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Marton Pettendy5 Mar 2014
NEWS

GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Maserati Alfieri eyes 911

Italy's trident brand heralds an all-new entry-level super-coupe to target 911, possibly badged GranSport

Maserati presented one of the few surprises at today’s Geneva motor show opening by revealing a concept car that previews an all-new entry-level coupe to slot beneath the GranTurismo, and which could be called the GranSport.

The Alfieri – which takes its name from one of the three Maserati brothers that founded the Italian car-maker in Bologna almost a century ago on December 1, 1914 – heralds the luxury brand’s first direct rival for Porsche’s hallowed 911.

Like the 911, the Alfieri is a sleek 2+2-seat coupe that’s significantly smaller than the GranTurismo, measuring 4590mm long (100mm shorter than 911 and 340mm shorter than GranTurismo) and rides on a 2700mm wheelbase – 250mm longer than the 911’s and 240mm shorter than the GranTurismo’s.

Although it shares its front/mid-engine layout and classic long bonnet, short rear-end proportions with Maserati’s big coupe, it will be a whole class smaller in both size and price, with the cost of entry likely to be closer to the 911’s $200,000 than the GranTurismo’s $260,000.

Just as the broad 1930mm width and low 1280mm height of the Alfieri show car, which is painted in a liquid metal colour and rides on 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels, are likely to change before it reaches production, so too are its underpinnings.

The concept is based on a shortened GranTurismo platform, but the showroom model will almost certainly ride on the same new chassis architecture as Maserati’s new Quattroporte and Ghibli sedans, both of which are produced in Turin rather than Modena, where the GranTurismo and GranCabrio are built and where Maserati has been based since 1939 – well before Fiat assumed control in 1993.

The Alfieri’s front-engine configuration appears to kybosh earlier reports that the ‘GranSport’ would be based on the same mid-engined, carbon-fibre chassis as the Alfa Romeo 4C, which could have allowed it to weigh as little as 1400kg.

Instead, the “100 per cent functional” Alfieri prototype borrows its front-mounted 343kW/520Nm 4.7-litre V8 from the $300K-plus GranTurismo Sport and drives its rear wheels via the same six-speed MC Shift automated manual transmission as its bigger brother.

However, expect the production version to employ the same twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 and 3.8-litre V8 engines as seen in the Ghibli and Quattroporte, matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission and, perhaps, an optional all-wheel drive system.

A modern TFT instrument panel replaces the GranTurismo’s analogue dials, while a “touch of racing brutality” can be found in the floor made from oxidised steel – commonly seen in 1950s race cars.

Further inspiration from the past is evidenced by a suspended dashboard like that in the 1957 Maserati 5000 GT and the deeply sculpted bonnet line that pays homage to the Pininfarina-designed 1954 Maserati A6 GCS-53.

Maserati says the Alfieri, which it indicates will reach production within two years, serves as both a reminder that it doesn’t just produce big top-end sedans and a pointer to its design direction for large grand touring coupes in its second century.

“The Alfieri is a transition point between 100 glorious years of history and the future that is opening up before us,” said project leader Lorenzo Ramaciotti.

“I sincerely can’t say that we’ll see this car in production in two years’ time, but I’m certain we’ll see something very similar.”

Led by Marco Tencone, design work on the Alfieri began in mid-2013 at Maserati Centro Stile in Turin.

“The Alfieri is being unveiled at just the right time to re-establish Maserati’s true orientation in terms of design and production,” says Maserati.

“If the new Quattroporte and Ghibli gave the impression that Maserati was becoming oriented towards sporty, upper-class four-door saloons, this new concept is striking back and reminding everybody that the brand has a remarkable racing heritage and a unique tradition in exotic GT cars.

“Sportier in character than the GranTurismo, the Alfieri boasts proportions that might well be archetypal for a future true sports car and certainly hint at the brand’s stylistic intentions for the near future.

“As with all concept cars, there is a strong desire to turn the Alfieri into reality. Though not yet at the final prototype stage like tomorrow’s grand touring, it has nevertheless been conceived, designed and created in an approach aimed at 100 per cent realism.”

The new Quattroporte and Ghibli sedans helped Maserati post a 150 per cent global sales increase to 15,400 last year, and are expected to lift the brand’s Australian sales to beyond 300 this year – up 50 per cent on Maserati’s best local sales year of 201 cars in 2008.

Maserati’s annual global sales are expected to reach 50,000 by 2015, while 1500 sales are forecast in Australia in 2016 – by which time the expanding Italian marque should have released its all-new entry coupe and its first ever SUV, the Levante, bringing the number of models in its range to six.

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