RE: Maserati GranTurismo production ends

[forzaminardi]

I like the looks more than I did when launched and think its a very desirable car.

Where's the new product from FCA? I can't help feeling Sergio Marchionne got his reputation by cutting costs, reshuffling his deck of cards, lucking into the Chrysler merger on the cheap, and floating Ferrari, thereby making Fiat shareholders lots of money. But lack of investment in new product is starting to bite now after he's gone.

[williamp]

40,000 built? Thats a huge number for that type of car...

[Chestrockwell]

williamp said:

40,000 built? Thats a huge number for that type of car...

Exactly what I thought, which raises the question, why did they bin it without an immediate replacement !

[sidesauce]

R400TVR said:

Still a car which makes heads turn on a way that no nasty electric thing will.

Having lived with an i8 for a while, I can't really agree with this, at all.

[EC2]

DevonPaul said:

You need a certain mindset to run a Maser....For daily use, an RS5/7 is more practical, quicker, cheaper to service, uses less fuel, better put together, more toys inside, and more reliable.


Paul

There is truth in this. I never ran my GT as a main family car even though it used to be driven most days. Holidays and long trips were always in a family wagon with the GT really an indulgence which could do the school run as well. The market will look at them positively as they are relative bargains now.

[Kettmark]

I've had my 4.7s auto for coming up to 4 year and still love it to bits. Makes you feel special every time you open the garage door, sit in it & start it up. That's before you get it out of the garage and see all the admiring glances...
I don't think I'll ever sell mine.
A car for high days and holidays but still more than capable of being a daily as high mileage examples suggest.

[cheese]

Jonny TVR said:

Mine was a 4.7 MC shift too and used it all year round for the couple of years I owned it. I didn't have a garage at the time so it lived in a tent! It was replaced by my 599

How did it compare with the 599?

[Jimbo89]

I have always wanted one of these, they look and sound brilliant and were priced really well for what is possibly the best looking car in the world. Never mind one with a Ferrari V8.

I'm impressed with that one off paint job, I wouldn't want to own it but I like the look and it must have taken some doing!

Sad to see them go. Hopefully one day.

[flatso]

If only this thing had a manual transmission option it would have had a classic status guaranteed. I never understood the lack of a manual gearbox option.

[Jonny TVR]

cheese said:

How did it compare with the 599?

Although I loved the GT the 599 is in another World although the infotainment is just as bad, in fact the 599 doesn't even have sat nav. The GT wasn't that quick .. it was the noise that more than made up for that

[Jonny TVR]

flatso said:

If only this thing had a manual transmission option it would have had a classic status guaranteed. I never understood the lack of a manual gearbox option.

The MC shift used a manual gearbox operated by the paddles.

[cerb4.5lee]

Jonny TVR said:

flatso said:

If only this thing had a manual transmission option it would have had a classic status guaranteed. I never understood the lack of a manual gearbox option.

The MC shift used a manual gearbox operated by the paddles.

I think the post means a proper three pedal manual...and none of this flappy paddle pretending to be a manual nonsense!

[Nightshade]

Still one of the best sounding production cars ever made, IMO.

[Shifter1]

flatso said:

If only this thing had a manual transmission option it would have had a classic status guaranteed. I never understood the lack of a manual gearbox option.

Quite easy to understand actually. People are lazy! They don't want to shift. So manual car sales have been in the slam for years now. Manufactures will give people what they want.

Look at the V6 F-type, which is already discontinued for lack of sales. How long was it in production? 2 years? I wonder what will be the fate of the new manual Vantage. I suspect it will be one the last manual sports cars to be produced. Even BMW is switching to auto. Sad times to be a true petrolhead.

Most prefer to just pretend to be shifting with flappy pedals because it's easier. Sad but true. If the MC was a manual, I would have one in my garage now.

[ZX10R NIN]

The V6 F Type got replaced by a four pot turbo

[Gad-Westy]

Still looks fantastic. Just not that one!

[sjc]

It wasn’t the fastest car, or the best handling, none of that mattered because it was more than half decent at everything.And there were times when it all cake together, on the right road, in the right conditions when it gave me some of the best drives of my life.Probably one of the most charismatic cars of the last 30 years,if space allowed I’d get myself another one right now.

[cerb4.5lee]

^^^^

That looks awesome in Black for me. Such a gorgeous shape.

[Shifter1]

ZX10R NIN said:

The V6 F Type got replaced by a four pot turbo

Did the 4 pot replace the V6? I thought it was just an add on to the line. Didn't know the V6 was discontinued all together. Is it? Wiki says it is still in production. But who knows.

[greenarrow]

I've always liked Maserati as for me its one of the few brands left that doesn't really carry any baggage - I also love the Gran Turismo and loved the previous Quattroporte and 3200GT/4200GT cars....

Pity the brand has been left to languish with diesel Ghibli saloons and the SUV model carrying it in recent years. A bit like Alfa, a badge with a huge history and a bit of mystique attached to it that needs reviving...