All this braking technology is part of the 4200 GT's Maserati Stability Program (MSP), an active safety package that adds ASR (Anti Slip System) to the mix, giving the coupe as close to all-wheel drive traction as possible without sacrificing its rear-wheel drive bias - a preferable driving dynamic to the majority of sports car enthusiasts.
Last but hardly least the 4200 GT Coupé is practical. While not a sedan its abbreviated rear seats offer handy storage or the ability to take more than one child to school on the way to the office - the justification behind the purchase of my 4-place Mexico instead of other more glamorous '60s models. Its trunk is fairly commodious too, at 300-liters (10.6 cu ft) of storage capacity.
We'll never know if the Maserati brothers, Alfieri, Ettore, Ernesto and Bindo, who started the company in Bologna, Italy primarily for competition in 1914, would be happy seeing once rival Ferrari at the helm, but no doubt they would be impressed by the new 4200 GT's impressive performance and classic good looks.
Is it competitive with cars in its class? It's not as quick as the 4.2 second to 100 km/h Porsche Turbo, but to be fair at $170,200 the top-line 911 is priced a full $47,325 more than the $122,875 6-speed 4200 GT. Also, Porsche doesn't offer an F1-type transmission but makes due with a highly sophisticated, but nowhere near as endearing Tiptronic automatic. A price comparative Porsche is the base 911, but as wonderful a car as it is its 320-hp horizontally-opposed 6-cylinder can't reproduce the athletic acceleration of the Ferrari sourced V8 in the Maserati.