Maserati GranTurismo is emotion in motion

Maserati of late, is seeking to create a more mainstream awareness in the world of high-end luxury sports cars, and they certainly seem to be taking all the right steps in all the right directions. For one thing, the legendary Italian automaker continues to employ the equally legendary Pininfarina Italian design house in styling the beautiful vehicles in their stable. There are five distinct models in Maserati’s lineup: there is currently one coupe — the GranTurismo with a base price of $110,000; with another soon to be available — the GranTurismo S for which pricing is not yet fixed; and three levels of trim in the four-door Quattroporte sedan: a base model that starts at $119,000; an Executive model starting at $129,150; and finally a Quattroporte Sport that begins at $132,400.

All of the Trident-badged models are graceful works of art, with alluring, curvaceous and smoothly flowing lines, and all are powered by a 4.2-liter, DOHC, 32-valve V8 with electronic fuel injection that generates 405 horsepower at 7,100 rpm and delivers 339 pounds-feet of torque. The engine is mounted forward in a longitudinal orientation, and transfers motive force to the rear wheels via an electronic “drive-by-wire” throttle and a ZF 6-speed automatic with manual shift capability and steering column-mounted paddle shifters.

While the Quattroporte displays an unquestionably elegant persona, for my taste, the GranTurismo Coupe exudes a much more emotional presence and overall appeal. Both share the same mechanicals and carefully conceived choice of materials and equipment ensuring high-quality and pride of ownership.

Maserati celebrated its 90th Anniversary in 2005, with the Maserato brothers having begun in Bologna, Italy as racing car manufacturers in 1905, with the chassis of the A6 racecar. Prodded by valued customers, the first Maserati road car was produced in 1947 at the Geneva Motorshow — it was the A6 GranTurismo, styled by Pininfarina, and was acclaimed for both its technical content and for its solutions in avant-garde design. The first standard GranTurismo, the 3500 GT was presented 10 years later in 1957, again at the Genva Motorshow which proved to be the turning point for Maserati, placing the emphasis on building road cars ahead of the exclusive practice of producing racing models. Over the next seven year period, 1,983 units of the 3500GT were ultimately produced.

Continuing in the Maserati tradition, and celebrating the 60th anniversary of the A6 along with the 50th anniversary of the 3500GT, the Italian automaker debuted its new Maserati GranTurismo coupe. The name selection by the way, was not incidental, as yet again, Maserati and Pininfarina joined forces in creating a car capable of stirring one’s emotions while virtually outperforming competitive marques in terms of engineering design and uniquely fetching style.

The latest Maserati GranTurismo is truly worthy of proudly displaying the stylized Trident logo that was inspired by the famous statue of Neptune standing in the center of the brothers home city of Bologna. The GranTurismo benefits from the experience gained in the production of its precursor, the Quattroporte. Automatic.

In the rear, the triangular lights incorporate 96 LED lights that ensure night-time recognition.

The tested Maserati GranTurismo’s exterior finish was done in a beautiful maroon color called Bordeaux Pontevecchio. The interior was executed in Avorio (Bone) leather with Walnut Brairwood polished wood trim accents. The car’s base price was set at $110,000 while options and extras elevated the final total to $123,703.13 which was inclusive of Gas Guzzler Tax, Dealer Prep, Transportation and Sales Tax.

The option list consisted of: Titanium painted brake calipers, contrasting interior stitching and 20-inch Birdcage design alloy wheels - 8.5-inches wide up front and 10.5-inches wide in the rear.

The bottom-line analysis: if the Maserati GT doesn’t include it or doesn’t have it available, you probably don’t need it. On the other hand, if you want to regularly transport more than one other person, go for the Quattroporte. If you can afford it, go for both and problem solved.