Maserati Cars

For over a century Maserati has offered a legendary nameplate, historic successes on both sports car and Formula One circuits, and the adoration of the great unwashed, but has been - at best - inconsistent in both its corporate governance and U.S. distribution. Long under Fiat control and now part of FCA, Maserati's presence in the States has recently benefited from both new models and new awareness, but still seems to lack the consistency of purpose enjoyed by its upscale (German) competition.

Obviously, it never hurts to have something selling for less than $100,000 on a luxury showroom, and the relatively new Ghibli 4-door, offering a window sticker of around $70,000, provides just that. And while currently both the least expensive Maserati and most popular, both descriptives are in jeopardy as Maserati introduces a new Levante crossover at roughly the same price point. For fun it's hard to argue with any iteration of Maserati's GranTurismo; its V8 bears a close relationship to those manufactured for Ferrari, while its sheetmetal is overtly Italian. Most expensive? Other than the Ghibli, everything's expensive.