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Latin music star Ren? P?rez destroys own Maserati to send kids a message

Can destroying a car be art? That question comes a bit too late for the Maserati Quattroporte seen above. The act depicted is from the music video for Adentro by Puerto Rican hip-hop act Calle 13 new single.
While the video is not yet online, the making-of featurette is available below and shows the luxury sedan getting beat with a baseball bat (and more) by the group's frontman René Pérez. According to Latin Gossip, Pérez wants to send his fans a message not to place too high a value in material objects. The Maserati represents a time in his life of too much excess, it seems...
The guy might have an argument, but it still seems pretty wasteful to destroy a perfectly good Italian sports sedan. We will be curious to see how far the destruction goes, but you can get a peak at it in the video below.

330-horsepower Ghibli Hybrid is Maserati's first electrified model

Maserati kicked off its electrification campaign by releasing a hybrid version of the Ghibli, its entry-level model. The sedan gains a mild hybrid system, subtle visual tweaks, and many technology upgrades inside. Unveiled online, the brand's first production-bound electrified car features a gasoline-electric powertrain built around a turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. It works jointly with a 48-volt belt-driven starter-generator and what the company calls an e-booster that's essentially an electric supercharger. The system's total output checks in at 330 horsepower at 5,750 rpm and 332 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm, and it channels its power to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission and a limited-slip differential. Maserati quotes a 5.7-second sprint from zero to 62 mph, and a 159-mph top speed. While fuel economy figures are still being finalized, preliminary estimates peg the Hybrid's fuel consumption at about 27.6 mpg in a combined cycle, a figure which — if accurate — makes it less efficient than the 31.3-mpg diesel model it will replace. Adopting 48-volt technology was the best way to electrify the Ghibli, according to the brand. "We thought about a plug-in option for the Ghibli, but when you put a lot of batteries — and a lot of other stuff — into the car, it adds weight and it's going to jeopardize the performance and the fun-to-drive quotient that is key for Maserati. I'm not saying this to diminish the good points of the plug-in hybrid technology, but it's not the best solution here," Francesco Tonon, Maserati's head of global product planning and marketing, told Autoblog. Tonon pointed out making the Ghibli a hybrid wasn't an excuse to make it dull; it still needed to drive and sound like a Maserati. It's 176 pounds lighter than the diesel-burning model, and it offers better weight distribution because there is a lighter engine under the hood and some of the hybrid components are installed in the back. As for the sound, Tonon proudly explained his team gave the Ghibli a unique exhaust note worthy of the storied trident emblem without resorting to an amplifier, by tweaking the system and adopting resonators. Subtle design changes set the Hybrid model apart from the non-electrified Ghibli.

Maserati teases MC20 prototype again reminiscing about the Targa Florio

Maserati spent its weekend reminiscing about victory in the 1940 Targa Florio, putting an MC20 prototype to work enhancing the gravitas of the anniversary. After winning the Targa in 1937, 1938, and 1939 with the Maserati 6CM and its 1.5-liter supercharged inline-six throwing 175 horsepower, the House of the Trident showed up in 1940 with the brand new 4CL powered by a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder cranking 220 hp. Luigi Villoresi, who'd driven the 6CM to triumph the year before, crossed the line first in the 4CL to close out European racing until the end of World War II. With a return to racing on the automaker's mind, Maserati took a camouflaged MC20 to the same Favorita Park roads that hosted the Targa. The soft-focus spy shots were taken in front of the Floriopoli stands, a stretch of bunting and banners not far from the Targa start line as historic competitors headed into the Sicilian mainland. The MC20 is as photogenic in these shots as all the others, and as mysterious. The automaker seems intent on making everyone wait until the September debut to for any details that the prototype doesn't put on display. Prime among enthusiast interest is the powerplant. With Ferrari shutting down its supply of engines to the fellow Modenese sports car maker, Maserati says its new mid-engined coupe will be "the first car to use [its] new engine, brimming with innovative technological contents, developed and built by Maserati in-house." Short odds figure on a molto potente twin-turbo V6 sending power to the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, the long money isn't afraid to bet on a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8  to replace the F154 V8 that Ferrari provides. With race engineers undoubtedly sorting out a version for sports car racing as we speak, Maserati will certainly hope the competitive version matches the exploits of the 4CL. The vintage race car took pole in its first race, earned its first victory two races later, snatched up a bag of silverware before WWII, won the first race held in Europe after the war ended, and continued winning in 4CL and 4CLT trim until 1951 to take 31 total victories — nine more than the MC12 race car. Related Video: