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Aug 5,2007-Aug 12,2007 |
Reputation for leading design and performance
Famous car brand Maserati continues to produce objects of desire
By Mark Curtis
Originally Published: 2006-06-18
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New Maserati models designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro
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When it comes to dream cars, few brands get the heart beating faster than thoughts of an Italian-designed Maserati. Like competing brands such as Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Lamborghini, the Maserati marque and its famous trident logo represent some of the highest achievements in sports car performance and styling for the road. North American Maserati fans got a boost four years ago when the legendary Italian brand was re-introduced for domestic distribution.
Modena-based Maserati has a long history of working with Italy's most prominent car designers and the brand's current North American line-up of $100,000 plus handcrafted models is no exception. The steel and aluminum Quattroporte sports sedan is designed by Torino firm Pininfarina, perhaps Italy's most renowned car design company and the designer of Maserati's first-ever road model almost 60 years ago. In addition to its classic styling, the four-door model features a serious driver-friendly manual transmission and a front-mid placed V8 engine for balanced weight distribution. The luxury sedan delivers serious road performance as well, moving from zero to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds.
The Modena company's Coupe, GranSport and GranSport Spyder models are designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, Italy's most successful and acclaimed car designer of the past 40 years. Giugiaro first collaborated with Maserati in 1966 with that year's well-received Ghibli model. Within a decade, the Italian designer was breaking new car design ground with the original Golf model for Volkswagen.
As befits its reputation as a solid road performer, the Maserati brand is rooted in racing. The Maserati brothers of Bologna - seven in all - were involved in bicycle and car manufacturing in the early 20th century, but it was the race car driving Alfieri Maserati who established a family business in 1914. The first all-Maserati made vehicle was the Tipo, produced in 1926. The company's trident logo is said to have been inspired by a statue of the Roman god Neptune in Bologna. Alfieri's brothers eventually sold the company following his death and in 1937 new owners moved facilities to Modena.
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