1000th MASERATI QUATTROPORTE REGISTERED IN THE UK

Maserati GB is proud to announce that the 1000th Quattroporte has just been registered in the UK, since its debut on UK roads in 2004.

The 1000th car, a Maserati Quattroporte Sport GTS in Blu Oceano with Sabbia leather interior, was delivered yesterday by Maserati GB’s Head of Sales Peter Denton and Edward Lovett, Dealer Principal at Dick Lovett Maserati in Swindon, to its proud new owner John Burton. A keen racing driver of World Sports Racing Prototypes (he still races his Chevron B26 that he used to drive in the ‘70s), Mr Burton, accompanied by his wife Rosie, couldn’t wait to get on the road, accompanied by the sound of the GTS’s thrilling V8.

The Maserati Quattroporte, which had its worldwide premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2003, took the sport luxury saloon segment by storm, thanks to its distinctive Italian soul. It speaks for the traditional Maserati values and provides continuity with the great saloons bearing the same name that have achieved success in the past, from the first Quattroporte with Frua body in 1964, to the “presidential” Quattroporte in 1984, of which the Italian President Sandro Pertini was particularly fond.

After five years of success, with 46 awards won internationally, the new Quattroporte range reinforces the model’s exclusive image with a thorough technical and styling upgrade, and with the Quattroporte Sport GTS performance reaches new peaks.

Conceived and developed as “a real driving machine in the guise of a luxury saloon”, the Quattroporte Sport GTS features the new V8 4.7 litre engine with increased power output (440 HP), specific gear-shifting software, front and rear suspension with single-rate dampers, stiffer springs and lower ride height and a sports exhaust controlled by pneumatic valves for a deep, throaty and captivating sound enhanced by large twin-oval tailpipes.

The Maserati Quattroporte Sport GTS is on sale at £89,865.

“Scottish Italian Car Day” 24th May 2009

"Hi Henry,

I hope you are well.

It’s Jim in Edinburgh here with the silver Ghibli Cup.

I was just scrolling through you’re EVENTS listings there and an idea started to form in my head. Italian car get-togethers are so rare in Scotland than they can be counted on one finger. And even this event itself produces very little publicity about itself.

We have, every year at the end of May, the “Scottish Italian Car Day” at Craigtoun Country Park outside St Andrews.

The event, as I understand it is an Alfa Romeo meet onto which a lot of other clubs attend, most notably perhaps the Fiat Coupe club see quite a successful turnout.

All the big guns turn out but as a marque, Maserati is usually a bit of a hit or miss in the representation stakes. – I’ve been one of only two cars previously and also one of ten!

The event is without format and literarily involves a collection of cars in a field, however this is often the only time many people meet up - I witnessed a particularly amusing exchange a few years back between two owners of Lancia Thema 8:3s who had never before met!

The lack of turnout has bothered me for some years, but only recently I have started to think more seriously about trying to motivate local owners to go. Whilst I know only a couple of people locally to talk to who have Tridents on the front of their cars, I cannot help but to have noticed there are now three recent Maserati owners within a mile of where I live in Edinburgh!- including a spanking new GranTurismo which lives outside!

This, I think, is indicative of the relative success of the marque in finding owners which perhaps previously would have been driving something else and I can only assume represents the wider success of the marque internationally. Now, nobody ends up buying a Maserati by accident, and a certain level of inherent enthusiasm must prevail with all owners, as such I would think many (as I am) are perhaps regular visitors to your site and wonder whether it is perhaps worth a small note to everyone to publicise the event to the local Trident community.

The event will be held on the 24th May this year, so Maseratisti please come along if you can make it. It's sure to be great fun!. I will review the footage, but in the meantime, I'm sending you this one now as a taster...

All the best,

Jim."