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New Maserati Ghibli, Levante F Tributo special editions honor a legend

Maserati is harkening back to its racing heritage with two special edition models: the Ghibli F Tributo and Levante F Tributo. Maserati had its Formula One debut in 1954 in the legendary 250F driven by Juan Manuel Fangio. Maserati says the F Tributo honors Fangio, who was a five-time World Champion, the first F1 driver to achieve that feat. Fangio originally drove for Maserati in 1952-54. He returned to Maserati in 1957 and won his career-defining fifth World Championship in a Maserati 250F. The special edition cars are available in two colors: Azzurro Tributo (bright blue) and Rosso Tributo (bright red). Bright blue represents Maserati's home city of Modena, while bright red is the traditional racing color of Italy. The cars' yellow brake calipers and wheel accents are a reference to the red-and-yellow livery of Fangio's Maserati 250F. Red and yellow also are used inside, where buyers can choose either as the contrast stitching for the black "Pieno Fiore" leather. Outside, 21-inch black wheels, black badges, and a body-color trident logo complete the look. The Maserati Ghibli and Levante F Tributo were unveiled at Auto Shanghai. Maserati will offer the two Fangio specials in the U.S. market, and a total of 345 will be produced worldwide. The Ghibli F Tributo is based on the S GranSport ($88,035) or the Q4 GranSport ($90,535), both of which feature a 424-hp turbocharged V6. The Levante F Tributo also is based on the S GranSport trim level ($95,385) with the same engine. Pricing of the F Tributo will be available closer to the North American on-sale date of June 2021. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Maserati will field a Formula E team in 2023

Some Italian flair is coming to the Formula E grid. Maserati plans to field a team in the electric motor racing series in 2023, becoming the first brand from the country to do so. The automaker is returning to single-seater competition for the first time in more than six decades. Maserati ran a successful Formula 1 team in the 1950s and its two-seater MC12 took 14 titles in the FIA GT sports car series between 2004 and 2010. Maserati plans to take what it learns on Formula E tracks and feed that back into its Folgore EV lineup. “Beyond this piece of history, Maserati Formula E will be our technological laboratory to accelerate the development of high-efficiency electrified powertrains and intelligent software for our road sports cars," Stellantis Motorsport senior VP Jean-Marc Finot said. The automaker will enter Formula E as the series shifts to the Gen3 car, its lightest and fastest vehicle to date. Formula E and the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) said the Gen3 will be the planet's most efficient race car. They claim the EV will produce at least 40 percent of energy used in a race via regenerative braking.  

Maserati MC12 GT1 looks, sounds great storming VIR

Maserati has been celebrating its 100th anniversary all year, but recent visitors to Virginia International Raceway might have gotten to see one of the coolest highlights of the whole centenary. The brand took its already amazing MC12 GT1 racer and painted it up to commemorate its 100th birthday, dubbing the model Maserati MC12 GT1 Centenario. That would be neat enough, but the spectators at VIR actually got to watch and listen to this special edition racecar lap the track with its spectacular exhaust note singing a fantastic tune.
It's rather rare to see these beastly V12 racers on track in the US these days, but they were quite successful in FIA GT1 competition in Europe several years ago. The sound that they make perfectly matches those purposeful, low-slung looks. Switch this video into HD and turn up the speakers to experience a look at this fantastic racecar.