Future classic: Maserati Gran Turismo

By Aaron McKay

| 12 Sep 2024

Classic & Sports Car – Future classic: Maserati Gran Turismo

The effect of a low-slung and elegant GT car on pedestrians accustomed to a diet of grey crossovers is one of revitalisation: eyes light up, heads turn and children point.

In the deep, sparkling paint there is a mystique in which once would have lived motorsport glory, but today’s Maserati Gran Turismo only faintly echoes the spirit of a glamorous past.

The achievement of this new car’s being is arguably more daring than its ancestors’ confetti-covered links to racing.

The 2024 Gran Turismo wades into a sea of homogenised economic utility and razor-sharp marketing.

The grand-touring tradition lives on behind the Maserati Gran Turismo’s Trident badge

Can it compare with the dynamic perfectionism of the Porsche 911? No chance.

Will posers drop their deposits against their Aston Martins or Ferraris? Doubtful.

This car could have been laid to rest on the drawing board, but thankfully that is not a fate permitted at Maserati.

There has always been a Trident-badged GT car, even through the slightly confused Biturbo era.

The Maserati Gran Turismo’s cabin borrows some elements from the Stellantis fold, but overall interior quality is high

In 2007 the Gran Turismo revived the sense of occasion of the exalted 3500GT and Ghibli, and it’s that car to which this latest one owes most of its design inspiration, if not its Ferrari-derived V8.

Instead, it uses the twin-turbo ‘Nettuno’ 3-litre V6, as seen in the MC20 supercar, nestling under its extravagantly long bonnet.

The V8 would fit, but it’s an efficiency game these days, and even the six-pot has to turn off half of its cylinders when on part throttle to temper its consumptive nature.

The Maserati Gran Turismo’s ‘Nettuno’ 3-litre V6 makes a healthy 542bhp

It is docile, almost polite, at lower speeds, with only a faint, hollow grumble that suggests something more than a run-of-the-mill power unit.

Lean into the throttle and the turbos rush air into a pressurised whirlwind of acceleration that turns the Gran Turismo from softly lolling cruiser into horizon-seeking missile.

It never fully shrugs off its relaxed, softly sprung disposition, even in its ‘Corsa’ (race) driving mode, but rowed along at pace in middling ‘Sport’ it displays a distinctively plush alacrity.

The Maserati Gran Turismo is built to cover ground quickly and comfortably, with enough playfulness to put a big grin on your face when the roads get tighter and twistier

Gearchanges are neat, the steering is slick and sensibly geared and the brakes are reassuring, while the V6 takes on a restrained snarl as revs rise and the four-wheel-drive system’s rear bias is subtly deployed.

This is a car to gently meter out performance and let scenic vistas fall and twist ahead of its beautifully sculpted bonnet.

It is far from perfect, with its own take on touchscreen frustrations, the occasional blip in interior quality and a price that increasingly furrows the brow, from £133k base Modena to the £180k all-electric Folgore.

But these things begin to fade away when you turn back for one last look and visions of this magnificent grand tourer on the world’s greatest roads invade the mind.

It’s easy for anyone to imagine.

Images: John Bradshaw