You could never confuse the interior of a GranSport with that of a car from anywhere but Italy. The use of colour, texture and tone is a million miles away from the sombre, dark cabins of German performance cars. Hence getting into the GranSport is always an event for all the right and, in some cases, the wrong reasons. Once you’re seated it’s disappointing to realise that the driving position comes very much from the old school of long-arm short-leg Italian ergonomics.
The fascia is upright, and covered in a mixture of fine leather and a coarse nautical-look fabric that’s definitely an acquired taste. You still get an analogue clock, in true Maserati style, and the steering wheel is a fine concoction of leather and carbonfibre, but the details around the cabin are starting to show the age of the basic design. The most obvious sensation is of sitting in a big car, looking out through a relatively narrow glasshouse, something that makes the GranSport less confidence-inspiring when you’re trying to place it at speed on narrow roads.
And you’ll feel like that because the Maserati is a big car for its class, and that means the two rear seats are a lot more than just a couple of cubby holes for overnight bags. Even the boot is useable.
At £66,600 the GranSport is swimming straight into the perilous waters occupied by the formidable Porsche 911 Carrera S. It does so with a decent level of standard equipment, and there are pleasing ways to personalise your purchase including specifying a bespoke colour, but it will still take a brave buyer not to make the obvious German choice. Part of this quandary is caused by the way the Maserati still feels a little too creaky: this test car developed a number of squeaks, rattles and groans that you wouldn’t expect in a 911 or a BMW M6. Until Maserati can imbue its cars with a deep-set feeling of integrity, buying one will always carry a greater sense of chance about it.
