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Maserati GranCabrio First Drive Review: Want an electric convertible? This is it

LAKE MAGGIORE, Italy — Driving the Maserati GranCabrio Folgore on its picturesque home turf, and studying MaseratiÂ’s press materials, IÂ’m convinced the Italian automaker has buried the lede. Especially when every auto journalist is questioning a pricing strategy that finds some GranTurismo coupes and GranCabrio convertibles brushing past $200,000. That gets into Cloud 9, Bentley-and-Aston-Martin territory.  To counter the whispers, hereÂ’s the part IÂ’d be shouting about: The GranCabrio Folgore is the worldÂ’s first and only luxury electric convertible. That alone might intrigue some free-spending, first-on-their-block buyers. Then, Exhibit B: Like the plug-in GranTurismo coupe, the convertible will out-accelerate any rival Bentley Continental GT or Aston DB12, a margin that grows positively yawning as speeds climb. A rocking 750 horsepower and rock-crushing 995 pound-feet of torque will do that. This Italian job is also noticeably more agile and connected to the road than the isolated Bentley droptop, and easily on par with AstonÂ’s best GTs. That includes a gasoline Trofeo version whose 4,316-pound curb weight undercuts a GT Speed convertible by more than 1,100 pounds; mated to 542 horses from its twin-turbo, 3.0-liter Nettuno V6, a detuned version of the engine in the MC20 supercar. This Italian sexpot is arguably a prettier car than the Bentley, and nearly as head-turning as the Aston, judging by public reaction to our convoy of beautifully painted models: Rose gold was a knockout specimen, along with a deep blue with metallic flake called Night Interaction, a burnt orange and a sizzling red. Anything but bright yellow, grazie. The Maserati also carves out more passenger space than the British duo. ItÂ’s a legitimate four-seater with room for two adults in back — after a bit of space-sharing from front-seaters — versus a Bentley or Aston whose back seats are glorified parcel shelves. Finally, the MaseratiÂ’s vividly realized electric powertrain advances the tech future, where Bentley and AstonÂ’s relatively pokey corporate V8s are rooted firmly in the past. So thatÂ’s four objective wins for the Maserati, in key areas I assumed auto journalists also cared about: Power and acceleration, sporty handling, interior space and technology. Honestly, the BentleyÂ’s only decisive win is its gorgeously wrought London library that doubles as a car interior. The AstonÂ’s cabin also tops the MaseratiÂ’s in materials and execution.

Share price falls on skepticism of Chrysler-Fiat five-year plan

Following this week's Fiat Chrysler extravaganza, where the Italian-American manufacturer announced its plans for the next five years, the Autoblog staff was cautiously optimistic of the company's future. Investors? Not so much.
Fiat saw its shares tumble 12 percent in Wednesday's trading, falling from 8.67 euros ($12.06 at today's rates) to 7.44 euros ($10.35) as of this writing, with blame partly going to the Italian half of the FCA marriage, which recorded a pretty significant drop in profits during the first quarter of this year.
The plan, which will cost around $77 billion over the next several years, is facing criticism from investors thanks in part to a 1.4-percent drop in Fiat's first-quarter profits, to 622 million euros ($862 million). That figure is also short of Bloomberg analysts' projections, which predicted $1.18 billion in profits before taxes, interest and one-time items.

Maserati Project24 is a custom, limited-edition, track-day special

Maserati joins the parade of limited-run, track-only cars designed to a set of specs instead of a set of established racing regulations. The entry is known by the codename Project24 at the moment, and Maserati says it will build just 62 examples. We don't know the significance of 24 nor of the production run. When the automaker launched the MC20, it said it planned to get return to heritage values founded at Formula 1 and sports car tracks around the world. While we wait on an MC20 developed for FIA GT racing, Project24 will be automaker's second outlet for racing aspirations, the Italians planning on entering Formula E next season. It's possible the Project24 is an offshoot of Maserati's reportedly dead GT3 program for the MC20. In December 2020, Daily Sports Car reported that a GT3 challenger "was said to be under development" when Maserati debuted the MC20, but perhaps due to ramifications of Covid, the circuit version was "shelved for the time being." The automaker hasn't divulged performance targets for the Project24, only a weight target: Below 1,250 kilograms, or 2,756 pounds. If achieved, the racer would be 552 pounds less than Maserati's claimed weight for the MC20. Part of the weight loss comes courtesy of carbon fiber bodywork that's two inches wider than on the MC20, Lexan windows, and making the passenger's seat optional. The gains should be felt everywhere around a track, especially because Project24's 3.0-liter V6 engine sports a larger pair of turbos that boost output by 119 horsepower, to 740 hp. The road car's eight-speed automatic is replaced by a six-speed sequential auto with paddle shifters, from there sending power to the rear wheels through a mechanical limited slip differential instead of the electric LSD in the MC20. Brembo CCMR racing brakes hang off a double wishbone suspension with anti-roll bars front and rear and adjustable dampers, just behind custom, forged 18-spoke center lock wheels on racing slicks. An adjustable front splitter and rear wing fine tune aero performance, on-board air jacks help pit crews put in the best performance.   The cabin offers an adjustable, multifunction carbon fiber steering wheel and pedal box. The wheel contains a digital display working alongside a dash and data acquisition system, but a driving performance optimization display is extra.