Autoblog

For those customers who appreciate fine craftsmanship, opening the trunk of their new six-figure Italian GT can provide nearly as much excitement as the car itself. Okay, maybe not that much, but the custom fitted luggage found in the boot of The Boot's most exquisite touring cars has an appeal all its own. Ferrari has been at it for years with Schedoni leathercrafters, but with Maserati coming into its own, the Trident marque needed to offer its customers something special to put in the trunk. So they hitched up with one of the biggest names in the Italian fashion industry: Salvatore Ferragamo, a company best known for providing Hollywood with their red-carpet footwear.

The partnership was initially announced with the launch of the GranTurismo at the Geneva auto show - you'll forgive us if we missed it, we were a little preoccupied with the car itself. In any event, the joint venture between the two stoic Italian crafthouses just launched a new website highlighting the range of custom fitted leather luggage.

Follow the link for more information or the jump for the press release.

[Source: Salvatore Ferragamo via Italiaspeed]

Click on above image for wallpaper-sized images of the gorgeous GranTurismo

This writer fell in love in Switzerland this past March. It happened at the launch of the new Maserati GranTurismo. The thing is, I wasn't sure if my newfound affection was for the car or for the sassy model standing in front of it. What's more is that I'm sure I wasn't the only one. Thankfully, Maserati has put an end to my sleepless nights, at least, with the release of a new batch of images showing its breathtaking new coupe away from the glitz and glamour of the Geneva auto show floor.

It was tempting to keep the pictures all to myself, but that just wouldn't be fair. Not to you, and not to the car. She does love the spotlight ever so much. So we've added the new batch of images, in all their high-resolution glory, to our gallery below, together with the original stock images, concept sketches and shots from Geneva. Enjoy.

[Source: Maserati]

This is how this writer would take his GranTurismo... how would you like yours?

Oh, how these fancy online car configurators are fun. And time-sapping. The Veyron's, as you may recall, is stylish and serene, but even with the new options coming out there's still not a lot to chose from, two-tone paint schemes notwithstanding. Maseratis, meanwhile, are decidedly nowhere near as exclusive as Bugattis. The MC12 might have come close, but that supercar was offered in one color scheme and with little to no options whatsoever. The Trident marque's more "mainstream" models, meanwhile, offer buyers a seemingly endless array of color choices.

The configurator for the new GranTurismo recently went online. Head over to GranTurismo.Maserati.com and you can fantasize you're a customer spec'ing out your own GT, choosing from a seemingly endless spectrum of colors for every detail big and small, both outside and in, including the paint, brake calipers and wheel finish on the exterior, and just about every swath of leather and trim inside. Then check out your selection from every angle. All that's missing is a changeable backdrop of the marina, golf course and five-star hotel to see how it'd look in its element.

[Source: Maserati]

Maserati's revival is moving full speed ahead. Having launched the highly anticipated GranTurismo, the Trident marque is preparing the new Spyder for debut at the Frankfurt show in September.

Based on the new GranTurismo, the Spyder does away with the rear seats in favor of a folding hard-top. We can also expect some visual changes for the open-top version. Power will come from the GT's 405-hp 4.2-liter V8 driving through the six-speed ZF auto-box debuted on the Quattroporte Automatic.

Paparazzi caught the Spyder undergoing cold-weather testing in northern Sweden, which is just about as cold a climate as you'll find anywhere. Maserati will be depending on the new Spyder to secure sales success as the once niche carmaker drives for a larger market share against established competitors like the Mercedes SL, BMW 6-Series and Jaguar XK.

[Source: World Car Fans]

Click on the image above for our gallery of 42 high-resolution images

Maserati earned a lot of attention in Geneva with the polished unveiling of its much-anticipated new coupe, the GranTurismo. Its worldwide premier marked two historic anniversaries for the Trident marque: the original A6 Gran Turismo was unveiled here sixty years ago in 1947 as Maserati's first road car, also designed by Pinin Farina (though we suspect some of the design staff might have changed over since then). And fifty years ago, Maserati premiered the 3500 GT at the 1957 Geneva show. The marque's latest GT brings it all back full circle with a Pininfarina design combining contemporary styling with classic elements and proportions.

We were pleased to bring you the sketches, images and details as they trickled in, and now Maserati has gone for "the Full Monty" (with the car, not the model in the photos). The GranTurismo places four full seats behind a 405hp, 4.2-liter V8 on a two-door steel monocoque frame, driving by wire to the 19" (or available 20") rear wheels through the same ZF automatic debuted on the Quattroporte in Detroit. The car is nearly five meters long and tips the scales at 1880kg with a 49/51 weight distribution, capable of reaching 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.2 seconds and covering the quarter-mile in 13.4 seconds, en route to a top speed of 285 km/h (177 mph).

You can check out all the details of this continent-munching grand tourer in the press release after the jump, and all the lovely photos in our high-resolution image gallery below.

Click on the image above for high-resolution

It's been a regular Maserati love-in over here these past few days. First we got a teaser sketch of the coupe designed by Pininfarina. Then the Trident marque gave us three images of the stunning new GranTurismo in advance of its Geneva debut. Then we brought you the MC12 XX by Edo Competition. And now Maserati has hit us with the press release for the GranTurismo and an additional profile shot. It must be Christmas time for fans of the house that Alfieri built.

The press release confirms certain details about the stylish new coupe and reveals others. The 4.2-liter V8, derived from the Ferrari-designed engine in the Quattroporte, gets a power spike of 9 horsepower up to 405. It's driving through a fully automatic gearbox – presumably the new ZF unit recently placed in the Quattroporte – but we'd speculate the paddle-shifted sequential will find its way in their eventually despite the anticipated availability of paddle shifters on the torque-converting auto-box. Weight is distributed, as reported, in an ideal 49/51 rear bias. The styling was penned by Pininfarina's American wonderboy Jason Castriota, the same guy responsible for the design of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and the custom Enzo-based P4/5 one-off.

The GranTurismo's launch at this year's Geneva show marks the (approximate) 60th anniversary of the launch of Maserati's first road car, the original Gran Turismo, which was also designed by Pinin Farina (in an era when words were separated by spaces).

Follow the jump for the press release, or click on the gallery below, where we've added the new profile shot seen above.

[Source: Maserati]