Renovation work has begun on Maserati’s Modena plant, and with it the production of the Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio comes to an end.
“Production of the Maserati GranTurismo comes to an end and work begins in the Modena plant to update the production line.
“The end of production of the Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio marks the beginning of a new path for the Modena plant,” the company in a statement.
In the wake of the announcement though Maserati unveils a celebratory car all set to tour the world in anticipation of the arrival of a new GranTurismo: the GranTurismo Zèda.
The GranTurismo Zèda sports futuristic exterior shades designed by Centro Stile Maserati. Maserati says the concept tells the story of the dawn of a new era for the company through colours and materials, bridging the past, present and future of the brand.
Meaning “Z” in the Modena dialect, the car according to Maserati pays tribute to the company’s roots and reminds that there is a new beginning for every ending.
Observing the model from the rear section to the front, the surfaces change colour and become richer, shifting from a light satin finish to a burnished “metallurgic” effect.
The midsection slowly morphs once again, deepening all the way to Maserati blue. The blue also evolves, becoming energetic, electri. It seems to be alive, it seems like a mirror.
In parallel, work has already started on a paint shop, a completely new addition to the facility, equipped with low environmental-impact, innovative technologies and boasting a special design enabling customers to personally view the painting of their cars.
Work is also said to be under way to update the production line in view of a total renovation that will see the facility devoted to the construction of the new super sports model, a high-performance car, characterised by state-of-the art technology and scheduled to be presented next year.
The new GranTurismo and GranCabrio, to be produced at the Turin manufacturing hub, also signals the brand’s use of electric technology for the Maserati range of cars, constituting the first models to adopt 100 per cent electric solutions.
The GranTurismo range, presented at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2007, represents a milestone in the history of Maserati. The four-seat, two-door coupé, with Pininfarina’s classic design and a naturally aspirated eight-cylinder engine, came into being as a modern interpretation of the Maserati A6 1500 of 1947.
It has come to be considered, over the course of time, one of the company’s most emblematic cars ever constructed. In 2009, when it debuted at the Frankfurt International Motor Show, the GranCabrio joined the GranTurismo.
After various updates, the GranTurismo saw its final and last version with the MY18, in a restyling effort to improve the aerodynamics, ergonomics and infotainment systems.
The MY18 offered the iconic coupé in 16 exterior colours. Also available were 14 light alloy wheels in six different designs, brake callipers available in nine colours, and exterior carbon and exterior body colour packs.
With the MY18 the GranTurismo and GranCabrio range included two distinctive versions: Sport and MC (Maserati Corse). It created over 400,000 possible combinations.
The Maserati GranTurismo is represented by a 4.7 litre Ferrari V8 engine capable of delivering 460 hp at 7,000 rpm and 520 Nm of maximum torque at 4,750 rpm.
Since 2007, more than 40,000 exemplars of the GranTurismo and GranCabrio have been sold throughout the world: 28,805 GranTurismo and 11,715 GranCabrio.