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2005 Maserati Quattroporte Track Test

Four-Door Never Sounded So Sweet

Id waited a long time to drive the new Quattroporte, or at least it seemed like a long time considering my self-proclaimed Maseratisti status. This, of course, makes me a little biased, a problem that most people would have for people or products that they have a certain affinity with.

For me, it was a regular mid-70s Saturday with my Dad, having gone downtown to do some inconsequential task we stopped off at the local exotic car emporium to ogle at the latest, greatest cars the world had to offer, or at least the best available in my neck of the woods. There were Jaguars and Porsches, a white Lotus Esprit Turbo on display and I seem to remember a brilliant blue Lamborghini Espada in the corner with a sold sign in the window. But the one that caught my eye was a metallic gray Maserati Mexico, with red leather hides and more wood paneling on the door, dash and center console than Id ever seen in the cabin of a car before. I sat inside while my father was caught up in some other interest, breathed in the smell of pigskin, wool carpeting,

Id waited a long time to drive the new Maserati Quattroporte. (Photo: Ray Watson, American Auto Press)

and high-test gasoline, a mixture modern cars sans carburetors cant emit, and fell in love.

I suppose thats why I just had to have a certain 1967 Maserati Mexico when it went up for auction some twenty years later. Me, fresh out of a marriage and desperately looking for every means of escapism life had to offer, successfully bid and acquired one of the rarest vehicles to ever grace this particular auctioneers stand. Not only was it one of about 250 ever made, and that over an eight year model cycle, but my particular version featured the top-line 4.7-liter dual-overhead cam V8, a five-speed manual transmission and real pigskin hides - an expensive option in 1967.

Although I was leasing a relatively new vehicle already, the Mexico became my

The Quattroporte looks somewhat out of place on grass, but its a nice setting for a photo nonetheless. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

constant companion that summer. The sound of its refined V8, a unique combination nearly as bullish as a 427 Cobra yet almost as mechanically melodic as a V12 Ferrari, the Maser delivered phenomenal road manners for its era and the safety of four-wheel disc brakes and retro aircraft-style seatbelts. How could I leave it parked in the garage? The rest of my Mexico story can be left for another time, as the new Quattroporte that I came to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec to test drive is now in front of me and my heart is doing the same pitter-pattering that had initially caused me to "invest" so much of my savings in my sweet 67. Its a strange phenomenon, this love for what for all rhyme or reason are merely inanimate objects. But maybe thats not entirely true. After all, since when did something inanimate

The new Quattroporte (in back) is surprisingly deft of balance, considering its full-size dimensions and accompanying girth. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

move with such speed and grace?

Yes, the new Quattroporte is surprisingly deft of balance, considering its full-size dimensions and accompanying girth. Its so agile, in fact, and carries such amazing speed into sweeping corners, that it no doubt deserves one of the brands trademark "wind" names rather than merely the Italian term for "four-door".

Similar to how Lamborghini has named its cars after prize fighting bulls, Maserati has chosen multilingual words for wind, such as Ghibli, Mistral, Bora, Merak, Khamsin, Kyalami and Shamal, plus the Buran and Kubang concepts, etc. But, unfortunately, like so many other brands, the Trident has succumbed to the alphanumeric naming game. To be fair though, its current 4200 GT Coupe and Spyder models were named after the lovely 3500 and 5000 GTs of the 60s, so theres some history there too. The same goes for

When the 1964 Maserati Quattroporte debuted it set the tone for luxury sport sedans of the future. (Photo: Maserati)

the "four-door", a designation given to its 1964 Quattroporte when it debuted in the fall of 1963. That car was a forerunner to the modern day sport-luxury sedan, and despite being priced higher than many Ferraris of the era, a fate that caused my Mexico to sell in such low annual volumes, Maseratis sedan did fairly well.

While the new Quattroporte might not be as revolutionary as the first iteration of the species, in the same way as there will never be another rock group with the impact of the Fab Four, it is nevertheless a unique and highly competitive model in its field. Unlike anything in its price class, from its lean, low and athletically inclined stance to its overwhelmingly luxurious yet technologically enticing cabin, Maseratis sedan imbibes a certain bespoke quality that cant be found in anything this side of a Bentley.

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