Greetings, petrolheads!
Today’s post regards
my favourite Automotive brand: Maserati. More to the point, Mazza’s new, old
GranTurismo and GranCabrio. Or old-new, as you prefer. Now, before I start,
please let me make it clear I did not drive any of them. I did, instead, sit in
one, hear it, read the press release and the road test from a couple of very respected,
if not mainstream, sources.
The new-old, or
old-new, Granturismo is the second facelift of a model launched back in early
2007. Which, in turn, was based on the Quattroporte saloon from late 2003. With
a V8-engine derived from a late 90s Ferrari, the 360 Modena. It’s, plain and
easy, an old car. Just think for a second, what was the world back in 2003?
Mercedes had just introduced the SLR McLaren, the European Union comprised 15
countries, Google was starting to take over the world, Apple was very happy
selling iPods and Madonna was probably still dating people of her age.
Impressive, right? That’s when papa and mamma Mazza went to their bedroom to
celebrate a great day.
The world has changed
massively in the meantime, mostly thanks to the digital revolution. Cars are
amongst those who changed the most thanks to that, so the idea of such an old
car still being sold nowadays is plain bonkers. Or is it?
Mercedes-Benz still
successfully sells the G-Class, first launched in 1979 as a brute. It’s true it
was the subject of more facelifts and organ transplants than Monaco’s best
antiques, but the bones are the same. The reason? The digital era did bring in
lots of good stuff: active and passive safety, comfort, speed and efficiency
are at heights never reached before. But character was dropped at twice the
rate, meaning today’s cars are just a bunch of grey “mine’s bigger than yours”
tools, as there’s preciously little else out there to differentiate them.
That’s where the old Benz excels, exploiting that vulgar bragging rights trend
on the way, in the form of ridiculous engine options and, consequently, prices.
Now, the Italians
weren’t smart enough to do the same with their GranTurismo and GranCabrio.
There’s a new infotainment system, yes, but the engine and transmission are
basically available since the beginning. It’s a disgrace for Mazza to see their
sports cars on such “mine’s bigger than your’s” popular competitions, such as
Nurburgring Nordscheife’s lap times or acceleration tests. The young,
digital-era-born kids mock the stupid carmaker for daring to make (a bit of) noise
in a world of Merc AMG GTs, Audi R8s, Porsche 911s and so on.
There are still,
however, analog-era people out there. People who know the feeling of an
unassisted steering during a drive, say, on the best Alpine passes. People who
enjoy a short-throw, manual gearchange. People who delight upon the
emotion-crescendo power delivery of a good normally-aspirated engine. People
who don’t care about a milimetrical misalignment of two body panels, but breathe
deeply the smell of real leather. People like me and, if you’re still reading
this, you. Gentlemen, this more than likely is Automotive Nirvana XX Century, albeit MY2018.
A Mazza is a full-on assault to the senses. Power delivery is as sharp as unimpressive in
terms of outright acceleration, for current standards, letting the drivers
savour it. The soundtrack provided in tandem only finds comparison with the
most acclaimed orchestras. This 4.7-litre, normally aspirated, Ferrari-derived
V8 doesn’t make noise. It makes some of the finest music any machine has ever
produced. The gear changes of the automatic gearbox are more than apparent.
Body movements are noticeable too, making you feed the corners in a form other
than massive lateral G-force. The looks are now better than ever before I
think, there’s a panache no other current competitor can even approach. You sit
in it, and you know you’re in something special. The intoxicating mix of
leather smell, old-looks and idiotic ergonomics are a journey through time. This car is the greatest-hits compilation of what made recent, old cars
so brilliant: they felt human, organic and oozed magic. It's likely the car which better shows what’s
wrong in what is arguably the best car in the world - the Mercedes-Benz
S-Class. Please bear with me, I own a contemporary Merc CL 55 AMG. For what it represents,
the Maserati deserves a rating of 21 on a scale from 0 to 20.
If you’re in the
market for a sports car with ca. 130k € on your hand and purchase something
else, my condolences. If you do buy one, may I suggest a Rosso Trionfale exterior, Pearl Beige interior GranCabrio? You know, I may be knocking at
your door in some year’s time, when you decide to part ways with it because you
got tired of trying to figure out what all those buttons on the steering wheel are
there for. Just make a special price for me in what will be a sea of
speculation by then; after all, I enticed you to buy it in the first place, so
some credit is deserved…
Picture credits:
Maserati
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