1980 Maserati Quattroporte Base Sedan 4-door 4.9l on 2040-cars

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Autocar compares new Maserati Quattroporte to Jaguar XJ

Autocar's Steve Sutcliffe took the 2014 Maserati Quattroporte on a spin along snowy mountain roads to test it for a specific brief: as a limousine for the chauffeured class. It's sporting credentials are impressive: Twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V8, 532 horsepower, 475 pound-feet of torque in casual circumstances that rises to 532 lb-ft in overboost, a 0-to-60 mile-per-hour sprint of 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 191 mph.
However, citing Maserati's desire to not just increase its sales to 50,000-per-annum by 2015, but to sell many more of its cars in China, Sutcliffe wanted to find out if the livery side of the Quattroporte could match its sport sedan side. So after taking the pilot's seat and trying out the sport settings, Sutcliffe hops in back to test out the CEO's seat.
Then he compares the Quattroporte against the long-wheelbase Jaguar XJ with its supercharged V8, a sedan that's 15,000 pounds less expensive than the Maserati. It doesn't take long for him to find that one of them is a clear winner when it comes to transporting VIPs. To find out which one, enjoy the video below.

Drive like a prince: Join us for a walk through Monaco's car collection

Small, crowded, and a royal pain in the trunk lid to drive into during rush hour, Monaco sounds like an improbable location for a huge car museum. And yet, this tiny city-state has been closely linked to car culture for over a century. It hosts two major racing events every year, many of its residents would qualify for a frequent shopper card if Rolls-Royce issued one, and Prince Rainier III began assembling a collection of cars in the late 1950s. He opened his collection to the public in 1993 and the museum quickly turned into a popular tourist attraction. The collection continued to grow after his death in April 2005; it moved to a new facility located right on Hercules Port in July 2022. Monaco being Monaco, you'd expect to walk into a room full of the latest, shiniest, and most powerful supercars ever to shred a tire. That's not the case: while there is no shortage of high-horsepower machines, the first cars you see after paying ˆ10 (approximately $11) to get in are pre-war models. In that era, the template for the car as we know it in 2023 hadn't been created, so an eclectic assortment of expensive and dauntingly experimental machines roamed whatever roads were available to them. One is the Leyat Helica, which was built in France in 1921 with a 1.2-liter air-cooled flat-twin sourced from the world of aviation. Fittingly, the two-cylinder spun a massive, plane-like propeller. Government vehicles get a special spot in the museum. They range from a Cadillac Series 6700 with an amusing blend of period-correct French-market yellow headlights and massive fins to a 2011 Lexus LS 600h with a custom-made transparent roof panel that was built by Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet for Prince Albert II's wedding. Here's where it all gets a little weird: you've got a 1952 Austin FX3, a Ghia-bodied 1959 Fiat 500 Jolly, a 1960 BMW Isetta, and a 1971 Lotus Seven. That has to be someone's idea of a perfect four-car garage.  One of the most significant cars in the collection lurks in the far corner of the main hall, which is located a level below the entrance. At first glance, it's a kitted-out Renault 4CV with auxiliary lights, a racing number on the front end, and a period-correct registration number issued in the Bouches-du-Rhone department of France. It doesn't look all that different than the later, unmodified 4CV parked right next to it. Here's what's special about it: this is one of the small handful of Type 1063 models built by Renault for competition.

2022 Maserati Grecale spy photos show new SUV behind Stellantis gates

Here’s our first good look at the upcoming Maserati Grecale. Maserati dropped a few shadowy and blurry images as a teaser a couple months ago, but they only provided a vague idea of what we should expect from the compact crossover. The blue camouflage theme is one consistency, and it seems the level of coverage on the car is similarly enveloping. It's deception following deception up front, as the hood features strange bulges, and the headlights look taped on. The only visible opening is a grated intake in the lower side bumper area. That said, we do have a better look at the proportions without blur or confusion. Rumors point to this crossover using the Alfa Romeo-developed Giorgio platform, despite reports of that platform not having much of a future at Stellantis. That means it should be similar in size to the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. Seeing it parked nearby a camouflaged Jeep Compass, this approximation appears to ring true. It looks like itÂ’s a bit larger than the Jeep, which is as it should be, considering the Grecale should be one class larger. Those big, wide hips are visible from the front three-quarter angle, but theyÂ’re extra dramatic from the rear. We have a feeling that the Grecale is going to look much sportier than the Levante does, and hopefully more handsome, too. The big, quad exhaust poking out the back is another big hint in that direction. All the powertrain details are still shrouded in mystery, but the likely options are a base four-cylinder turbo and a boosted V6 as the upgrade. WeÂ’ll be especially interested to see if the car launches with a Trofeo model to compete with other high-powered compact models like the Porsche Macan Turbo, BMW X3 M and Mercedes-AMG GLC 63. From the shape we can see here, it looks like the Grecale will be a traditionally-shaped crossover, albeit one with a pretty severe angle to its rear window. ThereÂ’s a fairly large hood of a rear spoiler to hang over that window, but the dominating feature out back are the horizontally-stretching rear taillights. Everything else is covered in camo, so weÂ’ll need to wait for Maserati to reveal its secrets when itÂ’s good and ready. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.