It is not often that I disagree with Longtime Friend and Bandmate Knob, but I did so quite recently.
From his penthouse in Monaco, he sent me this pic of the new Maserati MC20, with the comment: “Beautiful”, and on that point I agree, sort of:
…I mean, other than that it looks like pretty much every supercar made since 2005. And as Knob pointed out, the entire 2022 run has sold out already.
Which of course left me to ponder the following: instead of playing against Ferrari et al. in the supercar market, why shouldn’t Maserati play in a less-crowded, but numerically much larger pool of motorists?
I speak here of the small roadster segment, dominated as it is by Mazda’s Miata:
But at $35,000 most wealthy folks would (and do) turn up their surgically-corrected noses at this, as a “commoner’s car”.
Maserati has played in this market segment before, with its (lamentably) discontinued GT MC model ($160,000) — discontinued in favor of the new MC20, it should be said.
But to me, this simply creates an opportunity for them. Why not use one of their older cars as a model, and re-create it with modern engineering and production? And if so, which one?
Loyal Readers will know exactly where I’m going with this argument, as I’m going to suggest the exquisite, but never-produced, Maserati GT150 Spider:
I say “never produced”, but they did make ONE (the one pictured above), and it recently sold for $3 million to some Austrian guy. (Story here.)
I think that the Fantucci-designed 150GT is the most beautiful roadster ever made (with all due respect to the Ferrari 275 GTS/4, as suggested by Reader Paul G), and if Mazza were to re-release it with a 2.0- or 2.5-liter engine as the 200/250GT, at a price of (say) $150,000, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand, as long as they stayed as close as possible to its original appearance.
I’m tilting at windmills, of course, and no doubt people will say it’s impossible, I’m an idiot for even suggesting it, and so on. It wouldn’t be the first time.
But it would be glorious.
Okay, here’s how you do it: Get the Italians to design the roadster and contract the Korean car manufacturers to actually build it. Use the engine and components from a Hyundai or Kia with body panels styled by the Eye-talians. A little like the Fiat Miata deal.
Pick something other than that GT150 Spider as a model as not even the Maserati people wanted to make more than one. (Sorry, but that front view is awful in my opinion). Chacun a son gout.
It has to be a convertible and has to have a manual transmission available. Hyundai will guarantee a 100,000 mile warranty – I think you have a great idea, and I believe there is a market for just such a car.
In the words of a long-forgotten French car writer: “The grille surround is like the mouth of a beautiful woman, and the badge a cherry held in her teeth.”
Yes, but that is precisely the problem I have with it. Well said.
The front end of the 150GT and O.S.C.A. 750’s share a lot.
Oh, that’s right, O.S.C.A. was what the Fratelli Maserati did after they lost the company to Orsi, and their “engineering contracts” expired following WW2.
I’m sorry Kim, but that is not the most beautiful car I’ve seen. If I may wax critical here….
The headlight arrangement combines with the melted and rounded body to bring to mind the notion of a Porsche 911 that someone stuck in a microwave until it started puffing up like a marshmallow.
The grille is horrid. I’m sorry, but it is. Thats no cherry in the teeth; that’s a ball gag. If that’s what one likes, fine and dandy, but keep it in the bedroom, ok?
The rest of the car is kind of “meh.”. While I appreciate the minimalism of styling, that melted marshmallow body is just a little TOO rounded, a little TOO smooth, and necessary details like taillights appear as pimples waiting to be popped. The paint color choice adds to the unfortunate imagery of smooth skin with angry blemishes.
Overall, it is NOT bad looking, despite the above criticisms. There are far worse in appearance out there, of that era and now.
But it is far, far from any of my automotive ideals.
At most, that Maserati would, to me, blend into a pleasant background at a car show, and never be remarked nor noted unless attention was brought to it’s scarcity.
There’s nothing else really there except a ball on some string, and you just don’t comment on that in polite company.
I’m wandering off topic, but back in the day (1999) I had the good fortune to acquire a BMW M Roadster. It did not have the looks of your Mazzer, but it did have the exquisite 3.2 litre straight six motor out of the M3. Kerb weight of 1400kg meant it was the fastest production beemer you could buy in Aus at the time. It had a Gertrag five speed and all the creature comforts of a modern car (Power top, aircon, heated seats) and apart from a tendency for the roof to leak and drip down on my right leg it was an utter joy to own. I’m still kicking myself for selling it.
Kim, I have to disagree. The Miata works precisely because it’s aimed at a large market segment…and is incredibly well designed and built. There just aren’t that many people who can afford $150K for a car. Subtract out the people buying Porsche 911s, Corvettes, and F-types, and there’s not much left.
Going head-to-head with the Miata? Feasible. But the trick would be to do what Mazda did, except using Italian cars. When Mazda USA convinced the home office to make the Miata, they went to the UK, bought three Lotus Elans, shipped them to Hiroshima, and reverse-engineered them. Updating and fixing as they went. The result was a car that handled well and had the reliability of a brick (I retired mine with 243,000 miles on it). It would be perfectly feasible to grab a couple of Fiat and Alfa Romeo sports cars and do likewise.
Amen there Mike, A – freakin’ – men !!
I’ve said for a couple of decades that were I to have a mid-life crisis, the Miata would be my crisis car of choice. And it would of course have a 5- or 6-speed manual gearbox. No poxy “automatic” transmission for me. No siree bub. As I’ve not been able to afford said mid-life crisis, I never owned one. Second on the list would be a Honda S2000 …
The front end of the 150GT and O.S.C.A. 750’s share a lot.
Oh, that’s right, O.S.C.A. was what the Fratelli Maserati did after they lost the company to Orsi, and their “engineering contracts” expired following WW2.
The problem with open top roadsters is the tendency for one’s toupee to blow off, this typically fails to impress the sweet young thing in the passenger seat. :p
If you want to go topless you can’t beat the original Mini. When you are stopped at a traffic light, girls will actually beg for a ride in the car.
If you want to go topless you can’t beat the original Mini. When you are stopped at a traffic light, hot chicks will actually beg for a ride in the car.
If you want to go topless you can’t beat the original Mini. When you are stopped at a traffic light, hot chicks will actually beg for a ride in the car.
A friend who has owned several supercars including a Magnum PI and a Gallardo says that the best vacuum cleaner he ever owned was the 1957 Plymouth Fury convertible.
Apologies for multiple posts. I click on Post Comment and nothing happens.