To mark the launch of the new model range, Maserati has developed a varied range of new colours, which now allows the 16 body colours to be freely combined with the 10 shades of leather upholstery.

Each shade of leather is proposed with other matching elements (carpet and chromatic division of the car upholstery rendering) designed to create an extremely elegant, harmonious interior environment.

The Officine Alfieri Maserati personalisation programme

Like the 3200 GT, the new Coupé offers customers a chance to create a customised car with the Officine Alfieri Maserati programme, which was designed to interpret the tastes, requirements and user profile of the client in the best possible way.

The personalisation proposals of the Officine Alfieri Maserati programme fall into four areas: colour, interior finish, travel and sporting dynamism. In addition, customers can even put forward individual requests for special outfits, provided the necessary technical, homologation and quality standards can be met.

Particular emphasis goes to the choice of colour, with over three million possible colour combinations. The colour of most of the upholstered elements (dashboard, door panels, rear shelf, steering wheel) can be individually specified, right down to the colour of the stitching or the piping that runs along the dashboard. On request, it is even possible to produce a shade of paint for the bodywork from a sample provided by the customer.

People wishing to increase their sporty driving skills can take a one or two-day Master GT Maserati driving course at the Varano de'Melegari race track (near Parma, Italy) run by a staff of highly professional drivers.

"While the glorious 3200 GT Coupé was the first car to be launched under Ferrari's ownership, the new Coupé and the Spyder are the first Maseratis to be developed entirely under Ferrari," said Philip Mills. "These two new cars represent chapters one and two of our rejuvenation story and with chapter three just around the corner, Maserati UK looks set to continue the magnificent success that we've already enjoyed over the past two years."

The Maserati Factory - Yesterday and Today

Maserati was founded in Bologna in 1914 with its registered office in Via De Pepoli 1/A, in the heart of the mediaeval city.

Its first real headquarters were in Via Emilia Levante, in the Ponte Vecchio area of the city - that provided the inspiration for the company trademark in the statue of Neptune holding his trident up to the sky.

The great racing success of drivers such as Nuvolari, Varzi and numerous others in Grands Prix, and in other events such as the Indianapolis 500, brought fame to the cars of the Maserati brothers. Just before the Second World War they accepted an offer from the Orsi family of Modena to sell the company while remaining as technical collaborators for 10 years until 1948; when they then created the O.S.C.A. workshop to build racing cars.

The Orsi family, led by Adolfo Orsi, gave Maserati a new, important dimension. Two large workshops were built of characteristic red bricks on a site of approximately 42,000 sq m in Viale Ciro Menotti near Modena's railway station. It was 1939 when operations got underway in the new Maserati plant.

Shortly after, at a time when they could have been celebrating a second consecutive victory at Indianapolis, the fate of the world changed with the outbreak of the Second World War. It was pure luck that in the next five years bombs never hit the Maserati plant. The whole surrounding area was destroyed, because of its proximity to the railway station, but not Maserati. It was a good omen for the continuity of the plant which is still the company's operative home.

The original plant has been completely refurbished in recent months, and a new office block has been built, as well as a new showroom and a large car park for employees. With the construction of the second assembly line, ready for the future Quattroporte, the Maserati plant has become the most advanced car plant in the world for small production runs.

Plant Statistics

Surface area 51,000 sq m (30,000 sq m of which covered)
Employees 360
Output Over 2,000 cars a year
(estimate for 2002: over 3,000 cars)

Current production line

Total length 200 m
Stations 26
Line employees 70 in 8 hour shifts
Capacity 10 cars/day (with prospects for growth up to 20)

MASERATI COUPÉ

Technical specification

Body

Two-door, four-seater coupé body, front-mounted longitudinal engine, rear-wheel drive Drag co-efficient: 0.34.

Chassis

Stress-bearing steel monocoque with tubular front sub-chassis.

Suspension

Front: double wishbones with arms and hubs in forged aluminium; progressive rate steel dampers or optional continuously variable aluminium dampers with adaptive damping and acceleration sensors (Skyhook system), co-axial coils and springs.

Rear: double wishbones with arms and hubs in forged aluminium; progressive rate steel dampers or optional continuously variable aluminium dampers with adaptive damping and acceleration sensors (Skyhook system), co-axial coils and springs.

Wheels

15-spoke alloys
Front 8J x 18
Rear 9.5J x 18

Tyres

Front: 235/40 Z 18
Rear 265/35 Z 18

Brakes

Brembo braking system with all-round ventilated, cross-drilled discs. Bosch 5.3 four-channel ABS anti-lock system. Electronic braking effort distribution (EBD).

Front 330 mm x 32 mm
Rear 310 mm x 28 mm
Pads: Ferodo HP1000

Transmission

Transaxle with rear-mounted longitudinal Maserati gearbox. Mechanical six-speed transmission and manual lever selection, triple cone synchronisers on 1st and 2nd, and double cone on 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th.

Gear shift ratios: 1st: 3.286
2nd: 2.158
3rd: 1.609
4th: 1.269
5th: 1.034
6th: 0.848
Reverse: 3.565
Final drive: 3.73

ZF asymmetrical limited-slip differential (25% under acceleration, 45% on lift-off), hypoid bevel gear pair.

Bosch ASR traction control.

Engine

The 90º V8 engine's crankcase and cylinder heads are in tempered aluminium alloy, tempered steel balanced crankshaft running on five main bearings. Chain-driven twin overhead camshafts per cylinder bank command four valves per cylinder with hydraulic tappets. The dry sump engine lubrication system features the oil pumps in unit with the coolant pump.

Bosch integrated ignition and injection; electronic drive-by-wire accelerator.

Weight: 184 kg
Displacement: 4244 cc
Bore: 92 mm
Stroke: 80 mm Compression ratio: 11.1:1
Max. power output: 390 bhp (287 kW)
@ 7000 rpm
Peak torque: 46 kgm (451 Nm) 330 lbs.ft
@ 4500 rpm
Max. engine speed: 7600 rpm

Dimensions and Weights

Length: 4523 mm
Width: 1822 mm
Height: 1305 mm
Wheelbase: 2660 mm
Front track: 1525 mm
Rear track: 1538 mm
Front overhang: 963 mm
Rear overhang: 900 mm
Turning circle: 12 m
Boot capacity: 315 litres
Fuel tank: 88 litres
Dry weight 1570 kg (Cambiocorsa 1580 kg)
Kerb weight: 1670 kg (Cambiocorsa 1680 kg)
Max. allowed weight: 2060 kg

Performance

Top speed: 285 km/h (at 7550 rpm) 177 mph
Max. speeds in gear:
First: 72 km/h
Second: 110 km/h
Third: 147 km/h
Fourth: 187 km/h
Fifth: 230 km/h
Sixth: 285 km/h
Reverse: 93 km/h

0 to 62 mph (0-100 km/h): 4.9 seconds
0-400 metres: 13 seconds
0-1000 metres: 23.5 seconds

For further information contact:

Huguette Boyagis, Communications & Marketing Services Manager, Maserati UK
Thorpe Industrial Estate, Egham, Surrey, TW20 8RJ.
Tel: 01784 436222
Fax: 01784 436303
E-mail: Huguette.Boyagis@maserati.co.uk


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CLICK HERE to view the UK Maserati Spyder Retail Price List - 30 April 2002.


CLICK HERE to view the UK Maserati Coupe Retail Price List - 30 April 2002.