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2023 Maserati MC20 Road Test: Distinctly Maserati, and better for it

It’s not the quickest to 60 or the flashiest of the bunch, but the Maserati MC20 is a brilliant mid-engine supercar. It also seemingly appeared overnight. One day, Maserati was making subpar luxury sedans, and the next itÂ’s producing a carbon-tubbed supercar with a bespoke engine and looks thatÂ’ll have you going, what the hell is that? But in a good way. Seriously, if an award existed for “most improved” in the automotive industry, Maserati deserves to take home the prize this year. From the MC20 to the hot-selling Grecale, this isnÂ’t the Maserati weÂ’ve known and chided for the better part of this century. ItÂ’s all the more impressive that Maserati is finally catching its stride at the same time Ferrari engines are falling away from its lineup, particularly because the presence of those Maranello-designed engines was the biggest draw to driving home a car with the trident in its grille. Forget about Ferrari, though, because the Maserati MC20 is a great supercar because itÂ’s a Maserati. Let your butt fall into the reasonably-bolstered (but not too crazy) all-Alcantara seat, swivel your legs in over top of the exposed carbon sill, and breathe a deep breath of relaxation. Sure, it takes a tiny bit of contorting to get in, but the cabin is downright plush for being an honest-to-goodness supercar. Give the butterfly door a firm yank downward into place, but make sure to admire the perforated and patterned Alcantara as you do, because itÂ’s just one of many hints at the MC20Â’s quiet luxury. ItÂ’s refreshing to take in the interiorÂ’s surroundings, because while storage may be at a premium, most of the controls and trimmings are easily describable as normal or even ergonomic. The steering wheel buttons look lifted straight off an Alfa and are instantly natural to operate. Your phone will find a perfect resting place in the very secure and well-integrated wireless phone charger in the carÂ’s central tunnel. The wheel-mounted drive mode selector is a chip off AlfaÂ’s “DNA” mode selector, but itÂ’s in the perfect spot to effortlessly change the carÂ’s character in an instant. Even the armrests on both the center console and doors are well-judged to keep you relaxed and well-supported no matter how long the drive. Add to all this the Uconnect 5 infotainment system that is dirt-easy to operate, including with wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, and youÂ’re left with a supercar that doesnÂ’t make being in it or driving it a chore.

Second 'No Time To Die' trailer drops with lots of crunching metal

The second trailer for the new James Bond film, "No Time To Die," was posted to social media Thursday morning, getting us thoroughly hyped for the forthcoming installment thanks to some spicy car content and lots of other ridiculous, big-budget action sequences.  Fair warning for the purists: This might contain plot- and character-related information from the trailer itself. Also, it appears that many Land Rover Defenders died in the making of this film, so the footage may not be for the faint of heart; don't say we didn't give you advance notice.  As is typical of Bond films, most of the automotive eye candy is of the European variety. The classic Aston Martin DB5 gadget car (which we saw doing some crazy machine-gun donuts in the first trailer) makes yet another appearance, as does what appears to be fourth-generation Maserati Quattroporte. There's even something which might be a car, but also appears to be both some sort of airplane and submersible. Never change, Bond. We love it.  And then there are the Defenders. We've got Defenders speeding down hillsides, Defenders crashing through forests, Defenders flying over Land Cruisers. Yeah, do you like Land Cruisers? There's a Land Cruiser. It even (spoiler alert!) survives relatively unscathed; the same cannot be said for most of the automotive shenanigans we get to see here.  "No Time To Die" was originally slated to debut back in April, but its original release date roughly coincided with the projected peak of early coronavirus infections. Given how important the Bond film franchise's continued success is to MGM (it's virtually the only thing the studio has had going for it for 30 years) and the producers (who only make Bond films), meager box office returns were not an option. The last film, Spectre, pulled in the worldwide gross of $880 million, including $200 million in the United States and $83.5 million in China. The wait is almost over. "No Time to Die" will hit theaters Nov. 25 in the United States.  Related Video:

Heidi Klum and Maserati go Beyond the Swimsuit for Sports Illustrated

When sports and cars come together, the world "super" often comes up - whether it's a high-performance super sports car, a racing series (like Japan's Super GT, Australia's V8 Supercars or Italy's Superstars series), the latest crop of Super Bowl ads from the world's automakers or a supermodel posing with a car in the pages of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
This year's edition already saw Lisalla Montenegro cozying up to the new Lexus RC F, but it's not the only pairing to be found between an import luxury performance machine and a swimsuit model. The new 50th anniversary edition of the popular bikini special features a seven-page pictorial titled "Beyond the Swimsuit" shot by Francesco Carrozzini.
The spread features the inimitable Heidi Klum posing beside and inside various Maserati models - including the new Ghibli S Q4, the GranTurismo MC Trofeo race car and the Quattroporte Ermenegildo Zegna concept. Of course it's not the first time we're seeing a leggy blonde stepping out of Modena's finest - a role often taken up by one Jodie Kidd, to say nothing of the rich and beautiful in exotic locales the world over - but it's a pairing of which we'll never grow tired.