The rest of my Mexico story can be left for another time, as the new Quattroporte that I came to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec to test drive is now
in front of me and my heart is doing the same pitter-pattering that had initially caused me to "invest" so much of my savings in my sweet '67. It's a strange phenomenon, this love for what for all rhyme or reason are merely inanimate objects. But maybe that's not entirely true. After all, since when did something inanimate move with such speed and grace?
Yes, the new Quattroporte is surprisingly deft of balance, considering its full-size dimensions and accompanying girth. It's so agile, in fact, and carries such amazing speed into sweeping corners, that it no doubt deserves one of the brand's trademark "wind" names rather than merely the Italian term for "four-door".
Similar to how Lamborghini has named its cars after prize fighting bulls, Maserati has chosen multilingual words for wind, such as Ghibli, Mistral, Bora, Merak, Khamsin, Kyalami and Shamal, plus the Buran and Kubang concepts, etc. But, unfortunately, like so many other brands, the Trident has succumbed to the alphanumeric naming game. To be fair though, its current 4200 GT Coupe and Spyder models were named after the lovely 3500 and 5000 GTs of the '60s, so there's some history there too. The same goes for the "four-door", a designation given to its 1964
Quattroporte when it debuted in the fall of 1963. That car was a forerunner to the modern day sport-luxury sedan, and despite being priced higher than many Ferrari's of the era, a fate that caused my Mexico to sell in such low annual volumes, Maserati's sedan did fairly well.
While the new Quattroporte might not be as revolutionary as the first iteration of the species, in the same way as there will never be another rock group with the impact of the Fab Four, it is nevertheless a unique and highly competitive model in its field. Unlike anything in its price class, from its lean, low and athletically inclined stance to its overwhelmingly luxurious yet technologically enticing cabin, Maserati's sedan imbibes a certain bespoke quality that can't be found in anything this side of a Bentley.
 |
| The new Quattroporte (in back) is surprisingly deft of balance, considering its full-size dimensions and accompanying girth. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
Yes, the new Quattroporte is surprisingly deft of balance, considering its full-size dimensions and accompanying girth. It's so agile, in fact, and carries such amazing speed into sweeping corners, that it no doubt deserves one of the brand's trademark "wind" names rather than merely the Italian term for "four-door".
Similar to how Lamborghini has named its cars after prize fighting bulls, Maserati has chosen multilingual words for wind, such as Ghibli, Mistral, Bora, Merak, Khamsin, Kyalami and Shamal, plus the Buran and Kubang concepts, etc. But, unfortunately, like so many other brands, the Trident has succumbed to the alphanumeric naming game. To be fair though, its current 4200 GT Coupe and Spyder models were named after the lovely 3500 and 5000 GTs of the '60s, so there's some history there too. The same goes for the "four-door", a designation given to its 1964
 |
| When the 1964 Maserati Quattroporte debuted it set the tone for luxury sport sedans of the future. (Photo: Ray Watson, Canadian Auto Press) |
While the new Quattroporte might not be as revolutionary as the first iteration of the species, in the same way as there will never be another rock group with the impact of the Fab Four, it is nevertheless a unique and highly competitive model in its field. Unlike anything in its price class, from its lean, low and athletically inclined stance to its overwhelmingly luxurious yet technologically enticing cabin, Maserati's sedan imbibes a certain bespoke quality that can't be found in anything this side of a Bentley.