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2025 Maserati GranCabrio Folgore is the third flash of Modena lightning

The debut of the 2025 Maserati GranCabrio Folgore completes Maserati's initial trio of battery-electric offerings, the Atlantis High powertrain in this car complementing the Nettuno V6-powered GranCabrio Trofeo that Maserati debuted in February. The first of its kind, the GranCabrio Folgore establishes the six-figure, four-seat, battery-electric luxury grand tourer convertible segment until something like an electric Porsche 911, Mercedes-AMG SL, or reborn Jaguar XKR comes along. At speeds of up to 31 miles per hour, the roof available in five colors folds in 14 seconds and raises in 16. With the top up, trunk space shrinks from the coupe's 9.5 cubic feet to 6.1 cubic feet. Stow the top, there are 4.6 cubic feet available for soft-sided bags. Neck warmers built into the seats come standard, a wind blocker lives on the options menu.   Built around the same 92.5-kWh (83 kWh usable) T-shaped battery and three-motor drivetrain as on the GranTurismo Folgore, maximum output differs from actual output: Each motor can produce 402 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque, but the full 1,206 hp needs to wait on stouter battery options. With today's chemistry, Maserati engineers decided to restrain combined output to 751 hp and 996 lb-ft., with even that figure only unlocked in Corsa mode with launch control. The catapult shot to 60 miles per hour is estimated at about 2.7 seconds; top speed is 180 miles per hour.      Shoppers will get a choice of six wheels in staggered 20-inch front and 21-inch rear sizes. Two of those wheel designs are aero-focused and wrapped in EV-specific rubber. Maserati gave a WLTP estimated range of up to 278 miles on a charge, an EPA-rated estimate of 250 miles, which would be on the aero options. Plugging into a DC fast charger capable of 270 kW is said to replenish the battery from 20% to 80% in 18 minutes, and add 62 miles in five minutes.  The interior's a mix of reborn Maserati and the special touches applied to the hardtop electric sibling, meaning the quartet of digital displays (gauge cluster, infotainment, HVAC, and clock), 18-way front seats in recycled Econyl or leather, 16-speaker Sonus Faber audio, and carbon fiber trim inlaid with copper filaments. The automaker's also giving owners a wallbox with purchase, and has hooked up a single-pay system to use a range of chargers from different infrastructure companies. Order books open in August, and Maserati anticipates deliveries beginning in Q4 this year.

Junkyard Gem: 1989 Chrysler TC by Maserati

Lee Iacocca's friendship with Alejandro de Tomaso went way back, and it led to the Ford-powered De Tomaso Pantera being born in 1971 (when Iacocca was running Ford). After Iacocca moved over to head Chrysler in 1978, he began working with de Tomaso (who owned Maserati by that point) to develop a sports coupe based on the Chrysler-salvation K-Car platform. It took quite a while, but eventually that car became reality: the Chrysler TC by Maserati (officially known as Chrysler's TC by Maserati). Some 7,300 were built through 1991, and I've found one of them in a Denver-area car graveyard. I've managed to document four of these cars in their final parking spots prior to this one, in wrecking yards in Colorado, California, and Wisconsin. The Chrysler's TC by Maserati does have a devoted following, but they can't save 'em all. The TC really was assembled by Maserati in Italy, but the underlying chassis was taken from the Dodge Daytona. The body bore a strong resemblance to that of the Chrysler LeBaron GTC, which was unfortunate considering the price difference between the two cars: the MSRP on the 1989 TC was $33,000, while the LeBaron GTC cost $17,435 (that's about $80,880 and $42,730 in 2022 dollars). The TC had three different engines driving the front wheels over its short lifetime: two varieties of turbocharged Chrysler 2.2 four-cylinder (one with 160 horsepower and one with a Cosworth cylinder head with 200 horsepower) and that good old workhorse of a Mitsubishi V6: the 6G72, with 141 horses. This car has the 160hp 2.2. The Cosworth-headed cars (500 were built) got a five-speed manual transmission, but the other 6,800 TCs got a Chrysler slushbox of either three or four speeds (this one is a three-speed). There was a lot of snobbish disapproval of the TC by the automotive press, but just look at that interior! Even the most over-the-top LeBaron never got this level of swank inside.  Every time I write about one of these cars, I hear that the factory hardtop roof is worth fantastic money… but four out of the five examples I've found in junkyards had the hardtop, and I think every single one went to the crusher with its car. How many miles? Not many! Maybe the speedometer cable broke in 1995. The radio and HVAC controls are straight LeBaron, but the wood and leather are the real thing.

Maserati GranTurismo successor to be smaller, fight Porsche 911

The Chevrolet Corvette, Jaguar F-Type and Porsche 911 all belong to a club that shuns the Maserati GranTurismo as an outsider. You see, those three key sports cars all measure within an inch of one another in length - 176 to 177 inches and change - while the Maserati comes in at over 192 inches. Naturally, there's extra length between its wheels, as well.
While those extra inches would seemingly pay dividends in interior roominess and storage space, those are not exactly the most important attributes in the segment, which values proper proportions and proper driving feel over all else. All of this is why it comes as little surprise that Maserati is working on a smaller version of its two-door sports car platform when the next generation is ready in roughly three years.
According to Motor Trend and echoing rumors we've heard in the past, the smaller model will be known as the Gran Sport while a larger model will still be called GranTurismo in coupe form and GranCabrio in convertible guise. We're told, again, to expect Maserati's new 404-horsepower supercharged V6 engine as standard, while the V8 would still be a possible option.