Maserati is a name that is well known among young and the motorhead because of its flamboyant Italian design and ringing cylinder note that are a treat to ears. Among them, the most eye catching are the two door grand tourers.
The story of this recognisable body type from the stables of Maserati started way back in 1947 with the Maserati A6 1500. Styled by the famed Pininfarina, it was the first road-going Maserati, of which only 61 examples were produced.
Besides, the revolutionary design of the four-wheeler, the A6 1500 featured a lot of unique and unheard technical advancements too.
The overhead-cam engine featured a sophisticated valvetrain, with rockers actuating the valves and allowing for easy valve adjustments, while the tubular chassis was light and strong, constructed of round section steel tubes welded together.
The A6 1500 started of the legacy which was taken over by the 2000 series followed by the 3500 series, Sebring, Mistral, 500GT, Mexico, Ghibli, Indy, Bora, Khamsin, Kyalami and Merak.
The beginning of the century saw the coupe from the stables of Maserati. The Biturbo era saw its conclusion with the introduction of the completely new 3200GT, presented in 1998 and made through 2002.
It was a completely new vehicle, powered by a heavily modified Shamal and Quattroporte IV V8 engine. Producing 370 hp, it was offered with a six-speed manual ZF transmission or a four-speed automatic gearbox.
The design from Giugiaro was, just like the creations for Maserati in the past, a true masterpiece, and this model was primarily responsible for the global revival of the brand that began in 1998. Interestingly, its boomerang-shaped taillights were the first on a production car to use LED technology.
The 3200 GT was followed by the Syper which was essentially a convertible for the 3200 GT and then the Coupe that made it to 2007.
With the 3200GT, Maserati returned to its roots with a true Gran Turismo in the great tradition of the brand.
The Italians went on to showcase their next two door GT, called the Grand Turismo. Making its debut in 2007, the new GT was initially equipped with a 4.2-litre V8 engine, developed in conjunction with Ferrari. The GranTurismo platform was derived from Maserati M139 platform of Maserati Quattroporte V, with double-wishbone front and rear suspension.
Till 2019, when the production was stopped, the vehicle remained mostly unchanged with few upgrades and cosmetic changes.
However, now though, the Italian supercar maker has revived the brand with an all-new look. The new GranTurismo shares quite a lot of visual similarities with the MC20 sports car. Besides the visual upgrades, the new coupe has also been upgraded underneath.
The new model uses lightweight materials such as aluminum and magnesium, together with high-performance steel.
With new materials, the vehicle needed new manufacturing process as well. The new choice of materials is paired with new Atlantis High electrical/electronic architecture, based on canFD messages sent at speeds of up to 2 ms and also comes with advanced Level-5 cyber-security and flash-over-the-air features.
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