Maserati Gransport so far...
Discussion
Well I thought I’d give everyone a little write up on how I’m getting on with my Maserati Gransport. It’s quite long so I hope I don’t bore everyone to death! 
A little bit of background first
I’d always liked the look of the Gransports, just the subtle but menacing details the car had really done it for me. The surfboard sized side skirts and carbon fibre interior, magic! I’d thought about one a couple years before I actually bought this one. I used to have a 430 spider that I was using every day and it was great car, the trouble is, I personally found it a bit of a pain to live with day to day. I know lots of people use them all the time but I feel unless you have another car it can be annoying. There are just some occasions where you don’t necessarily want to turn up in a Ferrari or places you don’t want to park it etc. Anyway, long story short I ended up buying a Porsche 997 Turbo instead (which is fab!), however I always planned at some point to tick the Gransport box.
Long story short I bought this car with the hope of taking it over to Spain for the summer and blasting about down there, while still managing to have something usable. As it turned out I sadly didn’t get to spend the summer down there liked I’d planned so instead I just ran the car as a daily driver here. We did get one or two sunny days here where I could at least pretend it was in Spain
Living with it
The deeply sculpted seats (apart from being beautiful
) are also pretty comfortable and the boot isn’t bad. It’s not massive but it’s certainly better than the 911. I will get the obvious out the way fist, the fuel consumption isn’t great! There I’ve said it now we don’t need to mention it again To be honest it’s no worse than any other V8 and like everything it depends how you drive it. I unfortunately I have a relatively heavy right foot 
My biggest worry was the gearbox. I’ve had a couple “flappy paddle” cars, the most recent being a Gallardo, so I wasn’t sure about what the older software would be like. Would it be too jerky & slow? Would it be a deal breaker? As it turns out, no! The gearbox isn’t as quick as the newer cars (obviously) but actually I’m quite impressed with it. It’s much better than I thought it would be. It’s ok in normal mode, but I tend to leave it sport mode, which quickens things up nicely.
It’s a nice place to be, the carbon fibre topped steering wheel and the carbon centre console that floats through the cabin are both
. The biggest surprise is that the back seats are HUGE for this type of car. I’ve been in the back once myself and the amount of room is unbelievable especially considering the actual car itself doesn’t feel that big, certainly when compared to its replacement, the Granturismo which is massive! I’ve had a couple friends who were 6ft in the back and they both commented on how roomy it was, especially compared to the back of a 911.
I recently had the car detailed and it’s completely transformed the car, Paintwork was fine before (I’m a bit anal I like the cars to be kept in good condition) but like everything it just had some swirl marks etc but now it looks absolutely perfect!!!!!! (so I’m now too scared to drive it). So a big thank you to my detailers. Who have made a cracking job. I managed to grab a couple pictures
I looked for a little while before buying this one as there isn’t normally that many of them for sale at one time, I think at the moment there’s about 12ish for sale. I ended up going for a later car, full main dealer history and with the “LE” pack on it. It was an option when the car was new that basically gave you most of the options available. It included things like the full leather interior (instead of the half leather and that weird techno cloth), leather headlining & Maserati trident on the rear panels beside the back windows. Personally I thought all these options were a must, so I was looking for a car with those on it. You can get “standard” cars that were spec’d up to the same level as the “LE” cars though.
I have to say I’m very taken with the car, it’s very different to a 911 but I think it makes a nice alternative. If I’m being honest it isn’t as poised and precise as a 911 but then to be honest ,what is? It does however have a bit more soul and character, clichéd but true. The thing that gets me about them is, is how good value they are now. They were something like £65K new I have a feeling mine was spec’d to over £70K, but you can now buy a early high mileage, low spec car for early £20ks and a later, well spec’d car for early £30ks. Now bearing in mind a new Audi TT is about £30k, an Audi S5 is over £40K then it suddenly seems pretty good value.
What’s interesting about the Gransport is that I haven’t even seen another one on the road. I know there’s one that lives not too far from me, although I’ve never seen it on the road though. Other than that I’ve never seen another one. So the rarity is quite nice.
I’m just back actually from a little road trip a couple of us did, managed to do some cracking roads, I will upload the pictures from that later (my photographer friend was in charge of pictures for obvious reasons). Car behaved beautifully, the other car was a Aston Martin DB9. It was interesting going between the two cars, Aston’s V12 has much more torque and is a bit comfier, Maserati was a little bit more agile and “chuck-able”.
It’s been a brilliant car in the time that I have owned it and I would highly recommend one. The only issue for me is that I’ve got my 911 for a more usable car if I need it. I’ve got an old Audi I use through winter and I’ve got my “toys”. So the issue is unfortunately that this car just isn’t getting used much. As a result I’ve put it up for sale
. I’m not that fussed about getting rid of it, however it seems a bit of a waste for it to not get used enough.
Well Hopefully everyone is still awake :P and didn’t find that too boring. I shall now go and try to upload the pictures. Wish me luck!
A little bit of background first
I’d always liked the look of the Gransports, just the subtle but menacing details the car had really done it for me. The surfboard sized side skirts and carbon fibre interior, magic! I’d thought about one a couple years before I actually bought this one. I used to have a 430 spider that I was using every day and it was great car, the trouble is, I personally found it a bit of a pain to live with day to day. I know lots of people use them all the time but I feel unless you have another car it can be annoying. There are just some occasions where you don’t necessarily want to turn up in a Ferrari or places you don’t want to park it etc. Anyway, long story short I ended up buying a Porsche 997 Turbo instead (which is fab!), however I always planned at some point to tick the Gransport box.
Long story short I bought this car with the hope of taking it over to Spain for the summer and blasting about down there, while still managing to have something usable. As it turned out I sadly didn’t get to spend the summer down there liked I’d planned so instead I just ran the car as a daily driver here. We did get one or two sunny days here where I could at least pretend it was in Spain
Living with it
The deeply sculpted seats (apart from being beautiful
) are also pretty comfortable and the boot isn’t bad. It’s not massive but it’s certainly better than the 911. I will get the obvious out the way fist, the fuel consumption isn’t great! There I’ve said it now we don’t need to mention it again To be honest it’s no worse than any other V8 and like everything it depends how you drive it. I unfortunately I have a relatively heavy right foot My biggest worry was the gearbox. I’ve had a couple “flappy paddle” cars, the most recent being a Gallardo, so I wasn’t sure about what the older software would be like. Would it be too jerky & slow? Would it be a deal breaker? As it turns out, no! The gearbox isn’t as quick as the newer cars (obviously) but actually I’m quite impressed with it. It’s much better than I thought it would be. It’s ok in normal mode, but I tend to leave it sport mode, which quickens things up nicely.
It’s a nice place to be, the carbon fibre topped steering wheel and the carbon centre console that floats through the cabin are both
. The biggest surprise is that the back seats are HUGE for this type of car. I’ve been in the back once myself and the amount of room is unbelievable especially considering the actual car itself doesn’t feel that big, certainly when compared to its replacement, the Granturismo which is massive! I’ve had a couple friends who were 6ft in the back and they both commented on how roomy it was, especially compared to the back of a 911. I recently had the car detailed and it’s completely transformed the car, Paintwork was fine before (I’m a bit anal I like the cars to be kept in good condition) but like everything it just had some swirl marks etc but now it looks absolutely perfect!!!!!! (so I’m now too scared to drive it
). So a big thank you to my detailers. Who have made a cracking job. I managed to grab a couple pictures I looked for a little while before buying this one as there isn’t normally that many of them for sale at one time, I think at the moment there’s about 12ish for sale. I ended up going for a later car, full main dealer history and with the “LE” pack on it. It was an option when the car was new that basically gave you most of the options available. It included things like the full leather interior (instead of the half leather and that weird techno cloth), leather headlining & Maserati trident on the rear panels beside the back windows. Personally I thought all these options were a must, so I was looking for a car with those on it. You can get “standard” cars that were spec’d up to the same level as the “LE” cars though.
I have to say I’m very taken with the car, it’s very different to a 911 but I think it makes a nice alternative. If I’m being honest it isn’t as poised and precise as a 911 but then to be honest ,what is? It does however have a bit more soul and character, clichéd but true. The thing that gets me about them is, is how good value they are now. They were something like £65K new I have a feeling mine was spec’d to over £70K, but you can now buy a early high mileage, low spec car for early £20ks and a later, well spec’d car for early £30ks. Now bearing in mind a new Audi TT is about £30k, an Audi S5 is over £40K then it suddenly seems pretty good value.
What’s interesting about the Gransport is that I haven’t even seen another one on the road. I know there’s one that lives not too far from me, although I’ve never seen it on the road though. Other than that I’ve never seen another one. So the rarity is quite nice.
I’m just back actually from a little road trip a couple of us did, managed to do some cracking roads, I will upload the pictures from that later (my photographer friend was in charge of pictures for obvious reasons
). Car behaved beautifully, the other car was a Aston Martin DB9. It was interesting going between the two cars, Aston’s V12 has much more torque and is a bit comfier, Maserati was a little bit more agile and “chuck-able”. It’s been a brilliant car in the time that I have owned it and I would highly recommend one. The only issue for me is that I’ve got my 911 for a more usable car if I need it. I’ve got an old Audi I use through winter and I’ve got my “toys”. So the issue is unfortunately that this car just isn’t getting used much. As a result I’ve put it up for sale
. I’m not that fussed about getting rid of it, however it seems a bit of a waste for it to not get used enough. Well Hopefully everyone is still awake :P and didn’t find that too boring. I shall now go and try to upload the pictures. Wish me luck!
Edited by lambo_xx on Thursday 30th August 18:27
That looks amazing.
I adore Maserati and loved when the 3200 prices came to a reasonable level so I made it my goal to get one, but it was hard to find my ideal spec and by the time I can afford one it would also be dated, so I set my goal on a 4200 but I thought if I got one I would always want a Gransport so now, you guessed it - I want a Gransport (even more so after this thread) for many reasons.
It is a great write-up and stunning photos. Enjoy!
I adore Maserati and loved when the 3200 prices came to a reasonable level so I made it my goal to get one, but it was hard to find my ideal spec and by the time I can afford one it would also be dated, so I set my goal on a 4200 but I thought if I got one I would always want a Gransport so now, you guessed it - I want a Gransport (even more so after this thread) for many reasons.
It is a great write-up and stunning photos. Enjoy!
Fantastic write up, glorious car and such good value. Having Passengered in 2 different examples (see profile) they are awesome cars, they feel so much more driver focused than a Granturismo S (also been in one of those) and sound absolutely stunning. The GT felt more of a tourer, the GS felt similar and would make a lovely cruiser but when you wanted to have a thrash, in Sport mode the car felt totally different and really came alive. They have aged so well but i think the standard 4200 looks a little dated. The Gransport Spyder is well worth seeking out if you want top down motoring, only 24 came to the UK.
Thanks everyone for the nice comments!
tbc said:
you can buy these for absolute buttons now
2005 ones for £8-10k
saw one on ebay for £9995 with £5k of receipts and servicing the previous month
how bad could it really be?
I think you're thinking of either the 3200 or the 4200. The absolute cheapest Gransport is about £20K and it has 100K on the clock. 2005 ones for £8-10k
saw one on ebay for £9995 with £5k of receipts and servicing the previous month
how bad could it really be?
Edited by lambo_xx on Saturday 1st September 19:13
Stunning. I love those. Have you driven a 4200? How different are the two cars?
Given the other cars you own - do you find this slow and cumbersome at all?
Given that this is the cheapest car you own by far, do you still manage to muster interest in driving it when your options are so good?
ENvious.
Oh, and where was that road trip? That looks stunning and I was lamenting the other day that you just dont seem to ever find empty roads nowadays.
Given the other cars you own - do you find this slow and cumbersome at all?
Given that this is the cheapest car you own by far, do you still manage to muster interest in driving it when your options are so good?
ENvious.
Oh, and where was that road trip? That looks stunning and I was lamenting the other day that you just dont seem to ever find empty roads nowadays.
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