I have put a deposit on the upcoming 2008(?) Maserati Coupe.
While I was at the dealer, he was sure to point out that the new Maserati will be much more of an independent Maserati than those produced under Ferrari's control. It appears that, aside from the block, most parts will be non-Ferrari sourced. The CC transmission is rumored to be a ZF sequesntial not the Ferrari F1 system. This list basically goes on.
So this got me thinking about the Maseratis produced under Ferrari control. From an automotive history perspective, I think there are a lot of parallels to the Dino's of the early 70's. Remember Dino was a full fledged brand. On the 246 and 308GT/4 there were no original Ferrari emblems. While many of these cars have been rebaged over the years as Ferrari's they were Dino's sold by Ferrari dealers. There were also the Fiat Dino's sold by Fiat (Coupe and Spyder). Yes, I know these were based on 6 cylinder engines, not existing Ferrari blocks. With rumors of greater seperation of brands I think the comparisions are even more accurate.
Am I the only one who sees some parallels here? The more I think about it the more I see. Unless the new Maser blows my socks off I will probably convert my deposit into a 550/575 and keep my CC.
Thoughts?
-dsd
While I was at the dealer, he was sure to point out that the new Maserati will be much more of an independent Maserati than those produced under Ferrari's control. It appears that, aside from the block, most parts will be non-Ferrari sourced. The CC transmission is rumored to be a ZF sequesntial not the Ferrari F1 system. This list basically goes on.
So this got me thinking about the Maseratis produced under Ferrari control. From an automotive history perspective, I think there are a lot of parallels to the Dino's of the early 70's. Remember Dino was a full fledged brand. On the 246 and 308GT/4 there were no original Ferrari emblems. While many of these cars have been rebaged over the years as Ferrari's they were Dino's sold by Ferrari dealers. There were also the Fiat Dino's sold by Fiat (Coupe and Spyder). Yes, I know these were based on 6 cylinder engines, not existing Ferrari blocks. With rumors of greater seperation of brands I think the comparisions are even more accurate.
Am I the only one who sees some parallels here? The more I think about it the more I see. Unless the new Maser blows my socks off I will probably convert my deposit into a 550/575 and keep my CC.
Thoughts?
-dsd