A Quiet Return to Form

Maserati switched to turbocharging early, with Ferrari following suit. Andre Lam investigates how the Marque of the Trident has improved its flagship Quattroporte

aserati has a glorious history both on and off the racetrack dating back to when it was founded in 1914. However, in the mid-1970s, it fell on hard times largely because of the 1973 oil crisis, and passed through various owners until Ferrari took stewardship in 1997. Its task was to resurrect the once illustrious marque and it did this by sharing its technical expertise; it even offered to share its V8 engine, which became one of the biggest selling points. The first product of this collaboration was the beautiful 3200 GT, not a perfect car but it showed the world Maserati was still alive and kicking. Gradually, Maserati successfully expanded the lines with the Quattroporte, Granturismo, Grancabrio, Ghibli and most recently, the long-awaited SUV, the Levante. Later this year, Maserati will introduce a new sports coupe called the Alfieri. Apart from the economic crisis in 2009, Maserati has been on a meteoric rise reaching a record 36,500 new owners by 2014 from just 518 when Ferrari took over, thanks largely to the new Granturismo, Ghibli and Quattroporte. The Maserati Quattroporte line can be traced back to 1963 and since then there have been six generations of the Quattroporte with the latest introduced in 2013 with