2019 Maserati Quattroporte S Q4 Gransport on 2040-cars

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2014 Maserati Ghibli S Q4 [w/video]

For one reason or another, this is a car people stare at. They might be drawn to its curvaceous shape riding on immense wheels. They could be intrigued by its gaping, blacked-out grille which houses an equally outsized trident logo, or doing quick calculations about the last time they saw a car wearing the name Maserati. It may be its sports-car-like proportions mixed with achingly long, four-door bodywork that draws their eye.
Or, and I urge you to consider this theory carefully, the people taking notice of this Maserati Ghibli S Q4 might simply be newly alert after hearing the sound of its exhaust ricocheting off any solid thing nearby as I drive past grinning like a certified asshat. Did you hear an Italianate engine song careening through your Ann Arbor, MI neighborhood, in the black of the early morning, just a few weeks previous? Sorry, guy, that was probably me.
I spent a week hammering this all-wheel-drive Ghibli as hard as I dared in the last truly miserable stretch of the God Awful Winter of 2014. I can honestly say that I enjoyed myself, shocked at both the frank way this new challenger luxury car went down the road as well as the attention it garnered in the process.

Maserati MC20 Cabrio is a 621-horsepower Italian hair dryer

Winter is officially here, but Maserati is already looking forward to warmer temperatures and more driving-friendly weather. It released the first official photos of the MC20 Cabrio, which is exactly what it sounds like: a convertible version of the recently-launched MC20 coupe. Maserati likes having fun with the camouflage it uses to cover its pre-production prototypes, it notably dedicated an early MC20 test mule to Stirling Moss, and it designed a cloud-themed wrap specifically for the MC20 Cabrio. Unfortunately, whether it features clouds or swirls, the camouflage does an excellent job of hiding key details and the photos ask more questions than they answer. For example, we know that this is a convertible but there's no word yet on whether it will have a power-folding cloth soft top or if it will be fitted with a removable roof panel. Roof aside, the Cabrio looks nearly identical to the coupe, which isn't a bad thing; we think the MC20 is one of the best-looking cars that Maserati has released, and its exterior design will influence other additions to the company's range, including the Grecale crossover. Both the coupe and the convertible are built around the same carbon fiber monocoque, and we're guessing that there won't be major drivetrain differences between the two body styles. Power for the Cabrio will come from a mid-mounted, 3.0-liter V6 that's twin-turbocharged to develop 621 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque. Called Nettuno, it spins the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. More details about the Maserati MC20 Cabrio will emerge in the coming months. Sales should start for the 2023 model year. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Ferrari, Maseratis trashed in Chinese off-road adventure

Ready to cringe? A group of Chinese motorists drove the Sichuan-Tibet Highway in a fleet of Italian cars, fording streams and hopping rocky terrain as they went. Well, they attempted to drive it, anyway. Only five of the cars managed to survive the truly unnecessary ordeal. The trip was reportedly the idea of a wealthy Chinese businessman named Ni Haishan. Haishan was driving the red Ferrari F12, with his employees following in what appear to be 10 Maserati Ghibli sedans. The Maseratis were gifts to his employees, which makes the loss of six of them along the way only slightly easier to stomach. Even the cars that made it to the finish line in Lhasa, Tibet, arrived with some serious damage. The unsurprising fallout included several wheels and tires on the Ferrari, including one wheel that took the studs it was attached to with it. As you can see above, the "highway" route was not exactly suited to these particular cars. There is some precedent for a car from Maranello driving to Lhasa, however. In 2005, Ferrari sent two 612 Scagliettis on a tour of China called "Ferrari 15,000 Red Miles" with various journalists at the wheel. That journey started and ended in Shanghai and took the cars all over the vast country, including two crossings of the Gobi Desert, along the Great Wall, and on some of Marco Polo's route. Of course, it also involved a lot of planning, a huge support team, and at least a modicum of common sense. All of this was supposedly Haishan's way of showing the world that business is good for him and that customers should trust their money with him. We might conclude otherwise based on the results. If you absolutely have to run this road in something Italian and expensive, may we suggest a Maserati Levante next time? Related Video: Image Credit: news.163.com Auto News Ferrari Maserati Coupe Luxury Performance Sedan ferrari f12 berlinetta maserati ghibli