First look: GranTurismo to top Maserati range

MASERATI has revealed what will become the rejuvenated Italian brand’s all-new flagship model when the GranTurismo coupe goes on sale in Australia and New Zealand in early 2008.

Due to make its global public premiere at the Geneva motor show on March 8, the GranTurismo is based on a new, Quattroporte sedan-based platform that makes it bigger and more advanced than Maserati’s GranSport coupe.

As such, expect the GranTurismo to be priced well above Maserati’s entry-level model, the 287kW Coupe GT ($207,500) and its Cambiocorsa twin ($219,800), as well as the GranSport ($248,500) and even the Quattroporte four-door (from $258,000), which shares the GranSport’s 295kW/451Nm 4.2-litre V8.

As the name suggests, GranTurismo will be a full-sized four-seater grand touring coupe - rather than a 2+2 sports car like the current Coupe – motivated by a more powerful 303kW 4.2-litre V8, mated to an adaptive automatic transmission.

Underneath the sharp new Pininfarina-designed bodyshell lies a chassis with 49/51 per cent front/rear weight distribution, which Maserati claims will make GranTurismo the benchmark in its class for handling and road-holding.

"The Maserati GranTurismo is also built with a particular attention to comfort and choice of materials with exclusive luxury details as well as providing enough room for four people, a combination of qualities that only Maserati can provide," the company claims.

The GranTurismo’s launch at Geneva follows the January reveal of the Quattroporte automatic at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Maserati’s first self-shifting sedan goes on sale here following its Australian debut at the Melbourne motor show on March 2.