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One-off Maserati GranTurismo models celebrate the brand's past and future

The new Maserati GranTurismo is headed to the 2023 Milan Design Week to show off some of the different outfits it can wear. The Italian company's Fuoriserie department, which handles one- and few-off requests from customers, prepared a pair of one-of-a-kind coupes. Maserati calls the Design Week-bound models GranTurismo One Off Prisma and GranTurismo One Off Luce, respectively. "Prisma" means "Prism" in Italian (coincidentally, the name also appeared on a three-box version of the original Lancia Delta) while "luce" translates to "light" (as in, what the sun emits, not how you'd describe a Mazda MX-5 Miata). Both will be difficult to miss if you're walking around the show floor. Designed as a celebration of Maserati's past, present, and future, the Prisma is painted in no less than 14 different colors. Two of those colors look to the future, according to the carmaker, while the remaining 12 are colors that were offered on the GranTurismo's predecessors. Amaranto — a purple-ish color — was available on the 1947 A6 1500, and Oro Longchamps was offered on the 1973 Khamsin. Once the colors were applied to the body, over 8,500 letters that spell the name of historic Maserati models were applied by hand to create a second layer. At the other end of the spectrum, the Luce (shown above) represents Maserati's future. It's not as colorful as the Prisma but it's equally eye-catching: it features a mirror-like finish, a laser-etched pattern, and a color that the company describes as being "almost absent." We're told that this treatment makes the contours of the car blend into their surroundings, though so far we've only seen a sketch of the car — it likely looks quite a bit different when you're standing in front of it. Maserati used a recycled type of nylon called EcoNyl throughout the interior. Maserati hasn't announced what the future holds for the two design studies. They might join the company's collection, or they could end up in a lucky collector's garage. As for the regular-production model, it's scheduled to reach showrooms across the nation this month with a twin-turbocharged, 3.0-liter V6 and a base price set at about $174,000. The next-generation GranCabrio convertible isn't far behind. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Maserati Ghibli overtakes Levante, headed for Shanghai?

While earlier reports indicated that the next Maserati product out of the gate would be the Levante SUV, Motor Trend is now reporting that the Audi A7-shaped Ghibli has cut in line. Word is that we may see the new Ghibli as early as the Shanghai Motor Show in April.
Citing unnamed sources, MT predicts that the minds at Maserati now see a more pressing need to fight off the likes of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the BMW 5 Series than to go after luxury utes. However, if our spy shots of Ghibli prototypes are anything to go on, it's also likely that the sub-Quattroporte Maser won't be a traditional sedan. The car above's long nose, low roof and brief, sloping rear deck all bring to mind Audi's lovely A7, Meaning the Ghibli may fall into the always murky four-door-coupe/luxury hatchback genre.
Bi-turbocharged iterations of both a V6 and a V8 should make up the early powertrain choices for the Maserati, meaning the top-spec Ghibli should have loads of shove to match its promised good looks.

Car designer Frank Stephenson wants to show you something ... smaller

Influential car designer Frank Stephenson has often thought small. Now he’s thinking smaller. Throughout the past three decades, he has shaped — literally — some of the most indelible designs in automotive history: the modern Mini, the Ferrari FXX track star, the Maserati Gran Sport, a range of stunning McLarens and down to the funky 21st-century version of the Fiat 500. Now heÂ’s turned his pen to fashioning watches. His Cosmos analog piece, made to mirror “a black hole in space” and detailed “with an orange pinstripe which simulates the supernova glow of a neutron star,” features a Japan-built quartz movement and was created in concert with the Time Concepts company. “ItÂ’s the age-old adage ‘car people are watch people,Â’ so it was a natural step for me to get creative with timepieces too,” Stephenson said in a statement. “The collection showcases the love I have for exceptional and emotionally charged design, just like what is required in designing world class cars.” While Stephenson, who is 64, may be best known publicly for his vision of “affordable style” with the Mini and the Fiat, his ethos also translated to the utilitarian. In the case of BMW in the mid-1990s, the company was hustling to market an SUV, and turned to him for inspiration. His team had six months to complete the project. The result was the high-end X5, which Stephenson sketched during a two-hour flight. In 2018, Stephenson established the independent design company, Frank Stephenson Design, based in London. Related video: Design/Style BMW Ferrari Fiat Maserati McLaren MINI Gadgets watch frank stephenson