Maserati has confirmed it is working on a limited-run supercar fitted with a manual gearbox – as first reported by Autocar a year ago.
The head of the Bottegafuoriserie bespoke division, which was responsible for the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, Cristiano Fiorio, told journalists: “Mainly 50% of our [Bottegafuoriserie] customers demand a manual gearbox and a petrol engine. We can say they are retro-seekers.
“The day we will be ready to present a new program for Bottega for Maserati, I hope will be one day soon in the future.
“The answer is yes – I believe we will have to have a manual gearbox as well in our offering for a Bottega product.”
Autocar previously reported that the new top-rung Maserati will be the most exclusive and powerful combustion-engined car it has produced since the MC12, launched in 2004. It was tipped to be based on the Granturismo, twinned with an equivalent Alfa Romeo model.
Speaking to Autocar at last year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, Santo Ficili, who is CEO of both marques, said: “We have infinite possibilities to customise products for our customers, for the entire range of Maserati. I’m imagining to do something like we did in the past, also considering Alfa Romeo.”
Ficili referenced previous collaborations between the two firms, highlighting that the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione was based on the previous Maserati Granturismo and built alongside that car at Maserati’s plant in Modena, where the later 4C sports coupé was also produced.
More recently, Alfa Romeo turned to Maserati to provide the basis for the 33 Stradale supercar, which shares its basic monocoque chassis and twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine with the mid-engined MC20 (now rebadged MCPura).
“We built the 4C and 8C in Modena, so why not?” said Ficili of the prospect of another limited-run supercar tie-up. “We can imagine a ‘few-off’ Maserati. It’s easy, because you can look at the past of these two brands, and you can find a nice car like the 33 Stradale, and we can invent something like this.”
Ficili stopped short of describing in more detail his vision for a new bespoke creation but suggested the aim is to use the new flagship to celebrate Maserati’s Nettuno V6 engine, as used in the Granturismo, Grecale and MCPura. “It’s a masterpiece,” he said.
