This is a cheat choice, really, because I’m not so fussed about the folding metal roof. Nevertheless, it’s the clever arrangement that tucks a solid roof panel beneath the huge, lifting rear deck that makes the Maserati MC20 new for 2023, so I sneaked it in here on that basis.
In truth, I would settle for the fixed-roof MC20 if it were my supercar, but the Cielo still gets my vote just because it’s such a huge joy to see Maserati get its mojo back.
So much so that I chose the MC20 over other likely contenders, including the Abarth 500e (which I adore for bringing an unashamedly over-the-top and fun-focused attitude to a small EV), the Porsche 911 T (it’s a manual, rear-wheel-drive 911 – need I say more?), the facelifted Mazda 2 (a straightforward, affordable, fun small car in the same mould as the late Ford Fiesta) and the Ford Bronco (so terrible yet so brilliant, in true original Land Rover Defender style).
But while I shuffled through all of these options, the Maserati kept springing to mind.
This is a brand that, pre-2020, I genuinely feared for as it plugged along with a limited range of outdated models and no apparent ambition or plan to evolve.
Yet, with the Stellantis merger behind it, Maserati has come to life and reinvented itself in just a few short years – and the MC20 is the poster child of that reinvention.
Stunning to look at in precisely the right classic yet modern fashion, and high-tech with its thumpingly powerful bespoke Nettuno V6, but also appearing in a matter of months with a pure-electric powertrain that the carbon tub was always designed for. The best of piston and battery power in one model? Here’s hoping.
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