![]() ![]() Its 400-horsepower, all-aluminum, 32-valve V-8 engine employs four overhead camshafts and electronically controlled variable valve lift and timing to generate maximum power without commensurate consumption of fuel. Mechanically, it is a collaborative work with Ferrari, using much of that company’s technology. The Maserati Quattroporte (four-door) Executive GT dismisses those notions. ![]() Instead, it probably is best to think of the Quattroporte Executive GT as a Ferrari with four doors and, when desired, with family-friendly manners. The new Maserati, judging from the overall quality of the tested Quattroporte Executive GT, sacrifices neither. It all has been put together perfectly, which is something that cannot be said of previous Maseratis, which often sacrificed fit-and-finish craftsmanship in favor of on-the-road performance. The exterior by Italy’s Pininfarina represents automotive body sculpture at its best - clean, fluid lines moving from the unique trident-emblazoned grille up front to the car’s nicely tapered rear end. The wood inserts on the center console, dashboard and interior door panels are of the highest quality - in this case, mahogany with rosewood inlays. Leather tanned and treated by Poltrona Frau, which produces some of the world’s most supple hides, covers the Quattroporte Executive GT’s seats front and rear. That the car is beautiful is understatement. It looked pretty, but I gave it scant notice, thinking that it was the motorized version of one of those once-splendid European castles that now take in day-tripping tourists for their upkeep but offer little in terms of useful or comfortable modern accommodations. I had seen the car this year in the Luxury Row section of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. I paid little attention to the marque until last week when a group of Maserati executives rolled into the District with the 2007 Maserati Quattroporte Executive GT automatic sedan. Since then, for me, Maserati evoked thoughts of fallen grace. It did nothing for Chrysler’s prestige and even less for Maserati’s bottom line. But it was little more than a workaday Chrysler K-car wearing costume jewelry. It was supposed to be a “halo” car, a sales magnet to pull buyers into Chrysler’s showrooms. The Chrysler TC by Maserati was the unhappy progeny of that unfortunate union. Maserati was a car company so down on its financial luck, it was willing to jump into a joint venture with anybody, including Chrysler. Chrysler was an up again, down again American car company trying to rise up again, at least in prestige, by mating with a legendary Italian luxury brand. It was 1989, the year Maserati joined Chrysler to launch the Chrysler TC by Maserati. I was introduced to Maserati at a particularly bad time in the company’s often troubled history. ![]()
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