THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA

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[ The CAR ]

THE DAWN OF

A NEW ERA Maserati’s first next-gen model, the new MC20 hails the Trident marque’s official return to the super sports car segment. And also to the world of racing

by Diego Tamone

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A rear-engined supercar, the MC20 sports a petrol twin-turbo V6 designed at the Maserati Engine Lab in Modena. Dubbed the “Nettuno” (Neptune), the 3-litre unleashes a massive 630 bhp and 730 Nm of torque between 3,000 and 5,500 rpm

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[ The CAR ]

A

wards have always been a great way to fuel growth and innovation and consequently the desire to dazzle that underpins every challenge, human, sporting or business. But they are also, at the end of the day, the most tangible way of endorsing the brilliance of a design or project. Regardless of their type, awards and prizes act as sentinels

of sorts. A signal that good work has been done as well as providing public and critical acclaim that will also usually mean a competitive edge on the market. If they fail to materialise, however, they signal a dearth of power and acceleration, opening the way for the competition to whizz by. Awards are a familiar thread running right through Maserati’s history, so much so that it recently found itself hurriedly redesigning its own already generous but bulging trophy cabinet after over a century of success on road and track. Said cabinet suddenly became far too small after the unveiling of a car that very clearly maps out the marque’s future direction: we’re talking, of course, about the new MC20 super sports car. This high performance car was not designed, however, to compete in the hypercar segment. Rather to flawlessly encapsulate Maserati’s traditional core values, by melding benchmark performance with design instantly recognisable as belonging to a marque unanimously considered the very pinnacle of the Italian automotive flair and style. Oh and did we also mention it boasts what - at first glance at least - seems like impossibly sumptuous occupant space and comfort? Hardly surprising therefore that the MC20 has drawn universal acclaim, quickly snapping up a slew of prestigious titles: China Performance Car of The Year 2021, British GQ’s Super Sports Car of The Year, Most Beautiful Supercar of the Year 2021 at the Festival Automobile International in Paris, and Best of the Best at the 2021 Red Dot Awards. However, this is just the start of the story. The MC20 is also the first car in history to not simply win awards for its beautiful lines and performance but also for the quality and standard of its launch, which was voted Best Event of 2020 at the Best Event Awards World. This is possibly its most important plaudit because it is not confined to the car sector alone but open to events of all kinds all over the world. So, last September, in Modena, Italy, the wraps were whipped off a car that ushers in a whole new era for the Trident marque. The beautifully honed brainchild of Klaus Busse, Head of Maserati Design, and the Maserati Style Centre in Turin, it was developed by the futuristic Innovation Lab, and built on the assembly lines at the historic Modena factory. In other words, it is a 100% Italian achievement. Just as it should be. www.maserati.com

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The MC20’s flowing lines are the product of over 2,000 hours of aerodynamic research in the Dallara Wind Tunnel and over a thousand CFD simulations. Facing page, the cabin is pared back but not overly so

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[ The CAR ]

There are no purely aesthetic frills or fripperies.

Everything aboard the MC20 is functionally driven. Including its glorious butterfly doors

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