Archive for Maserati

Here are an initial 4 photos of the new Maserati GranCabrio, essentially a drop top version of the GranTurismo. There are no photos of the GranCabrio with the top up right now but it has a soft top made of canvas, which is quite obvious looking at the length of the area behind the passenger cabin compared to the roof length required to cover up the cabin. Under the hood is of course Maserati’s 4.7 liter V8, putting out 433 horsepower. Of course with most cars scheduled only to debut at Frankfurt, details are scarce whenever the manufacturer decides to “tease” us with a few images and some details, so for the full release we’ll have to wait for Frankfurt.

Click here to read the rest of Spider GranTurismo called the Maserati GranCabrio

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The Naza Italia Lifestyle Centre is the largest Ferrari and Maserati showroom out of Italy. Sitting beside the Federal Highway in PJ, it has 2 floors with Ferrari on the ground floor and Maserati on the top. I paid a visit last week to check out the limited edition Ferrari Scuderia 16M Spyder. Have a look at some photos after the jump, and remember you can click the images for a larger resolution version!

Click here to read the rest of GALLERY: Naza Italia Lifestyle Centre in PJ

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Naza Italia Sdn Bhd, sole distributor and importer for Ferrari & Maserati will be opening the largest lifestyle centre for both these marques on 31 March 2009 in Petaling Jaya.

It consists of a state-of-the-art 4S (sales, service, systems & spare-parts) centre, including two-level Ferrari and Maserati showroom which houses the latest and most current models, as well as a contemporary lounge with full facilities for Ferrari Owners Club members and Maserati owners to enjoy.

The Naza Italia Lifestyle Centre is open to all and offers an extensive array of brand merchandise to both Ferrari & Maserati fans, owners & enthusiasts, as well as providing the owners the assurance that their Italian luxury marques will well cared for and maintained in pristine condition.

The showroom will be officiated by His Royal Majesty The King of Malaysia Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin.

Click here to read the rest of Naza Italia 4S Centre for Ferrari and Maserati

Maserati has released promotional on the road footage of a beautiful white Maserati GranTurismo S Automatic cruising down a countryside. Despite its Ferrari-derived 4.7 liter V8, the driver in the promo video never found the need to trash the car down a straight road, he just cruised along enjoying the scenery of the countryside and coastal roads and the deep bassy rumble that V8s make at low revs (that we unfortunately cannot hear – the video has some background music instead). Maybe because he didn’t feel like he had to, I dunno about you but to me Maseratis invoke entirely different feelings compared to the rawness of a Ferrari, a Maserati is more Aston Martin-like but with more Italian flair. I wish there was a higher resolution version but couldn’t find one – watch it after the jump. I’ll update the copy if I find a hi-res version.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Maserati GranTurismo S Automatic Promo

Naza Italia Sdn Bhd which was appointed sole distributor and importer of Maserati, threw an amazing 3 night party attended by over 600 people, including members of Malaysian high society, AMEX Platinum members and members of the Ferrari Owners Club on Thursday 26/2, Friday 27/2 and Saturday 28/2.

The party’s theme ‘Fabulous in White’ saw many of Malaysia’s corporate captains splendidly dressed in white mixing and mingling with the A-list crowd and local celebrities at an elegant event which reflected the sophistication and class of the Maserati.

Look after the jump for more shots of the event.

Click here to read the rest of Naza Italia’s Maserati “Fabulous in White” Party

The sexy new Maserati Gran Turismo and Maserati Quattroporte are now in Malaysia, brought to you by new distributors Naza Italia Sdn Bhd, which also deals with that other sexy Italian marque, Ferrari. The complete Maserati range will be sold here in Malaysia including the new Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S and the Maserati GranTurismo S Automatic which will be launched soon at the Geneva show sometime this month.

“Naza Italia’s automotive track record and the leadership of SM Faisal are truly the winning formula, which we seek. We feel privileged to have a highly experience partner who shares the same passion as we do at Maserati and that is a highly valuable asset, which will undoubtedly assure our market success here in Malaysia,” said Maserati Asia-Pacific Managing Director Simone Niccolai.

Naza Italia Sdn Bhd CEO SM Faisal says the segment in which these super luxury cars are in are not affected very much during these bad economic times as they deal with a very upper group of society and a limited production, so there is always demand. In Malaysia, SM Faisal says these privileged people can actually take advantage of the falling British pound and falling overseas used car prices when looking for good deals for used luxury cars.

A total of RM 10 million have been invested into Naza Italia’s flagship 45,000 square feet 4S center situated next to the Naza Auto Mall PJ which will include a car showroom, aftersales service area with dedicated waiting lounge, a delivery bay and also offer the sales of genuine Maserati accessories and merchandise.

Naza Italia will also offer the full range of customisation options, something that is only offered and enjoyed in Malaysia by the top notch brands. A Maserati owner can actually customise his car according to his own tastes and choose from various options of leather, stitching, carpets, roof linings, wood and lacquer finishes. You can not only pick your own wheel design but even the colours of the brake calipers!

These new batches of Maseratis in Malaysia are actually better as they are equipped with the new option of a 6-speed ZF automatic transmission. Previous buyers of Maseratis had to settle for an automated manual clutch rear-mounted transaxle transmission derived from a Ferrari transmission which is by nature sportier and harsher because it is a manual gearbox with a computer-controlled clutch and not as comfortable as a real automatic. The new automatic is now mounted directly behind the engine at the front.

The sexy Gran Turismo will start at RM 1,080,000 while the 4-door Quattroporte powered by a 4.2 liter V8 with 400 horsepower will be an alternative to the Mercedes-Benz S 500 starting from RM 1.3 million, depending on how much a customer wants to customise his car. Maserati has allocated 20 units and already 6 have been sold. For the “S” models of both cars, naturally the price will go up from there.

I can’t wait to see the Gran Turismo on Malaysian roads!

Look after the jump for more hi-res galleries of the Maseratis.

Click here to read the rest of Full range of Maserati Quattroporte and Maserati GranTurismo models now available in Malaysia!

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One of the most iconic cars in Maserati’s history has also been voted the world’s greatest racing car ever by British magazine Octane. This car is the Maserati 250F and it was a Formula One car, which debuted in the 1954 season and used by customer teams until 1960. The name 250F refers to the specs that were instated for F1 in 1954 – a maximum engine capacity of 2.5 liters hence the 250 number, and F refers to Formula One naturally. Those rules also stipulated 750cc supercharged engines but Maserati decided to take the normally aspirated route.

It was built on a simple multi-tubular ladder-like frame which carries the suspension, body panels and engine. The rear used a De Dion axle while the front was of a double wishbone design. Maserati engineers paid their full attention to the engine that powered the car, a 2.5 liter inline-6 with twin spark dual spark ignition and 3 Weber 45 DCO3 Caburattors. It produced 270 horsepower at 8,000rpm. For those that complain about cars coming with rear drum brakes these days, this F1 car used drum brakes all-round!

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The 1950s Formula One world were dominated by road-car teams like Maserati together with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz. The Maserati 250F competed in a total of 46 F1 championships with 277 entries and won 8 times. Its performance in its first two races exceeded Maserati’s expectations where it was driven by Juan-Manuel Fangio to victory before he unfortunately left to the newly-formed Mercedes-Benz team.

VIDEO: Fangio driving the 250F Maserati in Modena, Italy in the 1950s

Thanks to the beauty of the internet you can even check out Fangio driving the 250F from its on-board cam today, recorded all the way back in the 1950s!

“It steered beautifully, and inclined towards stable oversteer which one could exploit by balancing it against power and steering in long sustained drifts through corners. It rode well on the normal type of relatively smooth-surfaced course, although its small coil springs and leaf spring rear-end would use up available suspension movement over the bumps at the Ring,” said a young Stirling Moss who drove it as a private racer.

Italian sports car maker; Maserati which is about to be re-launched in Malaysia, has announced that it will unveil the Maserati GranTurismo S Automatic at the Geneva Motor Show which will initiate next week in Switzerland. According to the auto maker, the GranTurismo S Automatic features a 4.7 liter glorious V8 which is able to develop 433 Italian horses at 7,000 sweet revs. Pulling power is rated at 490Nm at 4,750 revs.

Well, it looks the same as the standard GranTurismo but, this time round, Maserati has mated the 4.7 V8 to a 6 speed ZF automatic transmission. Until now, the automatic tranny is only mated to the 4.2 liter power plant, while the current GranTurismo with the 4.7 liter V8 is coupled with an electro-actuated gearbox.

Other features offered with the GranTurismo S Automatic include; Skyhook suspension system featuring continuously adjustable dampers which offers improved driving comfort and a range of new generation passenger air-bags with Low Risk Deployment functionality; just to name a few. The Maserati Multi Media System with Bluetooth connectivity and iPod interface also comes as a standard fitment.

Although it features the same exterior design, a number of design elements have been added just for the GranTurismo S Automatic, such as new under-door mini-skirts featuring a prominent shape as well as new 20 inch wheel rims with “Trident” design.

The Maserati Story began in end-1914 when a company called Società Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati was formed by the Maserati brothers. The company started building custom racecars for private use and the brothers went on to score many wins around the world with their cars. 23 years later, the Maserati brothers sold their stake in Maserati to the Orsi family. The company continued to find success in motorsports, winning various races such as the Indy 500. Before it ended up in Fiat/Ferrari’s hands today, it passed through a few owners actually, such as the Orsi family I mentioned earlier, and later Citroen, De Tomaso and later Fiat.

Click here to read the rest of The Maserati Story: since 1914, how the sexy Italian marque came to be!

The word through the grapevines is that Maserati will be making an official comeback to Malaysia with an official dealer/distributor representing the brand. The Maserati brand was previously distributed by Next Car Sdn Bhd. Now that is definitely good news to me as I no longer have to stand around Orchard street to catch a glimpse of the Maserati GranTurismo that I am so infatuated with.

Many see Maseratis as more sedate Ferraris that are easier to live with, and according to JPJ data, 2008 saw 1 Maserati GranTurismo and 2 Maserati Quattroportes being registered. Numbers are relative but this is quite a small amount compared to the previous years where 2 Maserati Cambiocorsa, 1 Maserati Gransport and 7 Maserati Quattroportes were registered in 2006, and another 7 units of the Quattroporte in 2007.

When it was still sold here in Malaysia, a Quattroporte went for just a little over RM1 million, which puts it head to head with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S500L and the BMW 750Li.

With an official distributor back in the game, these numbers could pick up. An official announcement will be made by the end of this quarter. I am a long way to affording such a machine but I do wish to see more of these babies on the road purely for eye candy purposes.

Related Posts:
New Maserati GranTurismo styled by Pininfarina
VIDEO: The sexy Maserati GranTurismo
VIDEO: Maserati GranTurismo S
Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S 4.7 V8
Maserati Quattroporte gets facelift and S variant