guiloy (Spain)
• Size: approx. 9 cm