Our Indooroopilly - Article on the Maserati Spyder by Chris Nixon

Chris on Motors

Brisbane Queensland Australia

The Maserati Brothers' pleasure machine...

A CAR like the Maserati Spyder deserves to be taken seriously, but really, I was like anyone else who had been tossed the keys to a $230,000 pleasure machine.

This Italian convertible can do 280 kilometres an hour - 175 miles an hour! In most parts of Australia, that is a "benefit" owners will not be able to experience, so I might as well just sit back and enjoy the beautiful looks, the sumptuous interior - and the admiring stares.

The Spyder is the latest stage in a successful global revival of the illustrious Maserati name. Less well known these days than Ferrari, it is Maserati nevertheless with the greater heritage.

The firm was founded in Bologna in 1914 by the Maserati brothers and enjoyed more than 50 years of success with racing and road models. Then it faltered with a succession of indifferent products before it came under the control of Ferrari, itself owned ultimately by the giant FIAT group.

Where Ferrari and Maserati once were rivals in the world of Italian supercars, it is easy now to see where they fit as members of the same auto family.

Ferrari is the most expensive and overtly sporting in the line-up, a car for determined enthusiasts who identify with the brand's Formula One prowess; Maserati is slightly less expensive - in line with, say, Porsche or Jaguar - has a more subtle presence and emphasises its virtues as a long-distance grand tourer for up to four people; while another prestigious FIAT offshoot, Alfa Romeo, fills the demand for affordable mass-market sporting cars.

(Not a bad array! It's easy to see where Italian cars and drivers get their reputations.)

The first example of Maserati's reinvention was the beautiful 3200 GT coupe three or four years ago. It got people thinking again about the brand and those who saw or bought discovered improved standards of quality and reliability.

The six-cylinder 3200 GT was upgraded last year with a 4.2 litre V8 engine and now the latest version is the beautiful Spyder, which I sampled for a few hours recently thanks to the exclusive Queensland dealer John Cant Motors at Toowong.

The test car was the Maserati Spyder Cambiocorsa, to give it its full and correct name. So even the name has an exotic, musical ring; so much better than having to say "Barina" . . .

Italy's car industry is based in the north of the country and, like the fashion industry, manufacturers such as Maserati turn to the great styling houses to design their products. The Spyder comes from Italdesign-Giugiaro and is everything one would expect of an Italian sports car.

It's sensuous, powerful and elegant, with a long bonnet swooping down to incorporate the traditional Maserati trident emblem in the grille and a curving, muscular tail.

Unlike some sports cars in this market segment, it makes no pretence about taking more than two passengers. The coupe's back seat is lost in the shortened body of the Spyder. So it's just the driver and passenger in electrically-adjustable seats covered in embossed red leather as supple as a Prada handbag.

I won't dwell on the rest of the interior, except to report it's as luxurious and well-equipped as you expect with a $230,000 ticket. Nothing's wanting, except a little more space for oddments.

The convertible roof goes up and down in less than 30 seconds at the touch of a button on the centre console. Unlike many other convertibles, the latches between the top of the windscreen and the leading edge of the hood are automatic, so operating the roof is completely fuss-free.

There are two versions of the new Maserati V8 engine - Fast and Seriously Fast With Turbochargers. The second is reserved for the coupe; Fast (390 horsepower) definitely is sufficient for roof-down touring in the Spyder, if you're not courting premature baldness.

Buyers can choose a conventional six-speed manual gearbox or the Cambiocorsa, which the Playstation generation will understand immediately and explain in one-syllablewords to us grown-ups. With the clutch-less Cambiocorsa, the driver selects either full automatic mode or electronic manual, in which gearchanges are made with two fingertip paddles behind the steering wheel.

One paddle is for Up, the other for Down, just like Michael Schumacher's Formula One Ferrari or your child's Playstation racing simulator. The Cambiocorsa takes a little learning to achieve smooth gearchanges, but overall it's the most sensible choice for everyday driving.

The trouble with cars such as the Maserati is that you feel conspicious whereever you drive. Where you can with impunity put your foot down in an old banger, in the Maserati this is greeted by stares of envy or glares of derision.

It's the noise. Maybe not as loud to bystanders, it fills the cabin with mechanical music when the throttle is opened. The acceleration and accompanying noise are scintillating and all the driver wants to do is find a quiet stretch of road on which to give the Maser its head.

It must be 30 years since Maserati built a convertible sports car worthy of the name, but the Spyder on brief acquaintance appears to fit the bill. It is loaded with 21st Century electronic braking and suspension technology that I haven't even described here and at the same time delivers the essence of a legendary, exotic Italian sports car.

The price puts it in the realm of the Porsche 911 Carrera convertible from Germany and the Jaguar XK8 convertible from Britain, but some $50,000 below the forthcoming Mercedes-Benz SL55 (and, for the record, $135,000 below the Ferrari 360 Spider). Each car has its merits and it's good that at last the Maserati is a credible contender.

Chris