Maser coupe-cabriolet: badge-engineered Alfa anyone?

Newswheel staff :: 16 October 2005 :: Filed under Cabriolet, Coupe, Front engine sportscar, Maserati, Maserati CC, Europe & UK, US

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Maserati CC deets emerge

First the good news. Maserati is working on a new coupe-cabriolet / folding hardtop model for 2008. And the bad news? According to German mag auto-motor-und-sport, it’s a next-gen Alfa 166 underneath. Bugger.

Expected to be powered by a bored-out 3.5-litre, 280bhp revision of Alfa’s GM-derived (keep with us) V6, the new car will disguise its front-drive 166 origins courtesy of an AWD drivetrain. Pricing is predicted to hit the €80,000 mark. However, what will very likely be more difficult to hide is the large front overhang - assuming the next 166 sticks with the usual ahead-of-the-front-axle transverse engine installation. Indeed, for that reason, we doubt the picture above from auto-motor-und-sport is anything more than speculative.

For Maserati fans this represents a rather depressing, if utterly predictable, turn around since the company parted ways with Ferrari. Now aligned with Alfa-Romeo, we’re confronted with the unappetising prospect of a fleet of compromised Maserati models based on whatever kit Alfa happens to have lying around. If that €80k pricing is accurate, the new dumbed-down cars won’t even come at a discount. And as Jaguar proved with the piddle poor X-Type, converting a front-drive chassis to all-wheel-drive is no excuse for a genuine rear-driver.

Linkage:
auto-motor-und-sport (German only)