All Cars, All the Time

Maserati to Give Quattroporte a New Brain

Well, not exactly. It's more like a new transmission. The current dead sexy sedan has a "clutchless manual" that can imitate the operation of automatic but isn't the smoothest operator. This made life difficult for Maser because in the rarified air in which they were selling the sedan, most transmissions produce flawless shifts. The solution is to offers a traditional automatic transmission. I've seen a few of these cars on the road and they are stunning. This new transmission will only increase the appeal to the target market. I'm happy that Maserati is making a go of it on our shores and look forward to its sister division, Alfa, arriving soon. On the topic of Maserati now being tied with Alfa instead of Ferrari, CEO Karl-Heinz Kalbfell said "Even if the sporty character of Alfa and Maserati is similar, the customers are different. It is a different culture. Look at Porsche and Volkswagen--they are working together but they are still are Porsches and Volkswagens."