June 9, 2009
If you have never driven on a race track, you should. If your skills are weak, track time will make them better. And if you think you're an undiscovered Tony Stewart, well then, get out there and prove it. The list that follows after the jump gives some ideas where you might try your luck both on the road and in the dirt.
May 27, 2009
When Mark McNabb announced he was leaving GM last week, most assumed he was merely jumping off a sinking ship. No big surprise there really as he had only been at GM for a year or so. Before that he was at Nissan, a job he returned to after a short stint at Mercedes-Benz, so yeah, the guy gets around.
Now he's the new President and CEO of Maserati North America, Inc. With only a handful of models, McNabb's job should be fairly easy after coming from two full-line manufacturers. Then again, selling high-dollar exotics during one of the worst economic recessions in U.S. history could present a few challenges.
First Drive: 2009 Maserati Quattroporte GT-S
May 14, 2009
Ferrari announced this week that the last production Ferrari F430 would be part of the lots at all-Ferrari RM auction this Saturday. The proceeds will benefit Italy's Abruzzo region, east of Rome, which was heavily damaged by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on April 6.
The two-tone livery on this F430 is meant to recall the traditional colors of L'Aquila, Italy, the medieval town at the epicenter of the quake. Ferrari will invite the eventual owner to Maranello to finalize specifications on the F430, though the transmission is already decided: It's the automated F1 gearbox.
The F430 auction follows a week-long apparel auction at Ferrari's online store during which time you could bid on racing suits autographed by Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.
View all lots in the RM Auction on May 17 ... it's all Ferraris, including a '91 F40, plus two Maseratis.
April 22, 2009
U.S. Attorneys have charged the owners of a New York Bentley and Aston Martin dealership with corporate espionage after discovering they had tapped into the email network of a rival Ferrari and Maserati dealership.
According to Bloomberg, Giacomo Ciaccia and Leka Vuksanaj, the co-owners of Universal Autosports LLC,were former employees of the Ferrari dealership. A third man, Michael Lussos, listed as the Creative Director of Universal Autosports, helped to set up the email system for the Ferrari dealership.
Investigators discovered that the Ferrari dealership's email were being forwarded to an outside account. In some instances, Universal Auto sport attempted to use the information to thwart potential sales by contacting customers directly. The three men each face up to five years in jail and a fine of $250,000.
Bloomberg: Aston Martin Dealer Is Charged With Spying on Rival
April 6, 2009
Why muck up your GranTurismo daily driver when you can have a dedicated track car like the GranTurismo MC? Designed to compete in the GT4 European Cup class, the GranTurismo MC uses the same 4.7-liter V8 as the production GranTurismo S. Revised engine mapping bumps output to 450-horsepower while the chassis has been stiffened and race-grade brakes installed. A full roll cage and racing slicks are also part of the package.
And the cost? A mere 135,000 Euros. Just call Maserati Corse and they'll arrange pickup of the money. We're sure you'll get a car eventually.
January 20, 2009
In the coming days you will be hearing much -- possibly too much -- about the Fiat Group's lineup of cars. The alliance between Chrysler and Fiat Group should open the American market to a flood of new small cars, both branded as Chryslers and Dodges but also, one would hope, Fiats, Alfa-Romeos and a couple of others.
We'll spare you the dissertation on the global implications of the Punto -- at least for now. No, now is the time where we provide our wish list of Fiat Group products. What follows is based on no particular market reality nor any other form of reality, other than the one projected from our heads.
First a note: The Fiat Group includes Ferrari and Maserati in its holdings. Those brands already have a presence in the American market. You can safely assume the cars from those two rate high on our wish list under any circumstances.
Join us, will you, after the jump for a few more we'd like to see on our highways.
January 12, 2009
#DAS09 I don't know if it says more about me or about modern cars, but it seems every auto show, I get drawn in by the old racecars various manufacturers trot out for their booths.
And so it goes with Maserati at this year's Detroit show. There, behind the shiny new Quattroportes and GranTurismos is the 1939 and '40 Indianapolis 500-winning #1 Boyle Special car that was piloted by Wilbur Shaw.
The small-displacement supercharged V8 car is cool enough from the outside. But take a look inside the cockpit and you get a sense of ol' Wilbur's dedication. The exposed driveshaft runs directly between the driver's legs, as does the steering column and a fair amount of air apparently, because there is no floorboard under the driver's thighs. That provided just enough room for Wilbur's outsized equipment. -- Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
January 9, 2009
So Detroit is hurting and the Asian automakers are pulling out of Detroit. So what's left?
Plenty of room for the Europeans apparently. There will be no less than ten world debuts from the other side of the pond at this year's show, a sign that although our market is down, it's can still make or break a new product for most manufacturers. Here's a rundown of what the German et al. will have on display next week.
March 4, 2008
Finally, Maserati has a car that can go from zero to 60 mph in under 5 seconds. This would be the 2008 Maserati GranTurismo S unveiled in Geneva today. Noting the crowd's fatigue at this late afternoon press conference, Maserati CEO Roberto Ronchi took a simple tack for his speech.
"People have been asking me, 'What does the S stand for,'" he said. "First of all, it stands for 'sport' because there is the new 4.7-liter V8 engine." That engine makes 440 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 361 pound-feet of torque at 4,750 rpm -- significant gains over the 405 hp at 7,100 and 339 lb-ft at 4,750 in the regular GranTurismo.
"'S' also stands for 'speed,'" he continued, "because this is the fastest Maserati we've ever built." The GranTurismo S has a top speed of 295 km/h, he said, which is 183 mph.
November 15, 2007
Maserati may not be a high-volume automaker today, but who knows what the future holds. As announced during the L.A. Auto Show, Quattroporte numbers are up 49 percent this year, and all 2007s are officially sold out. The company is already taking orders for 2008, so if you want your bespoke Italian exotic break out those order guides and fire up your checkbook...
September 11, 2007
It was difficult not to feel slightly sorry for Maserati. While noisy crowds besieged the Ferrari stand in search of a glimpse of Michael Schumacher and the 430 Scuderia, Maserati quietly got on the with the business of unveiling its own new pretender, the Quattroporte Sport GT S.
In essence, this is an uprated version of the deliciously beautiful, Pininfarina-styled Quattroporte. It blends the flexibility of a fully automatic, six-speed gearbox, with a suspension setup tuned for the enthusiast...
August 22, 2007
Edo Competition modified a Maserati MC12 Corse racing car and made it street-legal.
Can you imagine commuting to work in a 755-hp vehicle with a top speed of 242 mph?
Read the Maserati feature on Inside Line.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
July 27, 2007
Inside Line Contributor Ken Gross drove the new Maserati GranTurismo through the Italian Alps.
Fast, powerful, comfortable and designed by legendary Pininfarina. She's a real beauty.
I'll take mine with the optional Salvatore Ferragamo luggage.
Read the Maserati GranTurismo First Drive on Inside Line.
More photos after the break...
June 26, 2007
These are the first spy photos of the upcoming 2010 Maserati Spyder. It's based on the recently introduced Gran Turismo coupe and it appears as though the Spyder will switch to a hardtop configuration. We never liked the odd proportions of the previous Spyder, so this revised version should offer a significant improvement in the styling department. The new roof should help it to maintain the GT's lines despite its shorter, two-seat configuration. Expect to see the same 405hp V8 used in the Gran Turismo under the hood of the Spyder when it goes on sale in 2009...
April 5, 2007
The Pininfarina-designed GranTurismo is the first Maserati in a depressingly long time that one could legitimately call sexy. It looks good even in the dark blue paint Maserati showed it with here at New York. In case you needed proof of how far Maserati has come since the darkest days of the 1980s, have a look at the photos above and below. --Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
March 26, 2007
We won't classify these as spy photos since the Maserati GranTurismo already made its world debut at the 2007 Genevea auto show, but we thought it was worth showing you what this beautiful coupe looks like on the road anyway.
March 6, 2007
As soon as the wraps came off Maserati’s new GranTurismo coupe at this year’s Geneva auto show, we realized the preview photos didn’t begin to do full justice to the gorgeous car we saw in the flesh. The graceful Pininfarina-designed GT, with styling inspired by the Pininfarina Birdcage 75th concept car, even managed to steal everyone’s eyes away from the sexy models perched around Maserati’s show stand. The GT is scheduled for launch in Europe and America in September, and though pricing hasn’t yet been determined, we’re told the GT’s cost in Europe should fall somewhere between 110,000 and 115,000 euros. Only 1,500 GTs are due to be built in the first, short year of production, but Maserati expects to build around 7,000 GTs in 2008...
February 20, 2007
Pixs and info on the Maserati Gran Turismo Coupe, which will debut at the Geneva Motor Show have surfaced. This car is designed by Pininfarina, and is flat out gorgeous.
Somehow, on this model, the '50s-era Buick Super ventiports look right here, whereas on the Quattroporte they look silly. Anyone think the rear hints somewhat of Aston Martin?
Full story here and here...
January 8, 2007
The big news at the Maserati press conference wasn't. We've known the company's Quattroporte sedan was getting a full-fledged automatic transmission for about a year, and today it officially did. Maserati hopes the 6-speed automatic will widen the car's audience, especially in the United States where the company says customers are used to long journeys and are particularly attentive to driving comfort. Americans that still want to drive can still opt for the DuoSelect transmission, which Maserati says will continue to appeal to the current more performance-oriented customer...
August 27, 2006
For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, Automotive News is the industry paper of record. If Bill Ford should come within 500 feet of Carlos Ghosn or Bob Lutz says anything at all, you can bet it will be in AN on Monday morning. Unfortunately, as many of you do know, most of AN's content requires a subscription -- and it's not cheap. Which is a shame since the Detroit paper's army of reporters is hard to beat when it comes to digging up information on future products. With that in mind, I've decided to do the reading for you each week. I'll comb AN's extra large pages in search of anything relevant to future product and give you the abbreviated version. Don't expect a bombshell every Monday, but rest assured that whenever AN reporters print new information it isn't some rumor they heard from their cousin's friend's sister who works at the plant. On to this week's report…
February 15, 2006
While Maserati is setting sales records, both here and in Europe, it still is not likely to meet the 10,000 sales goal the company has set forth for 2007-2008.
From my perspective, every time I see the Quattroporte, I can't help but think Buick Super, with its three portholes. Sorry, I know it's a wonderful car, but I just can't get that image out of my mind. Hmmm...
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