Maserati GranTurismo Spyder
Maserati's four-seater coupe follows the Ferrari California's lead with a folding hard-top.
First we had the stunningGranTurismo. Then the high-performance GranTurismo S arrived. Now,along comes a Spider which makes good on Maserati’s promise to unveil anew car at every major motor expo in 2009!
TheGranCabrio will debut at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, and becomethe trident brand’s first ever four-seat convertible. These are thefirst official pictures of the Pininfarina-designed model, and itclearly takes inspiration from the tin-topped GranTurismo.
It’sfitted with a fabric roof – the metal folding arrangement originallyseen on early prototypes of the machine has been dropped. Power willcome from a 433bhp version of Maserati’s new 4.7-litre V8 engine, and asemi-automatic gearbox modelled on the one used in the powerfulGranTurismo S is likely.
This will be equipped with the firm’sown ‘MC-Shift’ technology to improve performance, and can switchbetween ratios in only 100 milliseconds.
Details of the car’sperformance remain top secret, but as it uses this engine and gearboxcombination, a 0-60mph sprint time of five seconds is anticipated, aswell as a maximum speed of around 180mph.
None of this isexpected to come cheap, though. With the standard GranTurismo S costingat least £90,000, the GranCabrio is predicted to start from £100,000.
