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Leno profiles Pebble Beach-winning 1956 Maserati

We enjoy it when Jay Leno and his web show, Jay Leno's Garage, take a look at new, modern cars. When the comedian gets his paws on a proper classic, though, he's at his best. Leno is able to display an impressive breadth of knowledge about even obscure models, and that's no different here, as the winner of its class at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, a 1956 Maserati A6G-2000 Allemano rolls into the garage.
Part of the Maserati A6 family, this A6G is one of just 21 cars produced with coachwork by Carrozzeria Allemano, making it one of the rarer cars to grace Jay Leno's Garage. It's powered by a 2.0-liter inline-six, and, as Leno points out, is far more of a road car than the race-oriented Maseratis of the day.
Scroll down for the latest episode from Jay Leno's Garage on this fully restored 1956 Maserati.

Maserati ditches hydraulic steering to add semi-autonomous driver aids

Related: We obsessively covered the Frankfurt Motor Show — here's our complete coverage FRANKFURT, Germany — One of the distinctive aspects of modern Maseratis has been the continued use of hydraulic-assisted power steering. The company used it on the entire lineup from the Ghibli sedan to the GranTurismo sports coupe, touting in press releases that in comparison to now-common electric power steering, it "prevents unpleasantly artificial assistance when the driver turns the wheel quickly." Priorities appear to have changed, though, as the 2018 Ghibli, Quattroporte and Levante are all going with electric steering. Those priorities would be adding a gaggle of semi-autonomous driving assists, which as Maserati CEO Reid Bigland confirmed, require electric power steering to fully implement. Specifically, the highway lane-centering, lane-keeping assist and blind-spot assist functions that can steer for you if necessary. Other new semi-autonomous functions include sign recognition, automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. This may come as a disappointment to die-hard Maserati fans, but at the very least, the GranTurismo and GranCabrio sports cars still retain the classic hydraulic steering system. They also don't get the semi-autonomous features, but let's face it, those cars are ones you want to always be driving. As for the rest of the lineup, Bigland insisted the steering is still good. Of course you wouldn't expect anything less from the company's CEO. We'll reserve judgement until driving a 2018 Maserati ( that isn't a GranTurismo) to see if the new steering avoids being "unpleasantly artificial." Related Video:

Maserati announces the official end of its V8s

We all knew this was coming. Maserati announced it was going all-electric by 2030, so the end was definitely in sight for the V8. But now it's crystal clear. Maserati will end production of its V8s at the end of this year. The company says that there will still be some V8-powered models on sale into 2024. We're assuming that's based on inventory that may not have yet sold or been delivered by the end of 2023. Maserati will have a little something, though, to celebrate its road-going V8 history, which dates back to 1959 and its 5000 GT coupe. It will launch two special editions, the Ghibli 334 Ultima and the Levante V8 Ultima. These will be revealed in July at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Those models will join the existing Trofeo versions of the Levante, Ghibli and Quattroporte that are on sale now, all with V8s. Maserati didn't say anything about upgrades to the V8 itself. So presumably, it will remain the familiar twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 making 572 horsepower that is available in other trims now. Any additional changes to the special edition cars will probably be colors, trimmings and maybe handling tweaks. Even if Maserati wasn't going all-electric, the V8's days were probably numbered. The new top-dog engine is the twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 used in the Grecale Trofeo and the MC20 supercar. In the MC20, it makes 620 horsepower; more than the V8. But of course, even that new V6's days are numbered. All of Maserati is going electric, and while the internal combustion models aren't being phased out just yet, every model has electric versions on the way under the Folgore name. That includes the mainstream models such as the new Grecale SUV as well as the sports cars including the new GranTurismo and the MC20. Those electric models aren't far away, either. Maserati's goal is to have electric versions of all its models by the end of 2025, and hybridization isn't part of the plan. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.