Maserati unveils the Alfieri, a 2+2 concept car to celebrate the brand’s centenary. Have they just won the internet?
[Not a valid template]Maserati has unveiled the absolutely stunning Alfieri Concept car, a 2+2 functional prototype celebrating the brand’s centenary. Named after Alfieri Maserati (the founder of Officine Alfieri Maserati) and created at the Maserati Centro Stile in Turin by a group of designers – under the direction of Marco Tencone and overseen by Lorenzo Ramaciotti – it is said to represent “the design DNA of future Maserati”.
As an exercise and insight into Maserati’s future design language it ticks all the boxes. Drawing inspiration from the Pininfarina-designed Maserati A6 GCS-53, it is obviously much more than just a futuristic interpretation. “We wanted the Alfieri to test future design paths”, Ramaciotti explains. “The car is very aggressive yet subtle in style, forceful but understated.” So has Maserati just won our hearts, won the Geneva Motorshow and won the internet with one swift thrust of the Trident? It pains me a little to say no. They haven’t.
According to Lorenzo Ramaciotti, “The Alfieri is a transition point between 100 glorious years of history and the future that is opening up before us. I can’t honestly say that we’ll see this car in production in the next two years, but I’m certain we’ll see something very similar.” There is a very important reason why Signore Ramaciotti is playing down the possibility of the Alfieri Concept reaching production which also, coincidentally, combines elements of Maserati’s history and future.
While the beautiful, ‘future of Maserati design’ aspect has most certainly won our hearts, the underpinnings of the Alfieri Concept is based on the GranTurismo MC Stradale chassis with a 24 centimetre shorter wheelbase. Maserati are bigging-up its “sporting DNA” in repsect to its GranTurismo transaxle platform and 4.7-litre, naturally aspirated V8 engine but the GranTurismo borrowed its platform from the fifth generation Quattroporte which is now over ten years old. The platform underpinning the new Ghibli and new Quattroporte is a technological lifetime ahead as are the new generations of Maserati engines which effectively make the old (but awesome) 4.7-litre unit redundant.
So what Maserati has done is tease us with future design wrapped around historical mechanicals and the tease goes further still. The Alfieri also boasts proportions that “might well be archetypal for a future Gran Sport and are certainly a hint at the brand’s stylistic intentions for the near future.” That’s all well and good and the possibility of Maserati once again having a Gran Sport on fleet is an exciting prospect. It is frustrating to note that the future is looking very bright indeed for the marque, it’s just a shame that it is ‘the future’ and not the present.
Source – Maserati
