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Zagato to reveal new Maserati-powered Mostro at Villa d'Este

Zagato has a record of collaborating with some of Europe's finest automakers, but it's the storied past it shares with Maserati that the coachbuilder will be celebrating at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este this summer. And that's where Zagato will reveal the Mostro, previewed here. The coachbuilt custom pays tribute to the 1957 Maserati 450 S – known as "il Mostro" for its monstrous power. The Zagato-bodied coupe (one of its last designs not to use the Kamm tail) was commissioned and raced by Stirling Moss at Le Mans, and supposedly remained the most powerful front-engined racecar in the world into the 1990s. This modern tribute is built around a carbon monocoque, with a dry-sump Maserati V8 mounted up front but between the axles for optimal weight distribution, driving a six-speed semi-automatic rear transaxle. The design comes from the same studio that gave us such recent creations as the Alfa Romeo TZ3 and Perana Z-One, and shares some similar design traits, but with quasi-pontoon front fenders capping the long nose and swept-back greenhouse. In correspondence with Autoblog, Zagato confirms that the Mostro is designed for the track, but will be "ready for street homologation." The carrozzeria will build five examples before Maserati's current centenary year is over. Each has already been spoken for, though none are headed to customers in the US. Coachbuilders seldom reveal pricing for this type of project (particularly when they've all been pre-sold), but we're told that "none of Zagato's atelier cars exceed 1 million. As collectible cars, the value of a Zagato typically overcomes the purchasing price within a few years." We'll look forward to seeing the finished product in full once it's ready. In the meantime you can view it – along with a brief pictorial history of the relationship between Maserati and Zagato – in the slideshow above and the details in the trio of texts below. Related Video: Mostro powered by Maserati at the 2015 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este Cernobbio, May 2015. The Mostro powered by Maserati is the latest creation of Zagato's current Iconic decade, a new tradition for the atelier that began at the end of coachbuilder's Neoclassical period (2000-2010) to celebrate the most iconic models of automotive history. Marking the delivery of the first customer car, Zagato will present the new Mostro as a world premiere at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.

Maserati Levante will borrow Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid's PHEV powertrain

The plug-in hybrid tech from the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan will move seriously upmarket into a future version of the Maserati Levante crossover. The PHEV model should arrive around early 2018 or possibly the end of 2017, division boss Harald Wester told Motor Trend. Wester was blunt about the reason for using the minivan's powertrain. "A standalone program would be suicidal so we have to look at FCA," he said to Motor Trend. However, he expects the PHEV to comprise a tiny portion of the luxury CUV's sales volume – possibly as low as six percent. The Pacifica Hybrid will be the first PHEV minivan in the US when it arrives in the second half of 2016. The powertrain combines a 3.6-liter V6 that runs on the more efficient Atkinson cycle, and two electric motors, which are in the gearbox. A 16-kWh lithium-ion battery under the floor stores the energy for the system. Chrysler estimates the setup can carry the minivan 30 miles purely on electric power and achieve 80 MPGe. The first examples of the Levante should arrive in the US in August, according to Motor Trend. Maserati plans initially to offer its luxury crossover here with two twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6s. Base models use a version with 350 horsepower and 368 pound-feet of torque. The S trim gets some extra grunt thanks to a tune that makes 430 hp and 427 lb-ft. Both models come with an eight-speed automatic transmission, all-wheel drive, and a limited-slip differential. The Maserati will have a fleet of posh, European crossovers to fight against, and the PHEV will possibly offer an edge to entice a few green-minded, wealthy customers. Related Video:

Maserati returns to Indianapolis to commemorate historic win

This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend, folks, and you know what that means: racing. There was the Monaco Grand Prix for Formula One fans, and back Stateside there was the Indianapolis 500. You might expect to see a name like Maserati pop up at the former more than the latter, but that wasn't always the case.
These days its all about Dallara chassis powered by Chevy or Honda, but over the course of a century there have been plenty of foreign automakers that have won the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. McLaren won it twice in the 1970s, Mercedes and Peugoet won during the race's pre-WWI infancy, and in between them Boyle Racing won it two years in a row with a Maserati chassis and engine.
The car was the Maserati 8CTF "Boyle Special," and its first win came 75 years ago. So to mark the occasion (as well as Maserati's 100th anniversary), the car was brought back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a revival lap. Unfortunately Wilbur Shaw, who won the Indy 500 three times (twice in the Maserati) and went on to be president of the speedway, died in a plane crash the day before his 52nd birthday in 1954. So in his place fellow three-time winner Johnny Rutherford took the wheel of the 8CTF in front of the gathered crowds.