Once upon a time, not long after the end of the Second World War, there was a golden age of automotive design. Fuelled by post-war optimism, economic prosperity and technological innovation, a patchwork of carrozzerie – literally translated as ‘coachworks’ – popped up in Italy, each specialising in hand-crafted, highly bespoke automotive artworks.

The likes of Pininfarina, Bertone, Zagato and Touring Superleggera draped steel over rolling chassis from marques like Ferraris, Alfa Romeo and Maserati to create unique cars for aristocrats, film stars and industrialists. These cars, each individually commissioned, have gone on to be some of the world's most celebrated classics.

Now, nearly 80 years on, Stellantis is hoping to reignite this golden age of bespoke, automotive artistry with its new BottegaFuoriserie stable: a tailor-made atelier for Alfa Romeo and Maserati.

The name stems from bringing together both Bottega (meaning ‘workshop’), which will be responsible for creating more 'few-offs' like the beautiful but pricey £1.7m Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale homage, and Fuoriserie (meaning ‘special series’), which will oversee bespoke customisation across both brands.

Together, the studio acts as a small, semi‑autonomous coachbuilder inside Stellantis, while also tasked with looking after ‘Storia,’ the group’s heritage through restoration and certification, as well as ‘Corse,’ to bring a technical edge gained through the brands’ motorsport endeavours.

‘We are in a big group,’ explains BottegaFuoriserie’s general manager Cristiano Fiorio. ‘So we said we’d get all we need from the group, but let’s not get contaminated by the mainstream approach – which is not bad or good – it’s just a different business.’

Priding itself on craftsmanship, while calling on Alfa and Maserati’s weighty back catalogue of historic hits, BottegaFuoriserie will produce more ‘few-offs’ for the two brands, developed for invested customers looking for something a little different. ‘The world is becoming more homogeneous, more commoditised,’ says Fiorio. ‘The desire for aspirational objects is growing.’

For anyone commissioning a bespoke or limited run Bottega project, the build process will take around six months, warns Fiorio. ‘The real translation of Bottega is a small artisan, tailormade workshop, so it’s a highly manual, hand-crafted process, done screw by screw.’

Liking his newly formed department to a fine Italian tailor, Fiorio explains the difference between Bottega and Fuoriserie: ‘When it comes to a tailored suit, you can also buy something half done and then finalize it. It’s the same for Fuoriserie, which takes something already prepared, for you to then finalise.’

The move to create more scope for personalisation and even whole bespoke, coachbuilt cars follows the likes of Rolls-Royce, which has produced a number of spectacularly expensive coachbuilt cars for a handful of its most dedicated customers. Then there is Aston Martin, which has its ‘Q’ personalisation division, Bentley with Mulliner, Ferrari with Tailor Made, McLaren with MSO and Porsche with its Exclusive Manufaktur line. The list goes on.

Despite carmakers clamouring to establish and promote this lucrative side line, Fiorio believes BottegaFuoriserie’s mission is not just about making money. ‘When I went to the company, I showed them project by project. I didn’t tell them I want to make a fortune out of this business. I said, I want to make a fortune of brand equity for the business,’ Fiorio explains.

With an enviable history of some of the most striking and handsome cars ever made, Fiorio is committed to continuing Alfa Romeo and Maserati’s legacy for beautifully designed cars.

‘We are not here to do one batch of ‘few‑offs’ and disappear. We have already done one [in the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale], we will do another, and then another. There is a long‑term plan: every three or four years, we will bring one project to the market. Little numbers, but always consistent with the same approach.’

Keen to protect the brand equity being built by BottegaFuoriserie from market speculators, who look to commission or buy rare cars in the hope of selling them on quickly for a profit, each customer will be vetted by a specific committee. 'We will validate the candidates through a very precise and rigorous process,' he assures.

As for how electric cars might play into the elite world of ‘few-off’ models, Fiorio’s not immediately concerned. ‘Today, if you go to a traditional customer for few‑off speaking about electric, they just reject it – 90 per cent are aged between 55 to 70.’

Acknowledging that this current crop of potential buyers will look very different in 25 years’ time, Fiorio accepts there might be scope for electric or hydrogen-powered few-offs but, for him at least, the powertrain is secondary.

‘People will continue loving cars forever,’ Fiorio reassures us. ‘It’s like art – there is a renaissance or a change, but art is art. You still use it, you still collect it, it’s never going to die. The more unique cars you do, the more value they will get in time.’

In an age of algorithmic and increasingly anonymous design that puts distance between human hands and car design, BottegaFuoriserie is championing the artisan. While channelling the charm and charisma of the 1950s and 1960s Carrozzerie’s creations is certainly nostalgic, reminding people of the reasons why generations have fallen in love with the idea of owning an Alfa Romeo or Maserati is also a smart business move. Bravo, BottegaFuoriserie.

Maserati.com, @Maserati

AlfaRomeo.co.uk, @AlfaRomeoOfficial

The first VW Golf, Fiat Panda and Maserati Ghibli; the 1970s Lotus Esprit immortalised under water in James Bond’s The Spy Who Loved Me and the ‘gull-winged’ 1980s DeLorean DMC-12 in Back to the Future; the elegant early 1960s Alfa Romeo Giulia GT and super-practical late 1960s Suzuki Carry; or the mid-1970s everyman Hyundai Pony that kickstarted the Korean brand and the late 1970s BMW M1 supercar: Giorgetto Giugiaro created them all.

These design classics – most of which were developed by Italdesign, the design and engineering company he co-founded in 1968 – sit within a list of 300-plus production vehicles, dozens of concept cars, as well as cameras for Nikon, keyboards for Bontempi and even a type of pasta.

At the forefront of car design for five decades, Giorgetto Giugiaro sold the last of his shares in Italdesign to the VW Group in 2015 and set up GFG Style with his son Fabrizio in Turin to offer automotive, architecture and industrial design services. Now 87, Giugiaro is still chairman of the company and had a chat with Wallpaper* during a recent visit to the UK.

Giorgetto Giugiaro on car design then and now

Wallpaper*: What are your views on artificial intelligence?

Giorgetto Giugiaro: When technology is able to support your ideas, you can exploit it. Can artificial intelligence do better [than humans]? Maybe, but there always needs to be someone responsible. Design is not democracy. You need one person to decide. But I have to admit, that staying on the beach and pressing a button and the job is done [is appealing].

W*: You predicted over a decade ago that future cars would be more comfortable with easy-to-grasp functionality. It seems the first part of that prediction came true, but not the second. Why is so much of today’s car design user experience so bad?

GG: To ‘fish’ for a greater audience, car makers try to add more features. And for some, the user experience becomes worse. As a parallel, there are so many features in cars nowadays that we don’t have at home. So of course we are not used to them.

The touch functions on a car can also be dangerous. The interaction between human and car is so much faster. Before, you needed to move a stalk or push a button. Now you move close [to a screen with your fingers] and you’ve already activated something. Looking at some futuristic interiors there’s no need to go to Disneyland because everything is already inside the car, with lights and more. There is too much.

W*: You say good design needs to be ‘honest’ for the public to accept it. Do you think some modern EVs are not honest enough and that’s partly why they’re not being accepted?

GG: It is a commercial problem in that there needs to be financial advantages for the manufacturers. And [for consumers] there’s a shortage of information and a psychological problem: when you choose a product, you want it to say something about you.

W*: Given the variety of engines and motors that customers can choose today, plus greater safety legislation, do you think you ‘had it easier’ designing cars in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s?

GG: [Chuckles] Contrary to what you think, the more rules there are, the smarter the product can be. You have to think harder. When aerodynamics started to be taken seriously, it was a problem for designing cars, but over time it helped to improve the product.

W*: Why do you think your Lotus Esprit design has stood the test of time (beyond its role in several 007 movies)?

GG: It is the simplicity of the whole and the proportions. It’s the same with a man’s or a woman’s face, the proportion between the parts and the simplicity of the lines. This gives the beauty, the power to last. Looking at the car now, I realise it didn’t get so old.

W*: What do you think of Apple’s design work on the iPhone?

GG: This device made us lazy, so we don’t even remember the phone numbers of our friends and families anymore. And it removes our time to create, as we look at what other people are doing and because it does everything.

W*: …but you still have one!

GG: [Everyone laughs] It does help me talk easily with friends in other parts of the world. And it makes me think: if we have a device so powerful today, what will humankind be able to do in another 50 years?

GFGStyle.it, @GFG.Style

The Maserati Grecale Folgore doubles up on its non-Maserati characteristics. As an electric SUV, it’s probably further from most people’s perception of this most evocative and esoteric of the Italian sporting luxury brands. But perception and reality have always been at odds in Maserati’s world. Throughout its 102-year history, the company has alternated between punching well above its weight and suffering catastrophic slumps in sales and ideas.

Although the ship ought to have been steadied under the current ownership of Stellantis, the Maserati name continues to be the loose ballast rolling about in the cargo hold, its capricious nature failing to lure in vital customers. Historically, nothing could ever be truly relied upon in Maserati’s world. For true enthusiasts, this unpredictability and eccentricity was a feature, not a bug. For Stellantis’ accounting division, it’s a headache.

The Grecale is Maserati’s small SUV, what should be a sales bright spot in a market growing ever more averse to upmarket saloon cars and sporting GTs. Since the discontinuation of the larger Levante SUV in 2024, it’s currently the marque’s only traditional 'day-to-day' car.

It sits at the bottom of the line-up, below the elegant GranTurismo and GranCabrio, a true four-seater GT that’s available in both electrified and V6-powered form, as well as confusing scattering of beautiful mid-engined cars, starting with the MC20 and now including the uprated and streamlined MCPURA.

The Grecale is also on sale with a conventional V6, as well as a 4-cylinder mild hybrid. In such a fractured industry landscape, this scattergun approach is by no means unique to Maserati, especially as it has all the tech heft of the wider Stellantis Group to draw on, But it also symptomatic of a more Maserati-specific issue, in that this is a company with a colossal weight of expectation to live up to.

The Grecale Folgore (‘lightning’) is undeniably a little bit idiosyncratic. With a minimum range of around 264 miles, it’s no long-legged grand tourer. Fast charging (150kW) takes the edge off but overall the car falls to reach the c400 mile mark that is becoming more and more common, especially amongst newer generation electric cars. Not quite a GT, certainly not a sports car, it's also a bit big for everyday use around town.

The Grecale's mix of high and low tech is compounded by the large, folded flat screen arrangement in the centre console. Set beneath the traditional centrally mounted analogue Maserati clock, this space is a wasteland for lovers of physical buttons. It takes away some of the crucial tactile engagement with the car.

At the same time, Maserati is doubling down on material quality, engaging its Fuoriserie department to come up with three interior configurations, Premium Pelle Ghiaccio, Sport Leather Nero/Rosso and Sport Leather Nero/Giallo. The tradition of Italian leather, prominent stitching and patterns is alive and well.

It’s not surprising that special editions and unique customer specifications get so much attention, as these have proved to be one of the most lucrative parts of the luxury sector. Even so – and despite the recent launch of limited editions like the Maserati Grecale Lumina Blu and Grecale Cristallo – there’s still a gulf between investing a bit extra to personalise a 100K family SUV versus a 300K supercar.

That puts a lot on the Grecale’s well-sculpted shoulders. Recently updated for 2026, the Grecale is a great car and, as the Folgore, a great electric car. Its main competitors are Porsche’s Macan EV and the Lotus Eletre, which are both notable outliers from their respective brand identities. The competence of all three implies that it’s customers, rather than designers, engineers and product planners, who have a problem with the idea of elevated sporting electric luxury.

Just as the rise and eventual dominance of regular, gas-guzzling SUVs confounded the purists, their electric equivalents are the new line in the sand. Many of the big names in sporting luxury haven’t yet dared step across it – Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Ferrari, etc. That's about to change, as both Ferrari and Bentley are on the cusp of launching their first EVs, as well as the long-awaited Jaguar EV, although all of these will be pitched way higher than the Maserati.

For now, the Grecale Folgore feels like a regular EV template adapted to accommodate the Maserati brand, rather than represent it in full effect. Perhaps it’s not a brave enough visual statement, especially when the above trio of debuts will all be placing design at the forefront of their agenda.

A new electrified Maserati is surely waiting in the wings, ready to take flight and bring this most romantic of brands firmly into the modern era. For now, the Folgore could do better.

Maserati Grecale Folgore, as configured £106,425.00, Maserati.com, @Maserati

The annual Goodwood Festival of Speed transcended its origins as a niche meeting of besotted, wealthy petrolheads many years ago. These days, it’s nothing more than a full on, open-air motor show, a petrol-powered Glastonbury set in the grassy slopes of the South Downs.

With many key manufacturers sliding their marketing budgets out of the auto show circuit and over into interactive events like this, the Sussex-based bash has become a high point for car launches and debuts, especially machines making their dynamic debut on the hill climb circuit that winds through the event (it’s actually the drive of the 11th Duke of Richmond’s family estate).

Although it’s a chance for some to showboat, a quick time up the famous hill is a fast becoming a badge of honour, a deadly serious contest of split second timings with coveted status at stake (witness Aston's DBX S confidently outgunning the time Bentley set with its new Bentayga Speed, for example).

Alongside displays of priceless classics of road and track you’ll find lavish corporate hospitality, as well as temporary pavilions of every shape and size, built to promote the latest models and newly emerging brands. This year saw Jaguar give its divisive Type 00 concept a rare (static) public outing, as well as major pavilions from the likes of Bentley, Lotus and Aston Martin.

Here are our six favourite sporting autos from Goodwood 2025.

1. Hyundai IONIQ 6N

Hyundai chose Goodwood to unveil the IONIQ 6 N, the high performance variant of its excellent IONIQ 6 electric sedan. The streamlined EV makes a hugely convincing sports car, but the jury’s still out on whether Hyundai’s quirky combo of paddle ‘shifts’ and piped in ‘engine’ noise is anything more than a gimmick. It is entertaining, regardless, but the fact that established performance cars haven’t gone down the same road with their EVs leaves Hyundai’s approach looking rather left-field.

Hyundai-N.com

2. Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe Reimagined by Singer

Californian builder Singer Vehicle Design is a Good regular, showcasing their bespoke takes on classic Porsches to an appreciate audience. Every Singer is a custom order and in recent years the company is becoming more adventurous, conjuring up re-imaginings of classic 911 models that transcend the style and capabilities of the original many times over.

This year saw two examples of the Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe, a 1980s-inspired wide-body sports car that has engineering by Cosworth, carbon fibre bodywork and even pop-up driving lights mounted in the front bonnet. Just 100 examples will be made.

SingerVehicleDesign.com

3. Lanzante 95-59

The Lanzante 95-59 made its global debut at Goodwood. A reskinned and revitalised McLaren 750S, the 95-59 arrives 30 years after McLaren won the Le Mans 24 Hours, in a McLaren F1 that had been race-prepped by Lanzante itself. The 95-59 moniker is explained by the restriction of 59 bespoke units of the ‘new’ car, with projected prices starting at £1.02m each. One radical change from the 750S is the creation of a three-seater cabin in homage to the original F1.

Lanzante.com

4. Maserati MCPURA

The new Maserati MCPURA is a surprise update of the marque’s amazing mid-engined MC20. One of our favourite contemporary supercars, the MC20 never got the love it deserved, so Maserati is clearly hoping that a substantial facelift will bring the car to a new generation of customers.

Available in both coupé and Cielo convertible configurations, powered by the original 630-hp V6 Nettuno engine, the MCPURA is still one of the most dramatic cars on the market. It’s worth remembering, however, that an electrified version of the MC20 was recently scrapped. Perhaps some of the unique distinguishing elements of this lost Folgore model made it to the MCPURA?

Maserati.com

5. Zenvo Aurora

Earlier this year we spoke to Zenvo’s Jens Sverdrup about the forthcoming Aurora hypercar. Goodwood marked the Aurora’s ‘dynamic debut’, although as you can see from these images, the final production form has yet to be revealed. Zenvo promises big numbers from Aurora, and the on-schedule arrival of the first prototype, complete with its revolutionary Mjølner V12 engine bodes well for the future.

ZenvoAutomotive.com

6. Alpine A290 Rallye

Finally, a more down-to-earth debut for fans of EV performance. The compact Alpine A290 Rallye is the sporting sibling of the award-winning Renault 5 E-Tech. Modified still further from the production model, the Rallye features motorsport-inspired upgrades, hinting at a future flagship version of this compact electric powerhouse.

Alpine-Cars.co.uk

The latest iteration of the Maserati GranTurismo is the very best contemporary encapsulation of the company’s ethos, even in fully electric form. We’ve sampled the latter and set out our thoughts for the storied Italian luxury sports car maker’s future.

First things first. The GranTurismo Folgore is one of the most desirable – both visually and dynamically – electric cars available today. Before we even get onto the powertrain, consider the proportions. In our view, the new GranTurismo makes good the aesthetic promises of its predecessor, a Pininfarina-designed coupé that – in our opinion – thought it was rather more handsome than it actually was.

The new car is really rather ravishing, inside and out. Where the old car had a yawning maw of a grille, the new one is far more delicate oval, flanked by two air intakes. The headlights set up a refined line that flows back along the haunches and terminates in a neatly finished rear end, with just the faintest hint of an integral spoiler and wraparound taillights that don’t overwhelm the whole ensemble.

Inside, it’s a similar story of a fine bone structure that’s been expertly trimmed and executed. The jazzier blue and white trim interior shown here is from the cars built to celebrate Maserati’s 110th anniversary – suffice to say you can be far more discrete. Our primary quibble is an over-reliance on touch screen controls and the disappointingly quotidian drive selector buttons – even though it’s an EV, surely these could have been made a bit more special?

It's also worth acknowledging the interior space; the GranTurismo is a true four-seater, capable of hauling four fully grown adults and their luggage, which is more than one can say for some of its alleged four-seater rivals.

The EV powertrain is also a good match for the GranTurismo’s character, with that familiar effortless boost on tap and an ability to cruise almost silently at speed. The car's substantial 2,260kg weight is well concealed by the suspension and the steering is also crisp and direct. A 2.7 second sprint time to 60mph would once have been utterly remarkable but is now par for the course for performance-focused EVs. The top speed of 202 mph is more impressive, despite its real-world unattainability (and ability to annihilate the battery charge).

All this electric power is deployed smoothly and with great sophistication – all the more impressive when you consider the car is physically identical to its V6-powered sibling. However, the other big drawback is range. Officially, the car will achieve 280 miles, but that assumes a 100% charge, a hot day with no aircon and a featherweight touch on the throttle.

In reality, if you were to drive this car as it was intended, you’ll struggle to see 200 miles, hardly the stuff of long-legged, continent-crossing grand tour action. True, it charges rapidly at up to 270kW, but the trade-off is acute especially when compared to EVs that are a fraction of the price. Another sobering stat is the starting price of the electric GranTurismo versus its ICE equivalent; £178,560 to £125,355. And that’s before you’ve dipped into the bespoke options.

What next for the Trident?

If you believe what you read in some quarters, Maserati is on corporate life support. The company has always been an outlier, a prestige marque that muddled by thanks to a combination of stunning, highly desirable machinery and big name clients, supported by a revolving door of behind-the-scenes partnerships and ownership structures. Since 2021 Maserati has been part of Stellantis, the odd one out in a merger of premium and mass-market names that span continents of culture and centuries of heritage.

Theoretically, Maserati sits at the top of the Stellantis tree, a luxury brand that trumps the conglomerate’s three premium nameplates (Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia), and easily bests the status of the other siblings, Abarth, Citroën, Fiat, Opel, Peugeot, Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, and Ram. What it hasn’t managed to do is equal any of them in terms of commercial success. Alongside Maserati, which haemorrhaged around half of its sales in 2024, Alfa is also on a downwards trajectory.

In recent years, both companies have come to depend on small and medium SUVs, models which can’t quite carry off the lustre of their heritage and the association with elegance, sporting ability and the appeal of the grand tour. We’re thinking of cars like the Maserati Grecale and Alfa Romeo Stelvio and even the sprightly Alfa Junior (launched as the Milano until the city complained because the car is built in Poland, not Italy). None of these feel like they’re especially representative of their respective badges. Stellantis’s heavy emphasis on platform sharing further blunts their authenticity (the Alfa Junior shares its underpinning with the Jeep Avenger and Fiat 600, for example).

At the same time, those projects which do represent a continuation of a long and admirable sporting and design history, such as the beautiful Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale and fantastic Maserati MC20, have not been nearly as successful as expected. The latter’s electrified variant was recently scrubbed from Maserati's future product roadmap, despite being close to production ready.

Then there’s the trade wars. In amongst this decline in popularity is the unsettling fact that the USA is one of Maserati’s main markets. Should tariffs be slapped on top of the company’s already elevated prices, the survival of the Trident looks even more unlikely.

Rumour has it that Stellantis is casting about for suitable new owners for both brands. An obvious solution would be to sell to a company from a country with massive manufacturing capacity and huge EV tech capabilities but a notable dearth of heritage brands. That, however, would only serve to exacerbate the tariff conundrum.

How do we solve a problem like Maserati? Companies survive not just on their merits but on their ability to adapt and accommodate the machinations of the world around them. Although the GranTurismo proves that it’s still capable of creating the requisite magic, Maserati’s status as an icon of the effortlessly chic could well endure for longer than the company itself.

Maserati GranTurismo Folgore, from £178,560, Maserati.com, @Maserati

The New York Auto Show returned for 2025 with a high-octane vehicle showcase at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. To mark the event's 125th anniversary, classic car lovers were treated to displays of iconic vintage vehicles such as the 1955 Packard Caribbean, 1957 Cadillac Eldorado, and 1958 Buick Limited.

Meanwhile, the main floor was defined by debuts from the likes of Hyundai, Genesis, and Subaru, all of whom had new models to flex. These were complemented by futuristic concept cars, such as the all-electric Chrysler Halcyon and the adventurous Kia Weekndr. Other standout vehicles included the Maserati GT2 Stradale, the Toyota GR Supra MkV Final Edition, and the blue 2023 Ferrari SF90 Spider owned by comedian Tracy Morgan.

Visitors could not only admire the cars on the stands but also get behind the wheel on special test tracks constructed both inside and outside the building. In addition, there were also live talks, exhibitions, and racing simulators, ensuring the show delivered an immersive automotive experience that went some way to bringing back the glory days of the motor show. Here’s our list of the most notable debuts.

Highlights from 2025 NY Auto Show

Genesis X Gran Equator Concept

Only a few weeks after the launch of the X Gran Coupe and Gran Convertible, South Korean luxury car brand Genesis has announced its off-road SUV concept, the X Gran Equator. This futuristic SUV fuses rugged off-road prowess with refined luxury.

Boasting clean lines, a long hood, and Genesis’ signature two-line headlights, the X Gran Equator has a sleek, refined silhouette. The minimalist interior breaks away from the technology-driven layout of models like the GV70 and GV80, incorporating small circular gauges over a large digital screen.

‘This design is unapologetically Korean. From the craftsmanship to the overall aesthetic,’ says the company’s chief creative officer Luc Donckerwolke. According to the CCO, the vehicle combines uncompromising luxury with a deep sense of adventure. While not confirmed for production, the X Gran Equator undoubtedly shows the direction Genesis is heading with its SUVs.

Genesis.com, @Genesis_Worldwide

Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar

Genesis also revealed its first full-scale race prototype. Signalling the brand’s entry into endurance racing, the vehicle is designed for both the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA SportsCar Championship. This powerful V8 twin-turbo car marks a major milestone for the brand, following eight months of engine development by Hyundai Motorsport’s powertrain team.

Alongside the orange race car, Genesis introduced its Magma Racing livery and race suit designs, incorporating vibrant hues and text that celebrate the company’s Korean heritage. 'The livery captures the distinctly Korean character of the brand, with gradients from orange to red emphasising the high temperature of the powertrain,’ says Donckerwolke.

Genesis.com, @Genesis_Worldwide

2026 Subaru Trailseeker

Japanese automaker Subaru debuted the 2026 Trailseeker EV, its second all-electric SUV. Slightly bigger than the Solterra, this vehicle features a taller roof, expanded cargo space and spacious cabin. With over 260 miles of range, an advanced all-wheel drive system, and 0-60 mph acceleration in just 4.4 seconds, it’s built for high performance.

Inside, the SUV features Subaru’s largest-ever 14-inch touchscreen, generous legroom, and a wide centre console designed for both style and utility. The Trailseeker also debuts a striking new Subaru EV lighting signature, with an illuminated six-star logo, revamped headlamps, and a bold new front bumper.

Subaru.com, @Subaru_USA

Kia EV4

South-Korean manufacturer Kia added to its impressive line-up of EVs with the reveal of the EV4. This electric sedan comes in two battery options for both the city driver and long-distance traveller. Delivering between 235-330 miles of range, the EV4 is built on Kia’s 400V E-GMP platform.

With a low nose and long profile, the car looks stylishly sleek. Inside, the cabin is bright, airy and welcoming. ‘We treat our interiors like living spaces’ says head of Kia Next Design Exterior, John Buckingham. While pricing hasn’t yet been announced, Kia promises that the EV4 will be affordably priced. ‘Kia is a brand for everyone, so we want to create products that are accessible to all.’

Kia.com

2026 Hyundai Palisade

Hyundai unveiled the 2026 Palisade, a large three-row SUV perfect for all-American family trips. Offered in both traditional ICE and hybrid models, the standard version boasts a 3.8-litre V6 engine producing 291 horsepower and an 8-speed automatic transmission.

The Palisade’s monolithic exterior is contrasted with a cosy and inviting cabin. With space for up to eight passengers, it offers a roomy interior, flexible seating, and plenty of storage options. Safety is a top priority here, with features including a built-in dual-camera dash cam, ten airbags, and load limiters. ‘At Hyundai, we are committed to customer-centric design as we want to enrich lives,’ says Global Design head, SangYup Lee.

Hyundai.com, @Hyundai

The 2025 New York Auto Show runs through 27 April, autoshowny.com

In recent years, car brands have become part of the furniture at Milan Design Week. Most roll in and out of town, happy to have promoted their design credentials during the week-long proceedings as part of a marketing exercise. 2025 bore news of an altogether different level of auto-engagement, however, with the announcement of an ongoing collaborative relationship between Maserati and Giorgetti, titans of design in cars and furniture, respectively.

The design teams have worked symbiotically, infecting each other’s worlds, so to speak. The first fruits of their combined labours are manifested in a home collection called the Giorgetti Maserati Edition, and a bespoke car interior called the Maserati Grecale Giorgetti Edition.

‘The Giorgetti Maserati Edition collection doesn't exist as a standalone project, nor is it simply a co-branding exercise or the classic licensing arrangement to create a new branded collection,' insists Giovanni del Vecchio, Giorgetti CEO. 'Instead, it intertwines naturally with Giorgetti's collections. It represents the meeting of two identities founded on deep, shared values that blend to create something that speaks to both worlds without belonging exclusively to either.'

Invoking shared values of the two brands - attention to detail, pursuit of perfection and a uniqueness of experience - the collaboration demonstrates the broader move of sharing knowledge, insight, craft and technology, beyond the boundaries of traditionally siloed industries and sectors. The hope is presumably that the relationship will herald a sharing of markets and audiences, too - there was much discussion about the powerhouse potential of two such lauded Made in Italy brands coming together to elevate their already mighty savoir faire in each other’s wheelhouses.

And while one can readily understand the added refinement and elegance that a furniture brand might bring to a car interior (duly expressed in the Maserati Grecale Giorgetti Edition) but how does it work the other way round? Surprisingly well, we’re happy to report. The Giorgetti Maserati Edition is a collection of furniture with a confident use of materials and textiles, compelling character of form, with moments of both poetic beauty and clever engineering. We particularly appreciated the lacquered shell of the Lorelei armchairs and sofa, the extra-terrestrial elegance of the Seidon sofa - in form and upholstery - and the genius Sibilia low table, with voids that amplify a phone speaker beautifully, without any technology.

The collection as a whole has a timely retro-futurist mood to it. It will feel equally at home in a car showroom, a slick newbuild residential development and a richly layered historic interior, as cleverly evidenced in the lifestyle photography of the collection, which was taken at Villa Il Girasole in Verona. Hats off to both houses for collaborating deeply, not just superficially, and openly stating a commitment to working together for the long haul. As we all know, life is a journey not a destination; we’re excited to see where this particular one takes us next.

Giorgettimeda.com

Maserati.com

Are restomods getting too niche? It feels like any half-remembered piece of 1980s exotica is now being subjected to the fetishistic process of a total, all-encompassing and hugely expensive rebuild. More often than not, these restomods far exceed the capabilities and performance of the original, serving to burnish the happy memories of former owners or those who missed the boat first time around without bursting any bubbles.

That’s certainly the case with the Maserati Shamal. The Maserati of the 1980s is not fondly remembered, with more exotic fare like the Merak and Khamsin giving way to more prosaically styled but still high-performance vehicles like the Quattroporte III and Biturbo, launched in 1981.

Over the course of the decade, the unprepossessing two-door Biturbo coupé and four-door saloon evolved. Designed by the late Marcello Gandini, the Biturbo was crisply delineated, well proportioned but ultimately rather staid. Gandini softened the knife-edge lines of the original in 1987 and gave the model another overhaul in 1991, adding muscularity and (90s) glamour lacking in the original.

The inspiration for the latter facelift was the Shamal, a new flagship introduced in 1990. With a twin-turbo V8, over the Biturbo’s V6 unit, it was wider, with more flowing lines yet also a more brutish physical presence. It was never a massive seller – only 369 were made – but the blend of Italian engineering and design with a decidedly non-supercar style body shape has made it something of a cult vehicle.

Maserati itself had a stab at a revival with its Project Rekall in 2020, a celebration of the 30th anniversary that didn’t result in a production car. Now there’s this, Modena Automobili’s MA-01 Maserati Biturbo Shamal. The MA-01 combines 1990s style with contemporary engineering, with Maserati’s contemporary 3.0-litre Twin Turbo V6 engine at its heart. Designed in collaboration with Ferrari, the 500hp unit is mated to an 8-speed ZF auto box.

Although performance is broadly in line with the 1990s car (0 to 100 km/h in 5.0 seconds and a top speed of 290 km/h, versus 5.3 seconds and 270 km/h for the original), every other facet of the Shamal has been overhauled. Bodywork has been subtly revised and updated, with the addition of LED lighting and a B-pillar design that wraps around the roof, almost like a solid targa top.

The new panels are made from steel and carbon and include better cooling and aerodynamics than the original. The rear has also been substantially changed, with an integral spoiler above a truncated, squared-off tail.

Inside, there’s a digital recreation of the Shamal dashboard, contemporary infotainment system, modern Recaro Classic LX seats and better air conditioning and trim quality. At the centre of the dash is the famous Maserati clock, a signature design feature that on this occasion can be removed and worn as a wristwatch.

Modena Automobili plans to build just 33 examples of the MA-01 Maserati Biturbo Shamal, with a starting price of €585,000. All customers will be encouraged to fully explore customisation options at no extra cost (sourcing a donor car is also included in the price).

Modena-Automobilli.com, @Modena_Automobili

Maserati’s bespoke division has announced a new series of cars created in collaboration with ‘select tastemakers and friends of the Trident.’ This ‘Fuoriserie By’ series kicks off with a collection overseen by Hiroshi Fujiwara, streetwear designer, DJ and musician and a significant cult figure in disseminating Japanese fashion trends to a wider global audience.

Fujiwara’s vision came about following the Italian manufacturer’s partnership with Fragment Design, the multidisciplinary collaborative agency that has created editions with the likes of Nike, Fender, countless small streetwear brands and even a Tamagotchi.

Describing the bespoke MC20 Cielo as ‘tailor-made garments to be proudly worn along the streets of the world’, Fuijwara has been allowed to usurp the legendary Trident emblem in favour of his own double lightning bolt icon.

There are two editions of the MC20 Cielo Fuoriserie by Hiroshi Fujiwara, a matte black (nero essenza) car and a matte white (bianco audace) one. A large Fragment badge sits on the rear deck, above the V6 Nettuno engine.

The six-way power sport seats are finished in black full leather with white stitching and the Trident is still present and correct on the headrests and B-pillar. There’s also a commemorative plate celebrating the collaboration set between the two seats.

The Maserati MC20 Cielo is the open-topped version of Maserati’s magnificent mid-engined sports car. Replacing the conventional top with a retractable smart glass roof, the Cielo is a strong design statement, even before Fujiwara has waved his branding magic over the bodywork.

Maserati’s head of design, Klaus Busse, wants the car to showcase the many ways in which the Fuoriserie programme ( ‘out of the ordinary’ in Italian) can be used to enhance production Maseratis, much like the recent Maserati GranCabrio Folgore Tignanello Edition.

‘Our Trident’s customisation programme is conceived to create extraordinary experiences for our clients,’ Busse says. ‘Our wish here is for them to express their personality and passion by creating their very own Maserati. Just like Hiroshi, everyone can choose from a wide range of personalization features from our Fuoriserie collections or take more individual journeys to design true one-of-a-kind rolling sculptures.’

Fuoriserie By Hiroshi Fujiwara MC20 Cielo, Maserati.com, @Maserati

In partnership with Maserati

The new Maserati Grecale Folgore comes with a particular distinction: it is the first full-electric SUV in the company’s history. Following on from the acclaimed Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio Folgore, the Grecale Folgore cements the Italian company’s ambition to bring its distinctive brand qualities to a pure electric vehicle. Folgore is Italian for ‘lightning’, a suitable word for the transformation of electricity into power.

The Grecale is Maserati’s mid-sized performance-focused SUV. This new variant completes a family comprising a hybrid model and a conventional combustion engine model, with a generous 105 kWh battery providing 410 kW of power and a top speed of 136mph (220 km/h). With a range 264 and 311 miles (426km and 501km), Grecale Folgore offers practicality alongside space and pace, including the ability to sprint to 62mph in just 4.1 seconds.

There a several key elements of this all-electric SUV that make it stand out. For a start, there’s the sound. Maserati’s engineers worked extensively on shaping the Grecale’s audio signature, taking the sonic output of the powerful electric motors and blending this with the resonant, throaty road of Maserati’s combustion-engined models. The result is a unique acoustic experience that gives each journey a soulful and evocative soundtrack.

The driving experience is defined by four modes, selected by a steering wheel-mounted control. From the ultra-economical MAX RANGE to the all-terrain conquering OFFROAD setting that makes the most of the Grecale Folgore’s twin motor all-wheel drive set, to the luxurious GT mode and the performance-focused SPORT mode, there is a style for every occasion. This breadth of ability is guided by the standard air suspension that provides a peerless, well-balanced ride and excellent dynamics.

Visually, the Grecale Folgore builds on Maserati’s classic form language, with the distinctive Trident grille, pronounced curves and carefully composed proportions. The car is accompanied by the introduction of a new body colour, Rame Folgore, a rich copper colour inspired by the curved and twisted metallic forms of Frank Gehry’s Bilbao Guggenheim. Created as part of Maserati’s exclusive Fuoriserie customisation programme, Rame Folgore accentuates the Grecale’s curves with iridescent lighting effects that shimmer in sunlight.

Inside, the emphasis on distinctive finishes continues with fabrics made from ECONYL® fibre, recovered and woven from nylon waste, complete with contrast stitching to set off the light and dark interior variant. A signature Folgore pattern is also embossed on the dashboard, with copper highlights that can also be seen on the badges and brake callipers.

Interior equipment includes 14-way adjustable seats, as well a sound system developed in collaboration with Italian firm Sonus faber, with the highest specification incorporating 21 speakers carefully placed around the spacious cabin. The digital dashboard has two primary displays, one for information and one for comfort systems, while Grecale Folgore also comes with Wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Baidu CarLife integration, along with WeChat for the Chinese market, as well as a specially optimised version of MIA, the MIA Maserati Intelligent Assistant.

The modern DNA of Maserati consists of a commitment to luxury, style and performance, with all three elements coming together to forge a uniquely Italian character that can’t be found anywhere else. With GranTurismo and GranCabrio embodying the art of grand touring, and the MC20 supercar epitomising a purist evocation of a contemporary sports car, Grecale Folgore represents the perfect balance between elegance, sportiness and everyday practicality.

Maserati Grecale Folgore, information at Maserati.com, @Maserati

This is the one-off Maserati GranCabrio Folgore Tignanello Edition, a celebration of Maserati’s bespoke Fuoriserie programme and the company’s long association with the Marchesi Antinori winery, and Tignanello, one of the most influential red wines of recent times. The car marks the 50th anniversary of the wine in 2021, and the arrival of this vintage to market in 2024.

Maserati GranCabrio Folgore Tignanello

We spoke to Maserati’s head of design Klaus Busse about the collaboration and how it emphasises key elements of the GranCabrio Folgore, the fully electrified version of Maserati’s four-seater range topper. ‘We have a long-standing partnership,’ Busse explains. ‘It’s based on respect and shared values – the vineyard supplies wine to our events, for example. But we wanted to take it to another level and the GranCabrio was the perfect car – what other machine would you want to drive through the rolling hills of Tuscany?’

Resplendent in a specially developed Terra di Tignanello paint, ‘inspired by the vineyard’s soil’, the GranCabrio Folgore is finished in a coppery burgundy hue that Busse likens to the hills of Tuscany at sunset. Key details – wheels, soft-top, brake callipers – are all finished in black. ‘We have a good understanding of what makes the landscape of wine so special,’ Busse says. ‘Our headquarters are in the country of Barolo, for example. I love going to these places and driving through them.’

The exterior colour has also been mixed with a metallic element that adds a subtle shimmer. ‘When you approach the car, there is a red wine element that shines through in bright sunlight,’ the designer says.

The interior of the GranCabrio draws distinct parallels with the aesthetics and culture of Marchesi Antinori. ‘When we visited the vineyard, what struck us visually was their wooden barrels, braced by metal straps and with distinctive red-painted sections that are stained by the wine itself,’ the designer says. To evoke this, the GranCabrio’s seats have been trimmed in a distinctive mix of tan leather and Vegea, a synthetic fabric made from grape waste.’

This is the first time Vegea has been used in a Maserati, and the perforated material is finished with vertical stripes – evoking the silver metal bracing on the barrels, as well as the rows of vines on a hillside – over a dark burgundy weave. ‘We always try to tell a story through colours,’ says Busse. ‘Our cars can be a canvas.’

The trim is dark briar wood with laser-etched patterns and text from the bottle label, while the headrests are adorned with an embroidered symbol that blends the Maserati Trident with the stylised sun symbol of Tignanello, which is also repeated on the centre console.

Fuoriserie is the company’s bespoke programme, available in two distinct steps. The first is a number of curated recommendations and specifications, usually available in a limited edition like the recent Maserati MC20 Leggenda and Icon models. ‘The second is a more individual journey that I am directly involved with,’ Busse explains. ‘It can take up to a year to explore the various aspects of the design.’

This unique GranCabrio Folgore will ultimately be auctioned for charity at Festival Napa Valley’s 2024 Arts for All Gala. ‘We’re doing this for a family-owned business, so it was about how we can reflect their hard work over generations, and the soul of the land,’ says Busse. ‘It means a lot to be partnering with a brand like Maserati,’ says a spokesperson for Marchesi Antinori. ‘It’s an extraordinary synergy between an icon in luxury Italian sports cars and an icon in high-quality Italian wines.’

This unique partnership has given each company the chance to explore new ways of doing things, while doubling down on their core values. As Piero Antinori says, each is undergoing a ‘never-ending challenge, the obsession to improve and constantly question ourselves, to find higher and higher quality margins. [The car has] a great identity and recognisability, just like our wine.’

Visit Maserati's website for Fuoriserie details and more information on the Maserati GranCabrio, @Maserati

Marchese Antinori, Antinori.it, @AntinoriChiantiClassico

Festival Napa Valley, FestivalNapaValley.org, @Napafest

We’ve already praised the Maserati MC20 supercar for being not just beautiful but also a genuinely wonderful car to use every day. With the legendary Italian company in something of a period of transition – spurred on by its status as Stellantis’ most premium brand and the company-wide transition to electrification – the MC20 is the most direct line between the modern Maserati and the feted, near mythological, status of the company in non-specific days gone by.

Maserati knows this all too well, and these two new editions of the MC20, the Icona and Leggenda, play up that historical link with a celebration of one of the company’s rare noughties success stories, the MC12. When it debuted in 2004, the Maserati MC12 was quite unlike any other Maserati of the time. Powered by a Ferrari-derived V12 (and indeed closely related to the contemporaneous Ferrari Enzo), the MC12 was little more than a race car for the road.

Styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro, just 50 examples of this ‘Maserati Corse’ 12-cylinder were built in order to homologate the successful MC12 GT1 race car. Twenty years later, Maserati has enlisted the services on its in-house Fuoriserie personalisation programme to create these two homages to the MC20’s prestigious predecessor.

The Maserati MC20 Icona is finished in a two-tone livery that directly references the MC12 Stradale, which in turn was paying homage to the earlier Maserati Trofeo Light. All this self-celebration has ultimately turned out rather tastefully, with a white (Bianco Audace Matte) and Blue (Blu Stradale) livery with subtle Maserati Fuoriserie branding. Wheels are chromed with blue hubcaps and blue brake callipers.

The MC20 Leggenda edition is a little bit more ostentatious, with a pairing of Nero Essenza and Digital Mint Matte to mimic the MC12 GT1 in the colours of the successful Vitaphone Racing team. The famous Maserati Trident logo is picked out in yellow, while the wheels and brake callipers go for a much darker hue.

Inside, the Icona and Leggenda special series both feature dedicated lightweight racing seats, as well as the addition of the top-of-the-line Sonus Faber sound system, carbon-fibre interior trim and the special suspension lifter for getting that elegant front end over low kerbs.

Just 20 examples of each will be made. Maserati has just four years to go before its self-declared decision to have its entire range running on electricity alone. You can be sure that the company’s racing heritage won’t stay untapped as it looks to promote this new era.

Maserati MC20 Icona and Leggenda Editions, details at Maserati.com, @Maserati

Of all the Italian car brands, Maserati has travelled the furthest from its original conception. Lamborghini and Ferrari still cater to the select coterie of moneyed enthusiasts that have always hankered after the marque, whilst Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia have weathered decades of ups and downs to all land within the embrace of Stellantis. Today, Maserati sits alongside them, undoubtedly the most storied and aspirational name in the multinational’s line-up.

The Maserati of old was about tailor-making exotica for the jetsetters of an earlier era, with all the economic strife and uncertainty that accompanied shifting markets, demographics, fashions and crises amongst the super-rich. It was a glamorous but fraught existence. Ownership of the brand bounced around the industrial giants of Europe, including a 1970s stint with now label-mates Citroën, before a long association with Fiat, then Ferrari, then Alfa Romeo, ultimately set the company on a firmer footing for the 21st century.

The Maserati line-up was solid but relatively static throughout this period of industrial revolving doors, with cars like the original GranTurismo staying in production for 12 long years (2007 – 2019). Other traditional mainstays like the Quattroporte luxury saloon found their slender niche whittled ever slimmer as SUVs emerged to take over the mid- and upper-market segments. Into this fast-evaporating pool, Maserati also launched the Ghibli, an elegantly doomed rival for the likes of Jaguar, Audi and BMW (‘You’re Not Like Everyone Else,’ reads the strapline on the Ghibli website). 

Maserati Grecale Modena

The Grecale is the newest entry point to the brand, the most affordable Maserati on the market and the one that has – according to enthusiasts – finally divested the Maserati name of any lingering glamour from its glory years. In fact, if it wasn’t for the electrifying (but not electric) MC20 supercar, and the new second series GranTurismo (which does come as an EV), the Maserati of old would effectively be dead and buried. 

The Grecale is Maserati’s second SUV, a smaller sibling to the 2016 Levante. Currently available with two engines, a four-cylinder with mild hybrid assistance (the vanilla of hybrid systems) and a V6 in the high-performance Trofeo edition, it’ll be electrified in due course, thanks to the component and systems-sharing facilitated by being part of a vast manufacturing group. 

Like many Maseratis since the early 1960s, the Grecale name has been derived from a wind, this time one that blows north-easterly in the Mediterranean. We tried the mid-range Modena model, which offers 330hp from its four-cylinder engine (compared to 530hp in the V6). Despite being touted as a mid-size SUV, the Grecale is not svelte, at 4.8m long. It’s the kind of car you sit on, rather than in, giving you the sense of aloof alienation that seems to lure so many buyers to the SUV segment. It’s a world apart from the spindly elegance of Maseratis of old. Elements like the thick A-pillar and 2.1m width from mirror to mirror make it feel much less wieldy than the MC20, a genuine old-school, low-slung supercar that offers far better visibility.

Maserati describes the Grecale as the ‘everyday exceptional’, and it’s pitted against the likes of the Porsche Macan and the Range Rover Sport – family cars that retain the persistent magic of an enduring brand as a way of disguising their essential conformity. In this respect, MC20 owners and Grecale owners might as well exist on two different planets.

If you have the right combination of status anxiety and available space, then the Grecale shouldn’t disappoint. Even in Modena trim it’s a decent performer, although the hybrid system doesn’t do much to quench the big car’s thirst. Cabin fit and finish is high quality, with many essential functions located on the steering wheel; the twin touch screen displays are visually coherent if haptically challenging. 

As well as a digital instrument cluster, Maserati has retained its central high level clock display, originally a conventional quartz mechanism but now a screen that can display a compass and G-meter as well as digital and analogue clocks. There’s also a rousing sound system by Italian audio specialists Sonus faber.

Visually, the Grecale SUV is a collage of greatest hits from Maserati design, from taillights inspired by the Giugiaro-designed 3200 GT, to the over-sized Trident mascot on the grille, and the triple vents on the front flank and the neat headlights that appear to flow into the front wings. Inside, there’s a stitched graphic motif said to be inspired by the engineering-driven architecture of Pier Luigi Nervi. The rear screen is rakishly angled and the Trident reappears on the  C-pillar; the branding is verging on the unsubtle. 

Until recently, Maseratis made a virtue of their raucous engine noise; thankfully the Grecale Modena is more muted on that front. With electrification on the near horizon, it’ll be interesting to hear what sonic confection Maserati concocts to keep this particular brand pillar alive for a more noise conscious age.

At this point in time, the SUV exists as the ultimate automotive chameleon – it can be whatever you want it to be and blend seamlessly into any context. Sports car, family car, luxury car, utility car, electric car – the language of design and marketing can be made to accommodate them all, with enough physical space for designers to shift and tailor the package and presentation. Who is this particular car for? It’s certainly not for the traditional Maserati buyer, a select group that once included Sheikhs and rock stars and tended to favour drama over efficiency and impact over practicality.

The Levante leaves production this month, just as the new GranCabrio arrives to add further lustre to the brand’s history and luxury focus. Maserati’s challenge is to walk the line between building highly desirable supercars and ‘mass premium’ machines like the Grecale that’ll keep it on a secure footing. Ultimately, Grecale ownership might get you into the Maserati club, but it’s an institution that has changed beyond all recognition since it was originally founded. 

Maserati Grecale Modena, from £70,925, Maserati.com, @Maserati

This was the year that EVs went thoroughly mainstream, even as political dithering dented the emphasis on the urgency of the need to switch from ICE. There were still a few notable novelties in the latter sphere, perhaps buoyed by mixed official messaging and the belief that fossil fuels somehow deserved a future in the hands of the well-heeled. Whilst we thoroughly enjoyed the latest from Ferrari, Maserati, and Aston Martin, there’s an undeniable feeling of an era drawing to a close. Will the old guard manage to rewrite the rule book, or will new brands without the heavy drag of heritage be able to get ahead? Peruse our picks of 2023 (in no particular order)…

Top 10 cars of 2023

01. Audi e-tron GT

We loved Audi’s e-tron GT, a handsome grand tourer that shows that premium electric cars need not be about over-powered hypercars or hefty SUVs. Expect a face-lifted and lightly upgraded version of the GT to break cover in 2024 – we’re looking forward to it. 

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02. Hyundai Ioniq 6

Hyundai kept up its current winning streak with the sleek Ioniq 6, a streamlined electric saloon that showed that design could be bold and different without alienating anyone. 

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03. Volkswagen ID.Buzz

VW has a hit on its hands with the ID.Buzz, a flexible MPV that’s equally at home as a car or a commercial vehicle. The high-riding driving position and acres of space recall the original VW Combi and 2024 should see 7-seater and campervan variants arrive.

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04. Rolls-Royce Spectre

Rolls-Royce spoiled us with the all-electric Spectre, a mighty achievement that goes straight to the top of the luxury wish-list. Serene, majestic yet also sprightly and long-legged, the vast coupé epitomises the company’s long-held ethos.  

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05. Lotus Eletre

The Lotus Eletre follows the familiar playbook for all-new electric auto brands; start with a sizeable SUV and eventually downscale. Only Lotus is no start-up. The Eletre might not demonstrate the venerable sports car maker’s historic passion for lightness, but it’s a truly convincing piece of kit. Next year sees the arrival of the new Emeya electric saloon.

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06. Ferrari Roma Spider

Ferrari threw open the roads of Sardinia for the launch of its beautiful Roma Spider, reasoning that the media would look most kindly on the car if it was in its natural environment. It succeeded; in the right location, the Spider encapsulates la dolce vita.

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07. Aston Martin DB12

Something of a glorious anachronism, the DB12 is the automotive equivalent of a long-running film franchise that manages to stay fresh and relevant with each release. Essentially an uprated and restyled DB11, the DB12 retains the essential elements of beauty and brawn, only now it’s a little more user friendly. 

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08. Maserati MC20

The MC20 was a mild surprise for long-time followers of Italian manufacturer Maserati. Just when it seemed the company had sacrificed over a century of history on the altar of the dreaded SUV, it came out with this magnificent mid-engined supercar. Old-school cool in all the right ways. 2024 marks Maserati’s 110th birthday, so expect some kind of four-wheeled celebration. 

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09. Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale

Another modern Italian masterpiece, the 33 Stradale is a strictly limited-edition hypercar. Unveiled back in August, it pointed to a mini design renaissance for the firm, once the unrivalled masters of making beautiful cars at every price point. If just 10 per cent of the 33 Stradale’s good looks make it into the next all-electric generation of Alfa road cars, the company’s future looks bright.

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10. David Brown Automotive Mini eMastered

Finally, a leftfield choice that merges truly iconic design with up-to-the-minute technology. DBA’s Mini eMastered is both strikingly brilliant and fantastically expensive. The ultimate luxury city car?  

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We’re a little bit late to the Maserati MC20 party, the prestige mid-engine sports car that’s intended to steal a little bit of thunder from the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini. Aside from a few high-end hypercars, the Italian brand hasn’t been a player in this particular niche for decades, preferring instead to focus on grand tourers and super saloons.

Back in 2004, the brand launched the MC12, an extremely limited edition (62 examples) sports car that heralded the company’s return to high-profile motorsport. Based on the Ferrari Enzo, the road-going versions of the MC12 were oversized and awkward. 

After years of alternating between vicious rivalry and close partnership, Maserati’s last hook-up with Ferrari effectively ended for good in 2021, when parent company Fiat was absorbed in Stellantis (Ferrari having taken itself public in 2015 and leaving Fiat the following year).

The MC20 debuted in 2020, but the pandemic pushed back drives and deliveries until a couple of years later, risking the presentation of a car that was significantly off the pace in comparison to its competitors. Thankfully, the company put sufficient thought and energy into ensuring the MC20 was very much a worthy challenger from the outset.

A completely clean sheet design, the MC20 pairs a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis with a 3.0 litre V6 engine, developed in-house and dubbed ‘Nettuno’ (it can also be found in other Maserati models). The interior is lightweight and stripped down but is far from rough and ready. 

In fact, it’s one of the most ergonomically appealing of all modern Maseratis, eschewing awkward quirks in favour of easily accessible controls, good visibility and comfortable seats. Even the touchscreen works well, helpfully placed close at hand so you don’t have to stretch a wobbly finger to change functions.

It’s not luxurious, of course – no mid-engine sports car should ever claim to be such a thing. Three driving modes – GT, Sport and Wet – give you a choice of fast, faster and cautious, and the suspension is never less than firm. The low-slung nose can be hydraulically lifted to cope with raised curbs and speed bumps, and the view out back comes courtesy of a digital rear view ‘mirror’ that shows a high-res scene of the road behind; the real view is somewhat obscured.

Objectively and subjectively, this is an excellent car. It fulfils the unspoken brief of a mid-engine machine by delivering visual drama and drawing attention whether it’s static or in motion, thanks to the butterfly doors and vocal engine noise (albeit mercifully a touch more subdued than Maserati’s V8 models). 

And while performance is certainly competitive, it stops short of being top dog. There’s a sense that Maserati has moved on from the minutiae of split-second sprint times and largely theoretical top speeds, choosing instead to focus on creating a super sports car in an all-round usable package.

But why now? Why introduce a storming conventionally powered supercar just as we’re entering the twilight of these automotive thunder gods? It’s true that rumblings about e-fuels have been getting louder in recent months, as German manufacturers lobby to extend the 2035 ban on ICE car manufacturing. For Maserati, the immediate future means splitting its range into EV and ICE versions, starting with the GranTurismo Folgore (‘lightning’), which will be sold alongside a V6 Nettuno version.

From next year, MC20 customers will get the same choice, and the MC20 Folgore promises to deliver equivalent levels of power and range. However, there’s no escaping the fact that MC20 ownership, regardless of your chosen powertrain, is priced in line with competitors from Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren, ie, high.

If you simply must have the swagger of a low-slung mid-engine machine but can’t run to nearly £200k, consider the Lotus Emira, which weighs in at just under the MC20’s 1,500kg, packs a V6 and starts from £77,795. 

The real test is whether an EV delivers the dopamine fix of focus and attention garnered by the sound of combustion. As the EV era dawns, there are going to be some shake-ups in the world of luxury sports cars.

Maserati MC20, from £197,994, Maserati.com

In June 2024, the Maserati MC20 Leggenda and Icona were launched, each in limited editions of 20

For a renowned maker of fast Italian cars, Maserati seems to move relatively slowly. This new V6-engined Levante SUV is the latest model in a leisurely launch calendar, and marks the first time the ‘base model’ of the company’s high-riding vehicle can be bought in the UK without a diesel engine. This is both good and bad news, for while diesel’s demonification has led to many premium brands dropping it like a hot stone (Bentley and Porsche among them), the hard truth is that diesel power is especially well-suited to lugging around the typical supersized SUV. To offset this, plenty of power is required from a petrol unit, with the corresponding hit in economy.

That probably won’t trouble potential customers. The Levante’s V6 slots beneath the range’s upcoming pair of V8-engined flagships (with a power unit built by Ferrari, no less), and here offers up 430bhp in GranSport trim. The first thing it claws back from its diesel sibling is a sonic signature unlike any other; you’re not going to be making any subtle entrances or exits using this car, thanks to an orchestral stab of an exhaust system. While you’re waking the neighbours, you can sample a very finely crafted contemporary automobile, one that competes sufficiently well with its burgeoning class while still retaining an aura of difference (‘exclusivity’ probably isn’t the right word).

An SUV is all but essential for a luxury manufacturer. Porsche’s Cayenne showed the way, distilling sports car DNA into the bigger, bulkier and brasher Cayenne. Everyone else has followed suit. Lamborghini’s Urus re-shaped the perception of the brand, as did the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, while Jaguar and Bentley are increasingly dependent on the sales garnered by the F-PACE and Bentayga respectively. Aston Martin’s DBX is mere months away from its unveiling and the long-running rumours of a Ferrari competitor are getting louder.

The Levante arrived in Maserati’s line-up in 2016, effectively doubling sales and bringing in customers who weren’t especially taken by the wilfully eccentric Quattroporte (still one of the most evocative names in motoring) and the ageing GranTurismo. As a first attempt at translating the famous Trident-badged styling to a larger, taller car, the Levante is a decent effort.

Maseratis have always walked the line between awkward and sublime, using the latter to their advantage thanks to the involvement of iconic design houses like Bertone and Pininfarina. Whereas the latter had a hand in the GranTurismo – one of the reason it’s still fresh after 12 years – the Levante was done in-house. Suffice to say the team didn’t quite master what is a difficult brief; it’s a shame Maserati didn’t take more inspiration from a heritage rich with eccentricity. The Vulcano edition, shown here, is a limited edition of 150 cars with a rich red leather interior that is a pointed nod towards interiors of old.

But then an SUV is a conservative choice, a ‘sports’ car for those with responsibilities and requirements that two seats and two doors can’t cater for. These days, a whole generation of sporting car owners have only ever really experienced the SUV, so attempting to make a car of this ilk handle like a sleek coupe is futile. The Levante needs to handle and accelerate with aplomb, and thanks to the power at hand this is never a problem.

It has to be said that the Levante still retains a lingering aura of Maserati magic, for the very best motoring brands have an impressively slow half life, fading away only after decades. But however big, brash and supremely capable the Levante may be, its most defiant point of difference is that it’s a step behind, not ahead, of the curve. That it still succeeds as a desirable machine is testament to Maserati’s enduring appeal.

INFORMATION
Maserati Levante S GranSport, £94,400 as tested. For more information, visit the Maserati website

It’s 1975. Maserati is the byword for quirky Italian exotica, with a suite of products that rivals or even exceeds the cars created by its fellow countrymen at Ferrari and Lamborghini. The Modena-based company prides itself on building mid-engined machines of rakish beauty and throaty prowess, as well as the occasional coupe of unrivalled beauty. With a genuine customer base of princes and playboys, Maserati was Italian industrial royalty, created for the global elite.

Who would have thought that thirty years later, the famous Maserati trident would be appended to this front of this titanic 4x4? The new Levante belongs to a category of car that scarcely existed back in the 70s, save for a sharply creased but rather agricultural vehicle known as the Range Rover. Today, its descendants have achieved almost total dominance over the European car market, from chunkily styled ‘crossovers’ through to luxurious Sport Utility Vehicles that now crown the line-ups (and sales charts) of almost every upscale manufacturer, from Porsche through to Lexus, Jaguar and Bentley.

In some respects Maserati is rather late to the SUV party. The Levante started life as a concept car, the Kubang, way back in 2011 and you can be sure that the product planners had been badgering the designers for many years before that. The simple truth is that, right now, SUVs sell and are wildly (by car-making standing) profitable. The not so simple truth is that SUVs by their very nature were once seen at odds with the values and ethos of sports or luxury manufacturers.

That ship has long-since sailed. Porsche proved unequivocally with the Cayenne that a well-executed SUV doesn’t need to tarnish a brand, hence the pile on that subsequently followed. So the Levante has showed up with Maserati’s halo largely intact, despite being bigger and far more imposing than the Quattroporte could ever hope to be. In the diesel iteration we tested, it’s not exactly sporting, either, begging the question of what Maserati actually means to a modern audience. A few minutes behind the wheel, however, and the answer comes back; it means presence, with a little soupcon of perversity.

Despite the absence of a raucous exhaust note, à la GranTurismo, it’s impossible to drive the Levante without being noticed. The diesel gives a meaty warble, but nothing too ostentatious in this era of burgeoning diesel allergy, and the lofty driving position makes it easier (although not ideal) to position the car in traffic. The dashboard is the usual confection of ergonomic idiosyncrasy and deliberate eccentricity; Maserati has been shoehorning an incongruous clock into their dashboards for decades – it’s other companies who have copied them.

But despite the shortcomings, there’s luxury afoot with the leather and carpet, the generous number of features and the simple pleasure of being insulated from the world outside. And while the car’s systems are markedly different from the increasingly slick interfaces offered by rivals, it works just as well and soon becomes second nature. We’d opt for bigger wheels than on the test car as they’d enhance its proportions and profile, but the overall flow from trident-bearing grille to rear screen is handled with aplomb.

And that’s the Levante’s greatest strength. Like its more sporting siblings, it is a car that stands aloof and detached from its rivals. For a start, it couldn’t be less Germanic if it tried and for Maserati fans, that’s a genuine blessing. The Levante won’t win prizes as the very best looking or the fastest SUV on the market, but for its role as challenger to the status quo. 

INFORMATION

Maserati Levante, from £53,780. For more information, visit the Maserati website

Swiss photographer Fabian Oefner has returned to the Geneva-based MAD Gallery with a new show for its Taipei outpost. 'Disintegrating II' is an exhibition of five large-format prints, comprising the second part of Oefner’s 'Disintegrating' series, first seen at the Geneva MAD Gallery in 2013. His goal is to capture images of real objects or situations, but which are invisible to the naked eye. This time, he’s deconstructed the most beautiful – and, it must be said, valuable – automotive treasures of them all, producing photographs that look as if the cars have exploded, creating a shower of internal components.

It takes Oefner two months and over 2,000 photos to create each image. What makes his achievement all the more remarkable is that the full-sized cars, one of which is Ralph Lauren’s 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, were not touched. Oefner created the five images by painstakingly deconstructing scale-models.

This is possible because today’s state-of-the-art model cars, the large-scale items with four-figure prices, are indistinguishable from the real thing, provided no nearby objects betray their size. How else do you think they destroyed James Bond’s priceless Aston-Martin at the end of Skyfall?

Oefner photographs each component, over a thousand in each model, placing each piece in a specific position. In this manner, he can create the illusion of an exploding automobile. As tempted as one might be to think they’re computer-generated, they are not. The cars – all legendary – include the Auto Union Type C, the Maserati 250F, Ford’s GT40, the aforementioned Bugatti 57SC Atlantic and the Porsche 956.

Each of the five images is available in two sizes: 140cm x 70cm and 230cm x 115cm. The smaller of the two is limited to eight prints priced at 3,780 CHF and the larger to three prints selling for 19,440 CHF. Both are also offered as limited artist's editions – two each, at 5,000 CHF and 22,000 CHF. It's interesting to note that, at one time, 22,000 CHF would have paid for the actual cars.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the MAD Gallery website and the Fabian Oefner website 

ADDRESS

MAD Gallery
No 10, Lane 101
Section 1
Da'an Rd
Da’an District
Taipei City
Taiwan 106

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The Giovanni Agnelli Plant was once owned by the bold and brilliant Bertone. Here in Italy’s industrial north, in Grugliasco on the edge of Turin, the carrozzeria built avant-garde cars. The Fiat Dino Coupé, and the Lamborghini Miura and Countach were made here. Sadly, the house of Bertone declared bankruptcy in 2009, and at the end of its life only two of the hundreds of workforce remained on this vast production site. When Maserati rescued the plant that year, many of Bertone's team was re-recruited.

Today, Giovanni Agnelli is bursting with life as men and women work the assembly lines, while high-tech robots stamp, shape and weld Quattroporte and Ghibli models. Maserati car-making is a fusion of automation with traditional principles of craft, for these are custom built, luxury motorcars, made in small numbers for a sense of exclusivity. What’s more, these luxury vehicles come with a very, very Italian sensibility. At Maserati, design is for desire.

We are in Italy to drive the 2017 Ghibli. Much like the brand, this trip has had its own unique charm. The journey began in Modena, home to Maserati’s headquarters and second car plant, and of course the birthplace of Ferrari and thus synonymous with the Italian sports car. Yet our tour is more of a culinary one, as the region is also famed for its gastronomy, producing balsamic vinegar and Parmigiano Reggiano, among other specialities.

First we are guided through the strict codes of Italian cooking with chef Luca Marchini, a rising star here who trained with the esteemed Massimo Bottura. Later we enjoy some Italian slow food in a lengthy, heavenly meal at his Michelin-starred Ristorante l’Erba del Re. The following day we hop on-board the Ghibli, and the all-wheel drive, 404-horsepower, Ferrari-built 3.0 litre twin turbo V6 powerhouse races us across to Turin, and to the Fiat Group empire.

Maserati revived the venerable Ghibli nameplate – think the glorious Giugiaro-designed 1966 GT and Marcello Gandini’s brilliantly boxy 1990s coupé – three years ago to mixed reviews. This was to be its volume production car, designed to sit beneath the Quattroporte in the range as the marque’s offering in the big-selling executive car class. Some feared it would take away from the exclusivity of the brand. Ghibli numbers, though, remain relatively modest and Maserati says it will stay this way. Company owner Fiat provides the bread-and-butter pragmatic products, so Maserati can afford to be more elusive.

The new Ghibli is an altogether more refined package. The marque has tweaked the areas that fell short in the previous models, so one can expect a fully connected infotainment and entertainment system that is now compatible with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The two trim levels have been elevated too. The Sports package sits on 20-inch Urano polished wheels, and comes with sport seats and steering wheel, red brake calipers, and the marque’s Skyhook adaptive suspension, so the driver can alter the dynamic behaviour of the car.

The Luxury package offers 19-inch 'Poseidone' wheels, a leather steering wheel available in back, beige or brown with wooden inserts, and a 900 watt Harman Kardon Premium Audio System. The customer can specify a unique silk woven from Maserati’s fruitful collaboration with Ermenegildo Zegna and an Alcantara headliner. Additionally, the textile maker has designed a capsule collection of clothing and accessories to complement the Ghibli and Quattroporte models.

This latest car certainly is a more complete Ghibli. Whereas the Quattroporte has a big, explosive narrative, the Ghibli offers a more restrained design for an easy elegance. A few days in this part of northern Italy – the drive on country roads, observing macho local driving habits, then cruising the smooth motorway to the more refined Piedmont and onto Casa Zegna – help place the Ghibli in context. You feel the connection between product and place. Our host jokes a number of times that northern Italy’s auto world is all about ‘slow cooking and fast cars’ – which on reflection beautifully sums up the Ghibli.

INFORMATION

Maserati Ghibli, from £49,860. For more information, visit the Maserati website

Silk might seem like an unlikely automotive fabric but a new version of the material – especially developed by fashion brand Ermenegildo Zegna as a new trim line for Maserati – intends to prove otherwise.

The two luxury brands have things in common beyond their Italian roots and 206 collective years of heritage, Zegna's CEO Gildo Zegna citing 'innovation, "something unique" and an appeal to women as well as men' as useful extra markers. But despite the mutual admiration, Maserati's no-nonsense CEO Harald Wester took some convincing that silk was the right collaborative path.

'I was skeptical, so I said "supply me the best and strongest material you have" and we started testing. Making a crash-test dummy jump up and down into a seat 250,000 times with normal auto fabric is no problem, but with silk it was, so we had to start again. Then there were temperature changes to consider, humidity and strong sunlight. It took us two years to solve. We did a special edition first, but now every customer that wants it can have silk in our cars.'

The edition Wester refers to was the 2013 100-edition Quattroporte Ermenegildo Zegna, with suit-style woven fabrics inside the cabin. Following that success, Maserati has now announced that the Zegna name will become a specific and long-standing trim option, used for the seats, door linings and ceiling headliners on its regular production models.

The material created for the seats is much heavier, at 320g per metre versus 150g for suits, but despite Zegna's highly complex weaving machines the process still involves human hands and judgement, creating a warmer fabric than the typical metal, leather and wood automotive staples. As chairman Paolo Zegna explains, 'We learned a lot from this collaborative process, using Chinese silk woven in Italy. We believe it will be very hard for anyone to copy it due to the amount of work we've put in.'

As a place to sit and drive, the Zegna trim models are comfortable, cool and non-stick in hotter climates, where full-leather can be unpleasant. And in terms of design and placement, the material's use is subtle and understated. Indeed, the only Zegna badging on the car is on the back of the sun visor when folded down, a bit like the label on a suit's inside pocket. Refreshing.

The new Maserati Ghibli feels slightly anachronistic, at first. Here is a car pitched well below the rest of the Maserati range, yet which practically shares its dimensions with the flagship Quattroporte saloon. It also has the same name as one of the marque's most celebrated historic models. So, what role is the Ghibli meant to have?

It is very much the spearhead of Maserati's push into new markets and sales. The company has ambitious plans to triple sales within the next few years and the Ghibli is instrumental to this scheme, along with an as-yet-unseen new SUV.

This kind of car is almost sold on appeal alone, and the Ghibli definitely makes a strong statement compared to the competent but bland machines that it's going up again - BMW's 5-Series, the Audi A6 and Mercedes E-Class. Only the Jaguar XF shares its flair. But it's certainly a decent first effort, a lithe, long four-door that makes no attempt to cloak its size. If anything, both the exterior scale and chunky cabin detailing imply that this is a machine pitched at American highways and traffic conditions (as well as the all-important Chinese market), not the rather more cramped roads of Europe.

The famous three-pronged trident looks right at home within the big grille, with little flourishes like the triple vents down the flanks and chromed logo on the C-pillar ensuring the Ghibli stands out from the crowd. Your point of difference is even more marked once you fire up the engine, and the stentorian bark emitted from the exhaust leaves you (and people within a wide radius) in no doubt that this is something a little bit special.

Maserati is selling the Ghibli as the ultimate sporting saloon, hoping to tempt high mileage business types into something with a bit more verve than what they're used to. There are three models, beginning with a diesel V6 (the same engine is also making its way into the Quattroporte - a nakedly commercial decision that would once have been considered sacriligeous) and culminating in the Ghibli S, all 410bhp of it.

Whichever way you look at it, the new Ghibli is a big saloon. Granted, it's not quite as large as the Quattroporte, but there are only 30cm separating the two, and while the latter is the latest in a distinguished line going back to the 1960s, the new Ghibli has to forge a new identity. Like so many modern performance cars it's very easy to drive, although the raucous exhaust note doesn't help its stealth capabilities.

Maserati's most recent cars have walked a fine line between elegance and exhibitionism, with the marquee seemingly unsure how to hit the sweet spot in between. The Ghibli might not have much in common with its Sixties namesake, but it has far less to prove than its siblings. It harks back to the days when Maserati was a true alternative, a quirky choice for the individual. For a car designed to sell big, it still stands out from the crowd.

Like many niche manufacturers, Maserati's models have long lives, burnished by regular updates, enhancements and special editions. The company recently made a play for the big time with the launch of a new mid-size saloon, the Ghibli, hoping to up production levels and sales around the world. If truth be told, the focus on the Ghibli and the likely follow-up model, the Levante SUV, has distracted from the fact that the company's core car, the GranTurismo, is getting rather long in the tooth.

The most recent iteration of this Pininfarina-designed grand tourer, the GranTurismo Sport rolled into the Wallpaper* garage for assessment, following on from a sampling of its drop-top sibling last year. While the Maserati has undeniable presence, we can't help feeling that the original design is showing its age. Whereas competitors like Aston Martin and Porsche get away with slightly conservative design thanks to the innate rightness of the original forms, the Maserati's swoops, ducts and curves become ever more exaggerated and ungainly over the years. The overall effect is akin to a dose of rather obvious plastic surgery.

Likewise, the GT's cockpit is well appointed, lavishly upholstered and spacious, but it doesn't represent cutting edge ergonomic design. To bridge the gulf between heritage and tradition and race car pedigree is a tall order for any designer, but the Gran Turismo Sport does neither especially well. Even the central clock - a quirky signature feature of the cars for decades - looks like an afterthought, not a design delight.

It's when you turn the ignition that this car's raison d'etre becomes totally clear; the GT Sport is an automotive extrovert. The GT is a loud car, amplifying the sound of the big V8 to such an extent that the waffle and thunder follows you down the road, echoing off buildings and snapping heads. It's impossible to drive this car quietly, most especially in 'Sport' mode, which might as well bear the legend 'everyone look at me'. With a pair of Persols perched on your brow and some casual knitwear slung across the (capacious) back seats, the GT Sport is at home as accessory, despite the sound and fury. Perhaps that's all a grand tourer need be in this modern age, but we're still keenly awaiting the GT's successor.

Maserati is one of the unquestionably great names in car making. Founded in 1914, the Italian firm endured a 20th century filled with highs and lows, mixing great sporting victories and classic GT cars with spells of wayward design and engineering and even more ill-conceived business partnerships. But then somewhere along the line Maserati made good again, beginning with 1998's 3200GT, a Giugiaro-styled coupe that finally gave the company a swift, stylish GT after two decades of diversions into the far reaches of ultra-boxy Italian design.

Today, Maserati is part of the mighty Fiat Group, with strong familial ties to other Fiat-owned brands like Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. Its current line-up, the GranTurismo, GranCabrio and Quattroporte, is - dare we say it - starting to look a little long in the tooth, with the latter introduced in 2004.

However, a replacement for the highly acclaimed Quattroporte is waiting in the wings, and a new, smaller saloon, the Ghibli, is also inbound, designed to stick the three-pointed trident in the sporty territory covered by Jaguar Rs, BMW Ms and Mercedes AMGs. Inevitably, there's also an SUV - the freshly-named Levante, nakedly pitched at Porsche's Cayenne and due in 2013.

We recently sampled the GranCabrio Sport, a sharpened version of the handsome soft-top, first introduced in 2009 and based on the 2007 GranTurismo. Revised versions of the latter's Sport model are now appearing on the roads. Both cars originally emerged from Pininfarina's studios and have been lavishly praised for their appearance, from the gaping front grille through to the trim flanks and neat tail.

The two cars get big points for being genuine four-seaters - even the GranCabrio - something that cannot be said about the majority of their competitors. But in order to accommodate four adults in such a low, swooping bodyshell, the Maserati has had to grow in stature, making this a sizeable car, far removed in feel from the nimble sporting drop top of old.

As the name would suggest, the GranTurismo was originally created as a true grand tourer, designed to cosset and scintillate while also affording a comfortable perch from which to traverse the best roads in the world. That's the theory. In practice, both GT and GC have suffered slightly from mission creep, as the original car's power output and ride have been progressively dialled up to keep the car apace in the relentless 'horsepower wars'.

The GranCabrio Sport is therefore faster, more aggressively styled and firmer than before, largely undoing the car's calmer 'touring' qualities. Maseratis have always been loud, and the GC Sport is perhaps loudest of all, with a snarling exhaust that gives the impression a full grid of F1 cars is following you down the road. It's not a car for shrinking violets. Nor is it a car for those without a competent osteopath, because the sports seats are amongst the firmest we've ever sampled.

Hard and fast seems to be the defining characteristics of this car. If that's still not enough, Maserati recently announced an even more focused variant of the droptop, the Maserati GranCabrio MC, which brings even more design and engineering elements in from the racing industry. Right now, Maserati are writing out romance in favour of raw power, so if you're not the sentimental sort, the GranCabrio Sport makes a major statement.