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Maserati is a name with a rocky, if fascinating past. Its legacy of racing success and gorgeous road cars is interspersed with a number of disasters, most suffixed with the word Biturbo. Thankfully however, the Italian sportscar marque is finally picking itself up in spectacular style. Under the leadership of ex-Ferrari boss Luca De Montezemolo, Maserati is now turning out more than 7,000 cars per annum.
In 1998, Maserati’s popular Coupé, née 3200GT, brought with it an air of innate desirability and build quality that was encapsulated in its gorgeous detailing. Frankly, this saved a flawed design from failure – its heavy-looking rear haunches do not sit well with the slightly inelegant roofline. Its powerful V8, especially in its 4.2-liter follow-up form however, brought it into the big leagues where the old forced-induction V6s would have been left wheezing on the roadside.
The 2003 Quattroporte sedan, particularly in Sport GT trim and with the more involving, if still imperfect F1-shift, showed the world what this famous brand could do with a bit of inspiration. Indeed, the Porsche-beating, final-run Gransport version of the coupé was perhaps the moment when the world could finally take Maserati as a world-class manufacturer once more.
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