2011 Maserati Quattroporte S Sedan 4-door 4.7l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

The Ferrari Enzo's designer isn't worried about the future of supercars

Ken Okuyama is a talented designer with a prestigious portfolio. He spent 12 years at the famed Italian design house Pininfarina after a stint with GM's Advanced Design Studio, where he worked on the C5 Corvette. He also styled the Boxster and 996-generation 911 at Porsche. His first Ferrari design was the Rossa concept car, though his most famous creation is the Enzo. Now Okuyama runs a design studio that not only is responsible for the new Kode57 supercar that debuted in Monterey this past weekend, but also eye glasses, civic planning, and even Japanese bullet trains. We caught up with Okuyama at the Concorso Italiano car show, plopped down on a couple of plush leather chairs right in front of his brand new Kode57, and chatted about what the future holds for car design. Alex Kierstein: Lately there's been a lot of talk about autonomy and future mobility. What sort of challenges and opportunities do you think this autonomous future is going to provide for you as a car designer? Ken Okuyama: It is a really fantastic time for designers because of two reasons. One is that the public and private transport have been two separate, completely different industries up until now. Now, when you think about the future of autonomy, that really brings the automobiles into something more of a public transportation. You really have to think about the total experience of the customers from buying the ticket to the paying mechanism. That's just hardware, actually. It is a huge challenge for engineers and designers, and I really love that. That's one reason. Another reason is that just like horses were a means of transport 100 or so years ago, up until Henry Ford mass-produced the Model T. Now, maybe sports cars are becoming like horses. Now, horses are a great object for hobby, sports, and part of the Olympics and everything. Cars are going to be like that also. Dr. Porsche [was asked what type of] automobile is going to last for the longest time. He said, "the sports car." I really believe in that, because with sports cars, you never lose a sense of ownership. Autonomous vehicles are things you don't have to own. You have to design a total experience and the whole operation. A car, you want to own it. It's part of you. Your mechanical watches, do you borrow them from somebody? You want to own it. Your suits, your favorite shirts, you want to borrow them from somebody for your experience? No, you want to own it. Ownership is a core part of human beings.

Audi gets Q2 and Q4 badges in trademark swap with FCA

Audi has swapped trademarks with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to snare the rights to the Q2 and Q4 badges for upcoming crossover SUVs. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler confirmed at the Detroit Motor Show that the automaker had finally persuaded FCA to release the two names that would let Audi lock up the Q1 to Q9 badges for its growing SUV family. Audi already plans to drop the Q2 name onto its MQB-based city crossover five-door this year, while the Q4 badge will slot onto the rump of a coupe-like version of the next Q3. It will also reserve the Q1 badge for a 2018 baby crossover, based around the architecture of the next A1 hatch. The A1 will share a lot of its engineering with Volkswagen's Polo-based soft-roader, dubbed T-Cross in concept form. The German company has also pounced on the naming rights for SQ versions of all of its Q-cars, along with F-Tron to cover the day when it pushes hydrogen fuel cell cars into production. Stadler insisted that no money had changed hands in order to pry the two badges off FCA, admitting that they had "each found something we needed." "We promised each other we wouldn't disclose what it cost, but it was not something they were willing to sell," Stadler said. "We tried to get it years ago and they said 'No, never,' but there is never 'never' in business. ... This year I went back to them with a proposal and we talked and there were some negotiations and then we agreed to it." Those negotiations are believed to have centered on a trademark swap with a Volkswagen Group name that FCA desperately (evidently) wants to use on a Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge or Maserati. Asked if Audi had given FCA a trademark in return for Q2 and Q4, Stadler replied, "Something very much like that, yes." Audi has used Italian names on past concept cars that FCA could be interested in, such as the 2001 Avantissimo concept and the 2003 Nuvolari coupe. The latter was named after legendary pre-war racer Tazio, who won grands prix for both Alfa Romeo and Audi's forerunner, Auto Union. Both are unlikely trade chips, with laws in Europe preventing the trademarking of the names of actual people. There is always "quattro" (Italian for "four"), but after investing nearly four decades locking it in as an Audi all-wheel-drive name, it's just not anything like trade bait.

Maserati GranCabrio Folgore Tignanello is a wine-themed drop-top

Maserati is celebrating two of Italy's best-known exports, cars and wine, with a one-off version of the electric GranCabrio Folgore named Tignanello. The convertible was created by the brand's Fuoriserie department to celebrate 50 years of a type of wine called Tignanello. The one-of-a-kind GranCabrio was built for an Italian wine company called Marchesi Antinori, and Maserati explains that its designers were inspired by vineyards. It starts with the paint: the convertible is finished in a wine-esque shade of red called Terra di Tignanello that was created specifically for it. Flat-black 20-inch wheels, gloss-black brake calipers, and a black soft top add a touch of contrast to the look. More vineyard-inspired details are found inside. The seats are upholstered with a blend of beige leather and burgundy Vegea, which is a biomaterial made from the stalks, skins, and pips of grapes — in a way, you're sitting on wine. The stripes on the seats echo the rows of vines in a vineyard, while the dark briar wood trim is inspired by the printing burned into the oak barrels used to age Tignanello wine. You can also learn a thing or two about the wine's history: historical details are lasered into some of the trim pieces, though they're written in Italian. Power comes from three electric motors that draw electricity from a T-shaped, 92.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery to zap the four wheels with 750 horsepower and 995 pound-feet of torque. Maserati pegs the 5,200-pound GranCabrio's zero-to-60-mph time at 2.8 seconds. If you like wine as much as you like Italian cars, it's not too late to put the GranCabrio Folgore Tignanello in your garage. It will be auctioned off on July 14 at the Festival Napa Valley Arts for All Gala taking place on July 14 in California. The proceeds will be donated to charity. Pricing for the regular-production GranCabrio Folgore starts at about $205,000, but the one-off should sell for considerably more.