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Swedish toymaker offers a wooden Maserati collection

In some ways, Maserati had it easier in the 1980s. We don't necessarily mean in a financial sense, or that the cars were especially reliable, but it has to be said both the Biturbo and the third generation Quattroporte are both simple, three-box shapes that are easy to re-create from blocks of solid wood. The Swedish toy company Playsam offers the Alfieri concept, the Levante SUV and open-wheel Maserati race cars in wooden toy car form, and the production portfolio is planned to be enlarged later. Maserati has plenty of classic designs for Playsam to re-create, but our tip is to look into the Biturbo style cars if they want to take a break from all those swoopy shapes you can see in the slideshow above. Maybe they could even offer the Chrysler TC by Maserati with a detachable hardtop: Those round opera windows must be really easy to drill in place. Browsing the online store, the prices for the Playsam's Maserati products are far higher than the toymaker's conventional $70 wooden toy car range, at over $370 apiece. But like the real counterparts, they should not just sit untouched: We would rather see them being used. Related Video:

Maserati likely delays Alfieri, new GranTurismo coming first

The Maserati Alfieri won't be the next vehicle from the Trident-badged brand to hit the market after the Levante crossover. Instead, replacements for the GranTurismo and GranCabrio will arrive first. For now, Maserati CEO Harald Wester won't even speculate about when the production Alfieri will debut. At the Geneva Motor Show, Motoring tried to pin Wester down about the Alfieri's future, but he wasn't in the mood to talk about the 2+2 sports car. The boss said he didn't know if the model was still on schedule and gave a terse "no comment" response about a possible launch next year. He did confirm Maserati's upcoming product slate, though. "The next one will be substitution of GranTursimo, GranCabrio by successors. We already had discussion about Alfieri and I don't want to go into details," Wester told Motoring. A report late last year claimed Maserati had delayed the Alfieri due to the weakening market in China. As opposed to launching the niche sports car there, FCA, parent company of both Maserati and Alfa Romeo, allegedly refocused its plans on updating the Alfa Romeo Mito and Giulietta, which are more popular in Europe. Maserati debuted the Alfieri as a concept at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, and FCA's five-year plan that year slated a production version for 2016 and a convertible variant for 2017. A selection of V6 engines with 410-, 450-, and 520-horsepower outputs would hook up to the rear or all four wheels, depending on the model. The Italian company also scheduled a new GranTurismo with at least 560 hp to launch in 2018. Maserati's desire to reach an annual volume of 75,000 vehicles by 2018 also looks in doubt. The company's original figure assumes launching the Levante on time, Wester told Motoring. Because of the luxury crossover's delay, the company now expects to reach 50,000 units a year by 2017. Related Video:

Maserati releases quartet of videos featuring new Quattroporte

In case you missed it, Maserati has decided to introduce the world to its next Quattroporte well ahead of its official debut at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show in January. As expected, it's beautiful.
Not content to leave well enough alone, the Italian automaker has revealed a series of videos to go along with the six images and press release it had already let loose upon the globe's unsuspecting automotive press.
We're still a bit shaky on the details, but Maserati says the Quattroporte's new engine, assembled by Ferrari in Maranello, will "[establish] new benchmarks for Maserati in terms of power and acceleration." That sounds good to us, though we're not sure if that means 530 horsepower as possibly alluded to by the license plate on the press shots. We also note that the automaker says the car is designed to accept "a wide range of engine architectures," so that rumored supercharged V6 sounds likely.