These Cars Were Different and Better Outside North America

The U.S.-spec Maserati Khamsin, at left, and the European-sold original design.Image: Wikimedia Commons, Maserati

Up until now, all these examples of cars being made worse for their U.S. debuts — or at least not equally good or better — have been pretty ordinary. Family sedans, compacts, minivans and so on. Here comes the Maserati Khamsin to spoil that trend. The Khamsin, produced from 1974 through 1982, was a beautiful Italian grand tourer with a very innovative rear end design that installed the taillights into a portion of rear glass above the bumper. It looks stunning, even half a century later. But when it came time for Maserati to seek U.S. approval, our government did what it does best: ruin things for sport.

As such, the U.S.-spec Khamsin has two asses, kind of layered vertically. The glass that would normally encapsulate the lights is in the same position, but the lights themselves have been shifted below it, in the cavity of the bumper’s old location. Then, an ultra-chonky, U.S.-law-abiding rubber bumper was stuffed even further below that, making the American Khamsin look like the product of some diabolical, hilarious miscommunication at the plant.