It has been a decade since Maserati released its GranTurismo, and it goes without saying that the GT world has moved on significantly since the car?s debut. Maserati has attempted to keep pace by adding power and sticking various unfortunate plastic bits to the machine?s fundamentally lovely Pininfarina-designed form, while teasing us with the delayed sex-bomb Alfieri. Recently, the FCA unit unveiled a refreshed version of the venerable GT in front of the New York Stock Exchange, and then it pulled the wraps from the droptop variant at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. If it’s not the show stopper the GranTurismo was at launch, it’s at least free of that godawful dark grin that has been plaguing Sport and MC versions of the car for years. The GT variant that Maserati showed off at the stock exchange was the higher-performance MC Stradale, which will be joined by a heavier Sport model. All GranTurismo models feature the last living iteration of the wonderful naturally aspirated Ferrari-Maserati V-8, which offers 460 horsepower at 7000 rpm and 384 lb-ft of torque at 4750 rpm, In this era of 10-speed automatics, the GranTurismo offers only a six-speed ZF unit bolted directly to the engine, having dispensed with the previous car’s optional MC Shift single-clutch automated transaxle.
According to Maserati, the Alfieri inspired the GT?s new nose. It features a hexagonal grille and gaping cheek ducts, which might take on a slightly more restrained form on the...