Finessed Quattroporte now an 'S'

The original four-door performance saloon, Maserati’s Quattroporte, has benefitted from a facelift and technical update to keep the fifth generation as sharp as ever.

Since 1963, the four-door, Italian cars have endeavoured to blend sumptuous luxury and family practicality with Maserati’s renowned Grand Prix winning heritage.

The fifth generation car, launched to critical acclaim in 2004, has sold 15 000 units. Keen to sustain such sales volume - especially of a niche, Italian performance saloon – in the current, testing, global market, Maserati have finessed the styling and bolstered the technical resolve of the Quattroporte.

P is for perfection

Renowned Italian styling and design consultancy – Pininfarina – did such an exemplary execution of the original Quattroporte aesthetic in 2004, the facelift is simply a subtle mid-life nip-and-tuck job.

The current global auto exterior design vogue – LED lights – have been integrated into the front and rear light clusters. Noticeable too, is the Gran Turismo inspired front grille with its vertical slats, and more aerodynamically shaped door mirrors.

Throughout the 45 year history of the Quattroporte range these cars have been renowned for their ostentatious interiors, managing to stay – just – on the tasteful side of design and texture overkill.

A new centre stack has seen ergonomic refinement with buttons and function grouped closer and more logically – always a real leap of faith with Italian interior design – whilst two new shades of leather, Marrone Corniola (brown) and Sabbia (sand), replacing the previous beige option.

The two car range - Quattroporte and the Quattroporte S – both feature the ZF derived six-speed automatic gearbox, driven by V8s, either a 4.2-litre, 298kW,or 4.7-litre 320kW version in the ‘S’ - down on the 328kW Gran Turismo S.