- Maserati hints future limited-run flagship supercar could pair manual gearbox with V6 engine.
- Engineering boss Davide Danesin described a manual as “an opportunity,” Autocar reports.
- Separately Maserati confirmed it’s talking to two outside firms, but insists brand not for sale.
Maserati may have stumbled onto the best idea it’s had in years, and it’s got nothing to do with making more SUVs that nobody wants to buy. At a time when much of the performance car industry seems determined to replace driver involvement with software updates, the Italian brand is openly discussing a future supercar with a manual transmission and a combustion engine.
Bottegafuoriserie boss Cristiano Fiorio claims half of the Maserati bespoke division’s customers are specifically looking for a petrol engine and a manual gearbox, something the brand – along with most high-end automakers outside of Porsche – doesn’t currently offer. But that could change.
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“The day we will be ready to present a new program for Bottega for Maserati, I hope will be one day soon in the future,” Autocar reports Fiorio saying. “I believe we will have to have a manual gearbox as well in our offering for a Bottega product,” he added.
Maserati executives have hinted that a future low-volume flagship could sit at the very top of the range, potentially becoming the brand’s most extreme combustion-powered model since the MC12. Reports suggest it could share some development with a future Alfa Romeo special, continuing a long tradition of collaboration between the two Italian marques.
If it happens, the star of the show will almost certainly be Maserati’s Nettuno V6, which currently makes up to 621 hp (630 PS) without electric assistance. The twin-turbo engine already powers the MCPura, GranTurismo, and Grecale, and company executives clearly adore it. Fiorio and Maserati CEO Santo Ficili have repeatedly described the engine as central to the brand’s identity, and told Motor1 it will be further developed with mild- and full hybrid versions (but not plug-ins) over the next few years.
Credibility Boost
Making a handful of mega-buck, stick-shift supercars – the brand’s first since the 1970s Bora – isn’t going to change Maserati’s fortunes, but at least people would be talking about it. The company’s sales are weak, despite its cars generally being well regarded by critics, and even the arrival of the MC20 (below) didn’t seem to help the company’s image as much as it should have.
Maserati’s CEO Antonio Filosa, though, continues to insist this week that “Maserati is not for sale,” even though parent company Stellantis is currently talking to two possible partners about technology tie-ups, one of which is rumored to be China’s BYD.
“We clearly seek, want, and must find excellence on the market in electronic architecture, in the supply of specific parts…. we’re moving in that direction,” Reuters quotes Maserati Chief Santo Ficili saying at this week’s presentation of the marque’s freshly revamped SUVs and sports cars. Ficili also ruled out JLR as one of those partners, despite the British company recently hooking up with Stellantis to build Defender-branded models in the US.
