Maserati Quattroporte

The Maserati Quattroporte is a luxury four-door sedan made by Maserati of Italy. There have been five generations of the car, each separated by a period of roughly five years.

Quattroporte I (1963 – 1969)

In the early 1960s, Maserati's reputation was at a high. With growing sales, Prince Karim Aga Khan ordered a special Maserati 5000 WP, chassis no. 103,060, designed by Pietro Frua. The following year, Maserati showed the first-generation Quattroporte of 1963, which bore a striking resemblance to the earlier drawing.

Also designed by Frua, the 1963 'Tipo 107' Quattroporte (Italian for 'four doors') joined two other notable grand tourers, the Facel Vega and the Lagonda Rapide, which could comfortably do 200 km/h on the new motorways of Europe. However, the Quattroporte could be said to have been the first car specifically designed for this purpose.

It was equipped with a 4.1 L (4136 cc/252 in³) V8 engine, producing 256 hp (SAE) (191 kW) at 5,600 rpm, and either a five-speed ZF manual transmission or a three-speed automatic. Maserati claimed a top speed of 230 km/h (143 mph).

Between 1963 and 1966, 230 examples were made.

In 1966, Maserati revised the Tipo 107, adding twin headlights (already on the US model) and, from 1968, a 4.7 L, 295 hp (SAE) (220 kW) engine. Around 500 of the second series were made. Production stopped in 1969.

Quattroporte II (1974 – 1978)

In 1971, Karim Aga Khan ordered another special on the Maserati Indy platform, given the reference code AM 121. In 1974, at the Turin Show, Maserati presented its Quattroporte II (Tipo 123) on a Citroën SM chassis, since Citroën had purchased the Italian company. It had an angular Bertone body, fashionable at the time, and was the only Maserati with a hydropneumatic suspension and front wheel drive. However, the 1973 oil crisis had intervened and demand for such cars disappeared. Furthermore the technical backbone didn't convince the customers. Maserati made 13 Quattroporte IIs, 6 of them originally were pre-production models and the other seven were built to order between 1975 and 1978.

Quattroporte III (4porte 1976 – 1979, Quattroporte 1979 – 1990)

Giorgetto Giugiaro presented two ItalDesign show cars on Maserati platforms, called the Medici I and Medici II. The latter, in particular, featured hallmarks which would make it into the production of the third-generation Quattroporte. By the end of 1976, Maserati announced the Quattroporte III (Tipo AM 330), which took much from the Medici show cars, based on Maserati's Kyalami coupé, which in turn was based on the De Tomaso Longchamp.

In 1976 the Quattroporte III was launched as "4porte" with a 4.2 L engine producing 251 hp (SAE) (187 kW), later 238 hp (SAE) (177 kW). 1979 the Quattroporte got its true name back and was built with the 4.2 L and a new 4.9 L engine 278 hp (SAE) (207 kW). The latter initially had a three-speed Borg–Warner automatic transmission, soon replaced by a Chrysler Torqueflite 'box. The smaller engine was phased out in 1981.

In 1986, the Maserati Royale, an ultra-luxury version of the Quattroporte III, appeared. The engine was uprated to 295 hp (SAE) (220 kW).

In all, 2'141 Quattroporte IIIs were made, one of them being for Italian presidential usage. Production ceased in 1990.

4-door Biturbos (1983 – 1994)

The 4-door Biturbos such as the original 425 weren't aimed at the same customers like the big Quattroporte I, II and III.

All 4-door Biturbos carry the figure "4" in their model name and are based on the 2-door Biturbos with an extended wheelbase. They were available in various "tastes": 11 different models each equipped with a different version of the V6 Biturbo engine (2.0 L, 2.5 L and 2.8 L). Besides being fairly successful as a general model some versions are extremly rare, e.g. the 4.18v was built 77 times and sold solely in Italy. The 4-door Biturbos were the only sedans available from Maserati between 1990 and 1994 and in several markets even between 1986 and 1994 (where the Royale wasn't sold due to emission problems).

The 430 4v was the last version of the 4-door Biturbos. The technical backbone (engine, drivetrain, suspension, AC etc.), general layout and interior design were used for the Quattroporte IV.

Quattroporte IV (1994 – 2000)

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At the height of Fiat's styling prowess, Maserati was confident to be more adventurous with Quattroporte IV from 1994. Designed by Marcello Gandini, who had penned the Lamborghini Countach, the new car was smaller, very aerodynamic (0.31 cd), and featured Gandini's trademark angular rear wheel arch.

A 2.8 L Biturbo V6 was installed, producing 280 hp (SAE) (208 kW), reaching a top speed of 255 km/h (158 mph) while the Italians even had a 2.0 L Biturbo V6 producing 283 hp (SAE) (211 kW) on their price list. A V8 3.2 L Biturbo was announced in 1995, developing 330 hp (SAE) (246 kW) and reaching 263 km/h (163 mph).

When Ferrari took over Maserati, it introduced a Quattroporte Evoluzione in 1998. This improved model saw the famous oval Maserati clock disappear from the interior. Production stopped in 2000.

Quattroporte V (2004 – today)

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In 2004, Maserati started production of the Quattroporte, with the same 4.2 L engine as the Coupe and Spyder but improved to 400 hp (SAE) (298 kW). Due to the greater weight than the Coupe and Spyder, the 0-60 time for the Quattroporte to 5.2 seconds. The Quattroporte made its US première at the 2003 Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance. It continues the long tradition of Quattroporte luxury sedans in the Maserati line-up.

The future most likely will see a long wheel-base version of the Quattroporte equipped with a bigger and more powerful engine. Rumored engines include a 5.0 L V8 engine producing 470 hp (SAE) (350 kW) (a bored-up 4.2) and even a Ferrari-612 sourced 5.4 L V12 engine producing 540 hp (SAE) (402 kW). In addition, the new Gran Turismo (Coupé 4-seater; Spyder 2-seater) will use the shortened floorpan of the Quattroporte while the GT Wagon (former Maserati Kubang) could be presented in 2006: a 4x4 SUV based on the Quattroporte.