Maserati mania

For many, the Maserati marque evokes memories of a glorious era in the history of motor racing.

Names such as Moss, Fangio and Nuvalori are inextricably linked to the golden years in the 50s and 60s when Grand Prix motor racing still seemed identifiable and within reach of the aspirations of mere mortals.

Of course it was not, any more than it is with the single seat F1 technical marvels of today. It just seemed so.

Part of this was due to there being a far greater number of genuine Grand Touring cars on the road, many of which did resemble, not just in looks, the cars that hurtled round the racing circuits of Europe and the Americas.

Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes, AC Cobra, Porsche and, of course, Maserati, were the titans of the track, their drivers the golden men of the moment.

It was an era that has never really been duplicated, nor is it likely to be.

But the good news is that Maserati plans to return to Grand Prix racing in the not too distant future.

However, Maserati certainly continued the tradition of drivers with mighty machines when, after a 25 year gap, they introduced the 3.2 Coupe GT three years ago.

It was the start of a huge resurgence for the now Ferrari owned company.

Just to put the record straight, Ferrari is owned by Fiat Holdings as opposed to Fiat Auto, which makes vehicles, so these cars are very definitely not just Fiat supercars.

Also, the Maserati is not a Ferrari in disguise.

Indeed, so popular has the Coupe been that Maserati are building a special factory for production of their cars, now a new four-seater 4.2-litre Coupe version, and a two-seat Spyder convertible.

Both are drop-dead gorgeous.

It was the Coupe I tested earlier this week and having been totally overwhelmed by its immediate predecessor, I was expecting great things.

I wasn't disappointed.

The rebirth of the marque in 1999 was fuelled by a hugely increasing demand worldwide, but particularly in Europe, for genuinely fast luxury GT cars.

The same applies to convertibles which, given the changing weather patterns, mainly for the worse, is all the more remarkable.

However, it has to be said that odd though this may be, British weather perhaps suits drop-tops better than really hot climes where high tem-peratures can become unbearable.

Certainly the growth of sales for Maserati rather proves the point, having risen from high double figure numbers three years ago to 150 ordered for this year in the UK, 75 with already delivered.

And yes, there is a waiting list with people ordering now likely to take delivery towards the end of the year.

What is interesting is that for a car with such a sporting pedigree and awesome power, most buyers are in their mid-40s.

Maserati says it is also something to do with its product being less openly aggressive than, say, the Ferrari.

Perhaps it also highlights the fact that the manufacturers are increas-ingly aware that they have to make these sophisticated cars much more people friendly and less of a boys-and-their-toys icons.

For me, such vehicles are all about the sheer joy of driving, fast or slow and just knowing that here is a machine that will perform to per-fection in any condition, at any speed.

And the Maserati does that, with style.

With a top speed of 177 mph, a 0 to 60 mph of 4.9 seconds, it doesn't have any points to prove when it comes to performance.

Yet, it is docile in traffic. What more could you possibly want?

Well, quite clearly an under-standing bank manager, but then you don't own these sort of cars if that is a problem.

n Summary: With only 2,000 of these cars being produced annually, the Maserati is a lot of car for the money.

For those to whom it matters, there is room for two golf bags in the boot of a Maserati! However, whatever they say, the Coupe's rear seats are definitely not for large people!