Winding Road je napisal/-a:2008 Maserati Mistral

October 2006, Issue #14, by Chris Paukert
Time for Modena to do battle with the Germans for real. New, all-important coupe to wow the 2007 Geneva show. What we're looking for from this future company-saver, besides the expected sexiness and power, is a significantly uprated driving experience achieved through weight loss and a snappier shifter.

Many theories swirl around how and why Maserati will survive and actually make the kind of profit it ought to. This car, the long-awaited replacement for the Italdesign-Giugiaro Coupe and Spyder, is, according to our Modena insiders, the big one that will save the entire situation.

So hotly contested has been the execution of this new 2+2 coupe as designed by Pininfarina that, based on reports from within the company, it was killed twice and most recently revived and fully green-lighted only at the dawn of 2006. Given Maserati’s dramas over the past few years—off-loaded by Ferrari, a technical partnership with Audi abruptly broken off, dumped into the halls at Fiat, and ultimately joined at the hip with equally troubled Alfa Romeo—the near-death experiences don’t surprise us.

We all know that this Quattroporte-based super-GT is coming, and we have seen it heavily camouflaged in testing around company headquarters. But what exactly will it be? Recent plausible statements suggest that the model will remain a classic coupe (but with two real rear seats a la 612 Scaglietti), while the later Spyder body will be a coupe-cabriolet with folding hardtop and only two sitting spots. Competing head-on with the Mercedes SL will be a refreshing challenge, but the real spiritual target is the latest Porsche 911 family.

These illustrations have been commissioned by WINDING ROAD based on recently gathered information from scorching-hot sources. From all appearances, Maserati means to take it to all super-GT competitors and do it in highly aggressive style. If you spot anything that reminds you of a certain new Ferrari, don’t be surprised to know that the chief exterior designer is indeed the very busy Jason Castriota, he of the 599 GTB Fiorano and one-off Enzo-based P4/5 shown at Pebble Beach.

There is talk of various V-8s, but the chief candidate seems to be a significantly updated version of the Ferrari-Maserati 4.2-liter V-8—local chatter puts capacity at 4.5 liters—that will reportedly be good for upward of 500 horsepower. This is the engine that will in turn be shared with the apparently forthcoming costly Alfa Romeo super-GTs, which will be back on North American soil by 2009 or so.

What we’re looking for from this future company-saver, besides the expected sexiness and power, is a significantly up-rated driving experience achieved through weight loss and a snappier shifter. Insider buzz suggests the new car’s body will be made from carbon composites and aluminum, while the Cambiocorsa shifter will be chucked in favor of a new and far better paddle-activated sequential manual six-speed from ZF. A true six-speed manual will be standard. Suspension will also be borrowed from the Quattroporte, so it’ll be double wishbones and electronic adaptive dampers all around—a very nice improvement over the car it replaces.

Two of the names currently being played with for the model (“Coupe” and “Spyder” simply never cut the mustard) are straight from the Maserati archive of desert winds: Merak and Mistral. Look for prices starting around $110,000 for the significantly improved beauty when it goes on sale in July of 2007.