Matt's off playing with hot hatches; Garlick and Dan enjoy more mature automotive treats
Tough few days at PH towers. I started the week in the Aston Martin Vanquish Garlick took to Sunday Service and end it with a Maserati
GranTurismo MC Stradale, which has just been delivered. Around these two very mature GTs we've had the recently Mountuned Fiesta ST and the Clio 200 zipping about and wagging their tails like a couple of excitable puppies, hoping that neither cocks an inside wheel anywhere nearby.
From Aston to Maserati - hard life, etc...
We may scoff at Aston calling its ‘key’ an Emotion Control Unit but given Garlick’s face when I finally managed to wrestle it from his grasp the name doesn’t seem quite so daft after all.
The Volante driven on the recent launch event in California (I have mentioned this fact once or twice...) was my first taste of the new carbon-bodied Volante. Maybe it was the comparison with the more lairy V12 Vantage S or just the perceived pink chinos image of the Volante but I wasn't entirely sold. Sure, it sounds epic and there was lots to like but some of the styling just seems a little clunky compared with the elegance of the DB9 and Vantage. I suspect this uncertainty may have been apparent in my face and resulted in a full on grilling by Dr Bez when, struggling for an adjective to describe it, I came up with 'mature'. He didn't seem entirely convinced I was being complimentary.
Save a grand and go for the round one...
No such problem with the Aviemore Blue coupe we had in though. Garlick and I were like a couple of lovestruck teenagers as we compared notes on it. "Just lovely isn't it..." "Mmmm..." And, optional One-77/Allegro inspired quartic steering wheel aside, it really was. It still doesn't feel 573hp quick, the V12 requiring some winding up to deliver meaningful pace. Not that this is a hardship and it does encourage you to sit in a gear and use the full rev range rather than blat up and down the ratios. Which is for the best because, as previously discussed, the six-speed auto isn't the fastest to respond to commands. I
heard the arguments from Aston but still think it'd be improved with the faster-shifting eight-speed.
And the Maserati? I've only moved it around the car park thus far but, like the Aston, it just has that air of being A Lovely Thing. To the extent I was actually quite surprised to see the bottom line, including options, on the car we've just had delivered is £118,036. Which, relatively speaking, seems like something of a bargain, especially considering 'our' Vanquish, as specced and including the £995 One-77 wheel, would cost nearly £100K more.
Suitable footwear absolutely required
Realistically the Maserati is more a rival for the £122K DB9 and I'd really, really struggle choosing between them. They're in a similar place too, possibly slightly outdated compared with some rivals and probably found lacking if you make a hard headed comparison based on spec sheets, pricing and the like but both full of charisma and very much living up their evocative badges. Kind of comes back to my earlier discussion about assessing cars on more than
just the numbers, these both being 'heart' rather than 'head' cars. Leading to an inevitable trip into the classifieds and discovery of
a £33K 2007 GranTurismo and a
2005 DB9 with similar miles and for pretty much the same money. Still want that RCZ R?!
More on the MC Stradale in due course; for now I'm very much looking forward to getting to know the Maserati better. I've even dusted off my pointy driving slip-ons especially. One thing's for sure, you'll hear me coming - the thing is LOUD!
Dan
