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The Maserati Quattroporte () is a four-door
full-size Full-size car—also known as large car—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than mid-size cars, it is the largest size class for cars. In Europe, it is known as E-segment or F-segment. Af ...
luxury Luxury may refer to: * Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises *Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars **Luxury tax (sports), surcharge pu ...
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
sedan produced by Italian automobile manufacturer
Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
. The name translated from Italian means "
four 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...
doors A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...
". The car is currently in its sixth generation, with the first generation introduced in 1963.


Quattroporte I (AM107, 1963–1969)

The original Maserati Quattroporte (''Tipo AM107'') was built between 1963 and 1969. It was a large saloon powered by V8 engines—both firsts for a series production Maserati automobile.


History

The task of styling the Quattroporte was given to Turinese coachbuilder
Pietro Frua Pietro Frua (2 May 1913 - 28 June 1983) was one of the leading Italian coachbuilders and car designers during the 1950s and 1960s. Early years Frua was born in Turin, the centre of coachbuilding in northern Italy. He was the fourth son of Angela, ...
, who drew inspiration from a special 5000 GT (chassis number 103.060) which he had designed in 1962 for Prince
Karim Aga Khan Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He h ...
. While the design was by Frua, body construction was carried out by
Vignale Vignale is the luxury car sub-brand of Ford Motor Company used in automobiles sold in Europe. The Quattroporte was introduced at the October–November 1963
Turin Motor Show The Turin Motor Show ( it, Salone dell'Automobile di Torino) was an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from 1 ...
, where a pre-production prototype was on the Maserati stand next to the
Mistral Mistral may refer to: * Mistral (wind) in southern France and Sardinia Automobiles * Maserati Mistral, a Maserati grand tourer produced from 1963 until 1970 * Nissan Mistral, or Terrano II, a Nissan 4×4 produced from 1993 until 2006 * Microp ...
coupé. Regular production began in 1964. The Tipo 107 Quattroporte joined two other grand tourers, the
Facel Vega Facel S.A. was a French manufacturer of pressed steel automobile components, later complete automobiles of their own design. To intensify its World War II war effort, French subcontracting company for military aeronautics Bronzavia created a s ...
and the
Lagonda Rapide The Lagonda Rapide is a hand built full-sized luxury four-door grand tourer which was produced from 1961 until 1964. Description Based on the Aston Martin DB4, it was David Brown's attempt to revive the Lagonda marque which he had purchased in ...
, capable of traveling at speeds of up to on the new motorways in Europe. It was equipped with a 4.1-litre ()
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
, rated at DIN at 5,000 rpm, and equipped with either a five-speed ZF
manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission (mechanics), transmission ...
or a three-speed Borg Warner automatic on request. Maserati claimed a top speed of . The car was also exported to the United States, where federal regulations mandated twin round headlamps in place of the single rectangular ones found on European models. Maserati manufactured 230 of its first generation Quattroportes Between 1963 and 1966.


Series II (1966–1969)

In 1966, Maserati revised the Tipo 107, adding the twin headlights already used on the U.S. model. A
leaf-sprung A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, i ...
solid axle Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structural ri ...
took place of the previous De Dion tube. The interior was completely redesigned, including the dashboard which now had a full width wood-trimmed fascia. In 1968 alongside the 4.1-litre a 4.7-litre version became also available (''AM107/4700''), developing DIN. Top speed increased to a claimed , making the Quattroporte 4700 the fastest four-door sedan in the world at the time. Around 500 of the second series were made, for a total of 776 ''Tipo 107'' Quattroportes. Production ended in 1969.


Specifications

The first generation of the Quattroporte had a steel
unibody A vehicle frame, also historically known as its '' chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car ha ...
structure, complemented by a front subframe. Front suspension was
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
, with
coil spring A selection of conical coil springs The most common type of spring is the coil spring, which is made out of a long piece of metal that is wound around itself. Coil springs were in use in Roman times, evidence of this can be found in bronze Fib ...
s and hydraulic dampers. Rear suspension used a coil sprung
De Dion tube De Dion rear axle A de Dion tube is a form of non-independent automobile suspension. It is a considerable improvement over the swing axle, Hotchkiss drive, or live axle. Because it plays no part in transmitting power to the drive wheels, it is ...
featuring
inboard brake An inboard brake is an automobile technology wherein the disc brakes are mounted on the chassis of the vehicle, rather than directly on the wheel hubs. Its main advantages are twofold: a reduction in the unsprung weight of the wheel hubs, as this ...
s on the first series, later changed to a more conventional Salisbury leaf sprung solid axle with a single
trailing link A (semi) trailing-arm suspension, sometimes referred to as (semi) trailing-link is a vehicle axle or wheel suspension design in which one or more horizontal arms (or "links"), perpendicular to and forward of the axle, are connecting the axle or w ...
on the second series. On both axles there were
anti-roll bar An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) wheels ...
s. Brakes were solid Girling discs all around. A
limited slip differential A limited-slip differential (LSD) is a type of differential that allows its two output shafts to rotate at different speeds but limits the maximum difference between the two shafts. Limited-slip differentials are often known by the generic tr ...
was optional.


Engines

The long lived quad cam, all-aluminium Maserati V8 engine made its début on the Quattroporte. It featured two chain-driven
overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...
s per bank, 32 angled
valves A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
,
hemispherical combustion chamber A hemispherical combustion chamber is a type of combustion chamber in a reciprocating internal combustion engine with a domed cylinder head notionally in the approximate shape of a hemisphere (in reality usually a spheric section thereof). An en ...
s, inserted cast iron wet
cylinder liner In a reciprocating engine, the cylinder is the space in which a piston travels. The inner surface of the cylinder is formed from either a thin metallic liner (also called "sleeve") or a surface coating applied to the engine block. A piston is s ...
s, and was fed through an aluminium, water-cooled
inlet manifold In automotive engineering, an inlet manifold or intake manifold (in American English) is the part of an engine that supplies the fuel/air mixture to the cylinders. The word '' manifold'' comes from the Old English word ''manigfeald'' (from th ...
by four downdraft twin-choke
Weber carburetor Weber Carburetors is an automotive manufacturing company founded in 1923, known for their carburetors. History Eduardo Weber began his automotive career working for Fiat, first at their Turin plant (in 1914) and later at a dealership in Bologna ...
s—initially 38 DCNL 5 and 40 DCNL 5 on 4200 and 4700 cars respectively, later changed to 40 DCNF 5 and 42 DCNF 5 starting from December 1968.


Special models (AM121, 1971 and 1974)

In 1971,
Karim Aga Khan Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He h ...
ordered another special one-off based on the Maserati Indy platform. Rory Brown was commissioned as the chief engineer of the project. The car received the 4.9-litre V8 engine (''Tipo AM 107/49''), rated at . Carrozzeria Frua designed the car, the prototype of which was displayed in 1971 and 1972 in Paris and Geneva respectively. The car was production ready, even receiving its own chassis code (AM 121), but new owner Citroën used their influence to have Maserati develop the SM-based Quattroporte II instead. Only two vehicles were finished, chassis #004 was sold by Maserati to the Aga Khan in 1974, and the prototype #002 went to the
King of Spain , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
, who bought the car directly from Frua.


Quattroporte II (AM123, 1974–1978)

The second generation Quattroporte, named Maserati Quattroporte II (''AM 123''), was introduced at the
Paris Motor Show The Paris Motor Show (french: Mondial de l'Automobile) is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held during October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show presently take ...
and the
Turin Motor Show The Turin Motor Show ( it, Salone dell'Automobile di Torino) was an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from 1 ...
in October 1974. As the result of
Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...
’s joint-venture with Maserati in 1968, Quattroporte II was very different from its predecessor and the other Maserati cars in the past. Basing on a stretched
Citroën SM The Citroën SM is a high-performance coupé produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1970 to 1975. The SM placed third in the 1971 European Car of the Year contest, trailing its stablemate Citroën GS, and won the 1972 ''Motor Tre ...
chassis, Quattroporte II featured the mid-engine,
front-wheel-drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional lon ...
layout,
hydropneumatic suspension Hydropneumatic suspension is a type of motor vehicle suspension system, designed by Paul Magès, invented by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars, as well as being used under licence by other car manufacturers, notably Rolls-Royce ( Silver Shado ...
, four fixed headlamps with two swivelling directional headlights, and V6 engine. The bodywork was designed by
Marcello Gandini Marcello Gandini (born 26 August 1938) is an Italian car designer, known for his work with the automotive design house Gruppo Bertone, including his designs of the Lamborghini Miura, Countach, and the Lamborghini Diablo. In a 2009 interview wit ...
at
Bertone Bertone is an Italian surname meaning "descendant of Roberto". Notable people with the surname include: * Alicia Bertone, American academic, researcher, and veterinary surgeon * Catherine Bertone (born 1972), Turkish-born female Italian marathon r ...
. Maserati had planned to equip Quattroporte II with V8 engine, but the Maserati’s Tipo 107 V8 engine was too large for Citroën SM chassis and too obsolete. A prototype 4.0-litre V8 engine was built from two compact Citroën-Maserati V6 engines. Maserati cut through the rear cylinders in half on one block (2.5 cylinders per bank, discarding the rear) and the middle cylinders in half on another block (1.5 cylinders per bank, discarding the front) then welded the blocks together. The output was . The new V8 engine was fitted to Citroën SM for durability test that lasted and to prove that the chassis was robust enough to handle more power.
Alejandro de Tomaso Alejandro de Tomaso (10 July 1928 in Buenos Aires – 21 May 2003 in Modena, Italy) was a racing driver and businessman from Argentina. His name is sometimes seen in an Italianised form as ''Alessandro de Tomaso''. He participated in two Formula ...
, the Italian entrepreneur who took over Maserati in 1975, cancelled the V8 engine programme. A single running prototype was built and tested in 1974. The
1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...
and the collapse of Citroën’s finances in 1974 prevented Maserati from gaining the EEC approval for the European market. The production did not commence until 1976, and each Quattroporte II was built to order and sold in the Middle East and Spain where the type approval wasn’t needed. Only twelve production cars were built from 1976 to 1978. The engineering and development had cost Maserati about four billion lire by the time the production ended in 1978.


Quattroporte III/Royale (AM330, 1979–1990)

The third generation of the Maserati Quattroporte (''Tipo AM 330'') was developed under the
Alejandro de Tomaso Alejandro de Tomaso (10 July 1928 in Buenos Aires – 21 May 2003 in Modena, Italy) was a racing driver and businessman from Argentina. His name is sometimes seen in an Italianised form as ''Alessandro de Tomaso''. He participated in two Formula ...
-GEPI ownership. After the Citroën-era
front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longit ...
Quattroporte II, the third generation returned to
rear-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-wheel ...
with a large Maserati
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
. The exterior was designed by
Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was born in Garessio, Cuneo, Piedmont. Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted ...
.


History

From 1974 to 1976,
Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was born in Garessio, Cuneo, Piedmont. Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted ...
presented two
Italdesign Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A. is a design and engineering company and brand based in Moncalieri, Italy, that traces its roots to the 1968 foundation of Studi Italiani Realizzazione Prototipi S.p.A. by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani. Best kno ...
show cars on Maserati platforms, called the Medici I and Medici II. The latter had features that would make it into the production version of the third-generation of the Quattroporte. A pre-production Quattroporte was introduced to the press by the then Maserati president
Alejandro de Tomaso Alejandro de Tomaso (10 July 1928 in Buenos Aires – 21 May 2003 in Modena, Italy) was a racing driver and businessman from Argentina. His name is sometimes seen in an Italianised form as ''Alessandro de Tomaso''. He participated in two Formula ...
on 1 November 1976, in advance of its début at the
Turin Motor Show The Turin Motor Show ( it, Salone dell'Automobile di Torino) was an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from 1 ...
later that month. It was only three years later though, in 1979, that the production version of the car went on sale. De Tomaso, who disliked Citroën, removed all of the influence of the French marque from the car. The quad-cam V8 engines built from scratch for the Kyalami were used as well as other mechanical parts. The SM V8 engine prototype under development in the Citroën ownership was also scrapped and the staff was replaced, the most notable being head engineer Giulio Alfieri who was replaced by Aurelio Bertocchi. The hydraulic system of the Quattroporte II was replaced by a conventional power steering setup and the suspension geometry was akin to the
Jaguar XJ The Jaguar XJ is a series of full-size luxury cars produced by British automobile manufacturer Jaguar Cars (becoming Jaguar Land Rover in 2013) from 1968 to 2019. It was produced across five basic platform generations (debuting in 1968, 1986, 1 ...
. Initially badging reading "4PORTE" was used, but this was changed in 1981 to ones spelling out "Quattroporte." Two versions of the V8 engine were available: a version generating a maximum power output of , and a smaller built-to-order engine generating , which was phased out in 1981. The interior was upholstered in leather and trimmed in
briar wood ''Erica arborea'', the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an or ...
. The climate controls came from the
Mopar Mopar is the parts, service, and customer care division of the former Chrysler Corporation, now owned by Netherlands-based automobile manufacturer Stellantis. It serves as a primary OEM accessory seller for Stellantis brands under the Mopar bran ...
parts bin on early US-spec cars. In 1984, the climate control system was upgraded to share parts with the mass produced
Biturbo Twin-turbo (not to be confused with a twincharger setup, which is a combination of a supercharger and a turbocharger) refers to an engine in which two turbochargers work in tandem to compress the intake fuel/air mixture (or intake air, in the case ...
. The Quattroporte III marked the last of the hand-built Italian cars; all exterior joints and seams were filled to give a seamless appearance. From 1987 onwards, the Royale superseded the Quattroporte. The Quattroporte III was an instant success and 120 units were sold in Italy in 1980 alone.


Maserati Royale

On 14 December 1986, at Maserati's 60th anniversary as a car manufacturer, De Tomaso presented the Maserati Royale in Modena, a built-to-order, ultra-luxury version of the Quattroporte. It featured a higher compression 4.9-litre V8 engine, generating a maximum power output of . Besides the usual leather upholstery and veneer trim, the car featured a revised dashboard with an analogue clock, four electrically adjustable seats, retractable veneered tables in the rear doors, and a
mini-bar A minibar is a small refrigerator, typically an absorption refrigerator, in a hotel room or cruise ship stateroom. The hotel staff fill it with drinks and snacks for the guest to purchase during their stay. It is stocked with a precise invento ...
. Visually, the Royale was distinguished by new disc-shaped
alloy wheel In the automotive industry, alloy wheels are wheels that are made from an alloy of aluminium or magnesium. Alloys are mixtures of a metal and other elements. They generally provide greater strength over pure metals, which are usually much soft ...
s and silver-coloured side sills. A limited production run of 120 cars was announced, but when production ceased in 1990 only 53 cars were completed. In all, including the Royale, production of the Quattroporte III amounted to 2,155 units in total.


Specifications

The Quattroporte III utilised an all-steel
unibody A vehicle frame, also historically known as its '' chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car ha ...
structure. The chassis was related to that of the
Kyalami Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has ho ...
, in turn derived from the
De Tomaso Longchamp The De Tomaso Longchamp is a grand tourer which was produced by the Italian automaker De Tomaso from 1972 to 1989. History The Longchamp was derived from the De Tomaso Deauville four-door saloon, using a shorter wheelbase chassis with the same s ...
and therefore ultimately related to the
De Tomaso Deauville The De Tomaso Deauville is a luxury four-door saloon first exhibited at the 1970 Turin Motor Show. The Deauville was powered by the same 351 in³ (5,763 cc) ''Ford Cleveland'' V8 as the De Tomaso Pantera, rated at . The car has a top s ...
luxury saloon. Front suspension was of the
double wishbone A double wishbone suspension is an independent suspension design for automobiles using two (occasionally parallel) wishbone-shaped arms to locate the wheel. Each wishbone or arm has two mounting points to the chassis and one joint at the knuckle ...
type, with single coaxial
damper A damper is a device that deadens, restrains, or depresses. It may refer to: Music * Damper pedal, a device that mutes musical tones, particularly in stringed instruments * A mute for various brass instruments Structure * Damper (flow), a mechan ...
s and
coil spring A selection of conical coil springs The most common type of spring is the coil spring, which is made out of a long piece of metal that is wound around itself. Coil springs were in use in Roman times, evidence of this can be found in bronze Fib ...
s and an
anti-roll bar An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) wheels ...
. The rear axle used a peculiar layout very similar to
Jaguar independent rear suspension Jaguar's independent rear suspension (IRS) unit has been a common component of a number of Jaguar production cars since 1961, passing through two major changes of configuration up to 2006 and last used in the Jaguar XK8 and Aston Martin DB7. ...
. Each cast aluminium hub carrier was linked to the chassis only by a single lower
wishbone Wishbone commonly refers to: * Furcula, a fork-shaped bone in birds and some dinosaurs Wishbone may also refer to: * Wish-Bone, an American salad dressing and condiment company * Wishbone formation, a type of offense in American football * Wish ...
, the
half shaft An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearin ...
s doubling as upper control arms, and was sprung by twin coaxial dampers and coil springs units. Rear brakes were mounted inboard, the callipers were bolted directly to the housing of the differential. The entire assembly was supported by a bushing-insulated
crossbeam A beam is a structural element that primarily resists loads applied laterally to the beam's axis (an element designed to carry primarily axial load would be a strut or column). Its mode of deflection is primarily by bending. The loads applied to ...
. Initially a Salisbury-type
limited slip differential A limited-slip differential (LSD) is a type of differential that allows its two output shafts to rotate at different speeds but limits the maximum difference between the two shafts. Limited-slip differentials are often known by the generic tr ...
was used; in 1984 it was replaced by a more advanced Gleason-licensed
Torsen Torsen Torque-Sensing (full name Torsen traction) is a type of limited-slip differential used in automobiles. It was invented by American Vernon Gleasman and manufactured by the Gleason Corporation. Torsen is a portmanteau of Torque-Sensing. ''TO ...
—or "Sensitork" in Maserati parlance. The engine was an evolution of Maserati's own all-aluminium, quad
overhead cam An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...
V8, fed by four
Weber carburetor Weber Carburetors is an automotive manufacturing company founded in 1923, known for their carburetors. History Eduardo Weber began his automotive career working for Fiat, first at their Turin plant (in 1914) and later at a dealership in Bologna ...
s. The automatic transmission used was a three-speed Chrysler A727 "Torqueflite" gearbox. The manual gearboxes are ZF S5 five speed units. When leaving the factory all the cars were originally fitted with
Pirelli Cinturato The Pirelli Cinturato is a Pirelli-developed car tyre that was the first example of a wrap-around radial tyre structure. It was used to good effect in motorsport, and most modern tyres are based upon the design. The five-times Formula One World C ...
205VR15 tyres (CN72).


Coachbuilders

Milanese
coachbuilder A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...
Carrozzeria Pavesi outfitted several armoured Quattroportes during the 1980s. One of them, a 1983 Blu Sera example nicknamed ''Calliope'', was notably used by
President of the Italian Republic President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Sandro Pertini Alessandro "Sandro" Pertini (; 25 September 1896 – 24 February 1990) was an Italian socialist politician who served as the president of Italy from 1978 to 1985. Early life Born in Stella (Province of Savona) as the son of a wealthy landown ...
as the
official state car An official state car is a vehicle used by a government to transport its head of state or head of government in an official capacity, which may also be used occasionally to transport other members of the government or visiting dignitaries from ot ...
during his tenure. Autocostruzioni SD of Turinese coachbuilder
Salvatore Diomante Salvatore Diomante is an automobile engineer and restorer, best known as Bizzarrini's factory manager in the 1960s. Diomante resides in Nichelino, Italy and operates Autocostruzioni S.D., where he keeps parts, special tools and original moulds f ...
also offered a 65 cm longer limousine version, fully equipped with white leather, "abundant burr walnut", mini-bar, video cassette player and many other necessities. The price of the Diomante limousine at its introduction in 1986 was 210 million lire.


Quattroporte IV (AM337 1994–2001)

The fourth generation of the Quattroporte (''Tipo AM337'') was manufactured from 1994 to 2001 and was the first car to be produced under the
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
ownership after Alejandro de Tomaso sold his entire holding to the Italian marque in 1993. It was built on an evolved and stretched version of the
Biturbo Twin-turbo (not to be confused with a twincharger setup, which is a combination of a supercharger and a turbocharger) refers to an engine in which two turbochargers work in tandem to compress the intake fuel/air mixture (or intake air, in the case ...
saloon's architecture, and used the
twin-turbocharged Twin-turbo (not to be confused with a twincharger setup, which is a combination of a supercharger and a turbocharger) refers to an engine in which two turbochargers work in tandem to compress the intake fuel/air mixture (or intake air, in the case ...
V6 and later the new AM578 V8 engine from the Shamal flagship grand tourer. For this reason, the car retained very compact exterior dimensions, and is smaller than any of its predecessors and successors. As the designer's signature angular rear wheel arches gave away, the wedge-shaped aerodynamic () body was penned by
Marcello Gandini Marcello Gandini (born 26 August 1938) is an Italian car designer, known for his work with the automotive design house Gruppo Bertone, including his designs of the Lamborghini Miura, Countach, and the Lamborghini Diablo. In a 2009 interview wit ...
.


History

The world première of the fourth generation of the Quattroporte took place at the April 1994
Turin Motor Show The Turin Motor Show ( it, Salone dell'Automobile di Torino) was an auto show held annually in Turin, Italy. The first official show took place between 21 and 24 April 1900, at the Castle of Valentino, becoming a permanent fixture in Turin from 1 ...
and the car went on sale towards the end of the year. Initially the Quattroporte was powered by the twin-turbocharged, 24-valve V6 engines from the
Ghibli Ghibli (Italian: , also used in English), the name of a hot desert wind also known as sirocco, derived from Libyan Arabic (, ). Ghibli may refer to: Vehicles * Maserati Ghibli, a model of car made by Italian auto manufacturer Maserati * Capron ...
. For export markets there was a 2.8-litre unit, generating a maximum power output of and allowing the car to attain a claimed top speed of . As local taxation strongly penalised cars over two-litre in displacement, Italian buyers were offered a 2.0 L version, which developed a little more power () but less torque than the 2.8-litre version; on the home market, the 2.8 was not offered until a year after its introduction. The cabin was fully upholstered in
Connolly leather Connolly Leather Limited was a British company that supplied highly finished leather primarily to car manufacturers. Founded in 1878, it went out of business in that form in 2002. A successor firm, Connolly Brothers, UK, has resumed producing ...
and trimmed in elm burl wood veneer. Weight was also reduced by at least as compared to the Quattroporte III primarily due to the compact Biturbo underpinnings and by the use of a compact powerplant. After having been displayed in December 1995 at the
Bologna Motor Show The Bologna Motor Show (known as the "''Salone internazionale dell'auto e della moto di Bologna''" in Italian) was an auto show which was scheduled to be held annually in December, in Bologna, Italy. The editions of 2009 and 2012 were the shor ...
, a 3.2-litre twin-turbocharged V8 Quattroporte was added to the range in 1996: the new AM578 engine, an evolution of the Shamal V8, generated a maximum power output of 335 PS (247 kW; 330 hp). The top speed was claimed to be . At the same time, some minor updates were introduced on all models: new eight-spoke alloy wheels and aerodynamic
wing mirror A side-view mirror (or side mirror), also known as a wing mirror, is a mirror placed on the exterior of motor vehicles for the purposes of helping the driver see areas behind and to the sides of the vehicle, outside the driver's peripheral v ...
s, and ''seicilindri'' or ''ottocilindri'' (Italian for "six" and "eight-cylinders" respectively) badges on the front fenders, denoting which engine was under the bonnet. As standard, all the three engines were mated to a
Getrag Getrag (), stylized as GETRAG, was a major supplier of transmission systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. The company was founded on 1 May 1935, in Ludwigsburg, Germany, by Hermann Hagenmeyer; as the ''Getriebe und Zahnradfabrik ...
6-speed
manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission (mechanics), transmission ...
, while 4-speed
automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...
s were available on request with the 2.8 and 3.2 engines respectively— 4HP22 by
ZF Friedrichshafen ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, originally ''Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen'', and commonly abbreviated to ZF (ZF = "Zahnradfabrik" = "Cogwheel Factory"), is a German car parts maker headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south- ...
and a computer-controlled transmission supplied by an Australian firm
BTR BTR may refer to: Companies * BTR Aerospace Group * BTR plc, formerly BTR Industries, one of the predecessor companies of Invensys plc * British Thomson-Houston (former name BTR), a British engineering and heavy industrial company Media, music, ...
. In July 1997, Fiat's subsidiary
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
acquired a 50% controlling stake in Maserati S.p.A.. Ferrari immediately undertook a renewal of Maserati's dated production facilities, as well as made improvements to the manufacturing methods and quality control. The steps taken by the new parent company resulted in the improved Quattroporte Evoluzione which was introduced at the March 1998
Geneva Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by th ...
. It featured 400 all-new or modified parts out of a total 800 main components. Powertrains and performance remained unvaried, save for the adoption of the same
BTR BTR may refer to: Companies * BTR Aerospace Group * BTR plc, formerly BTR Industries, one of the predecessor companies of Invensys plc * British Thomson-Houston (former name BTR), a British engineering and heavy industrial company Media, music, ...
transmission from the 3.2 V8 for the automatic 2.8 V6 model. The Evoluzione no longer had the oval Maserati clock on the dashboard and had redesigned wing mirrors. Ferrari management decided to drop the 2.0 L V6 from the Evoluzione lineup, when they were offered alongside the new 3200 GT, and so the new cars were distinguished from the earlier models by ''V6 evoluzione'' or ''V8 evoluzione'' badges on the front fenders. Production of the fourth generation of the Quattroporte ended in May 2001 and 2,400 units were made in total with 730 being the Evoluzione versions. Japanese importer Cornes & Co. ordered a special numbered edition of the Quattroporte for their customers. ''Cornes Serie Speciale'' were the last cars built and were limited to only 50 examples. Available in both V6 and V8 Evoluzione variants, all were equipped with the automatic transmission. This special edition is the only Quattroporte to have a Maserati badge inserted into the C-door-pillar. Even though other Evoluziones had the Lassale clock replaced with the Maserati trident, this edition retained the original timepiece.


Specifications

The Quattroporte is a four-door, five-seater saloon with a steel
unibody A vehicle frame, also historically known as its '' chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car ha ...
construction. The overall layout remained unchanged from the Biturbo from which the car descended:
longitudinal Longitudinal is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Longitude ** Line of longitude, also called a meridian * Longitudinal engine, an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, ...
front engine In automotive design, a front-engine, front-wheel-drive (FWD) layout, or FF layout, places both the internal combustion engine and driven roadwheels at the front of the vehicle. Usage implications Historically, this designation was used reg ...
,
rear-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-wheel ...
, all-
independent suspension Independent suspension is any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically (i.e. reacting to a bump on the road) independently of the others. This is contrasted with a beam axle or deDion axle system in w ...
with
MacPherson strut The MacPherson strut is a type of automotive suspension system that uses the top of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in the front suspension of modern vehicles, and is named for American automotive engineer Ear ...
s upfront and
trailing arm A (semi) trailing-arm suspension, sometimes referred to as (semi) trailing-link is a vehicle axle or wheel suspension design in which one or more horizontal arms (or "links"), perpendicular to and forward of the axle, are connecting the axle or ...
s at the rear. Despite these similarities, the suspension had been re-engineered: rear trailing arms had a tube framework structure like on the Shamal, together with the
limited slip differential A limited-slip differential (LSD) is a type of differential that allows its two output shafts to rotate at different speeds but limits the maximum difference between the two shafts. Limited-slip differentials are often known by the generic tr ...
. These two components were attached to the body via a newly designed tubular
subframe A subframe is a structural component of a vehicle, such as an automobile or an aircraft, that uses a discrete, separate structure within a larger body-on-frame or unit body to carry certain components, such as the engine, drivetrain, or suspens ...
.


Engines


Quattroporte V (M139, 2003–2012)

The fifth generation of the Quattroporte (''Tipo M139'') debuted at the
Frankfurt Motor Show The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility shows. It cons ...
on 9 September 2003 and made its U.S. première at the 2003
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is an automotive charitable event held each year on the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. It is widely considered the pinnacle event of its kind and one of the most prestigious car events in ...
; production started in 2003. Exterior and interior design was penned by
Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 December 2015, the Indian mu ...
's then chief designer
Ken Okuyama Ken Okuyama (born 1959) is a Japanese industrial designer. He is the owner of the Ken Okuyama Design company. Okuyama formerly worked for Pininfarina, designing and supervising projects such as the Enzo Ferrari and Ferrari P4/5. His given name is ...
. The last M139 Quattroporte was built on 20 December 2012. Built on an entirely new platform named the M139, it was longer than its predecessor and sat on a longer wheelbase. The same architecture would later underpin the GranTurismo and GranCabrio coupés and convertibles. Initially, the Quattroporte was powered by an evolution of the naturally aspirated
dry sump A dry-sump system is a method to manage the lubricating motor oil in four-stroke and large two-stroke piston driven internal combustion engines. The dry-sump system uses two or more oil pumps and a separate oil reservoir, as opposed to a conve ...
4.2-litre
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
, as used in the
Maserati Coupé The Maserati Coupé and Spyder (''Tipo M138'') are a series of grand tourers produced by Italian automaker Maserati from 2001 to 2007. The two nameplates refer to the four-seater coupé and two-seater convertible models, respectively. The design ...
, with an improved power output of and new black plastic inlet manifold instead of an aluminium cast one. Due to its greater weight compared to the Coupé and Spyder, the 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) acceleration time for the Quattroporte is 5.2 seconds and the top speed is measured at . Over 5,000 cars were built in 2006.


History


2003–2008

The Maserati Quattroporte was initially offered in only one configuration, equipped with an automated manual transmission, marketed as ''DuoSelect''. The base Quattroporte DuoSelect featured a chrome grille with horizontal slats, adaptive suspension, marketed as ''Skyhook'', 330 mm brake disks with four piston calipers at each wheel. Maserati offered fifteen exterior paint colours,
Poltrona Frau Poltrona Frau is a furniture-maker founded in 1912 by Sardinian-born Renzo Frau in Turin, Italy, headquartered since the early 1960s in Tolentino, Italy and specializing in leather seating for interior and automotive applications. The company nam ...
leather upholstery in ten colors, contrasting seat piping and stitching and three types of wood inserts. In 2004, the American luxury department store
Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...
offered a limited edition of the Quattroporte, only available for order through the retailer's 2004 Christmas Catalog at a price of 125,000 USD. Each of the 60 Neiman Marcus Quattroportes was finished in Bordeaux Pontevecchio (wine red) exterior colour and featured a chrome mesh-front grill along with side vents and 19-inch ball-polished wheels. The interior was upholstered in ivory
Poltrona Frau Poltrona Frau is a furniture-maker founded in 1912 by Sardinian-born Renzo Frau in Turin, Italy, headquartered since the early 1960s in Tolentino, Italy and specializing in leather seating for interior and automotive applications. The company nam ...
leather accented with Bordeaux piping and mahogany wood trim. At the
Frankfurt Motor Show The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility shows. It cons ...
in September 2005, Maserati introduced two different trim levels for the Quattroporte, the Executive GT and Sport GT. The Quattroporte Executive GT was a comfort and luxury-oriented specification; it came equipped with a wood-rimmed steering wheel, an Alcantara-suede interior roof lining; ventilated, adaptive, massaging rear seats, rear air conditioning controls, veneered retractable rear tables, and curtain shades on the rear windows. The exterior was distinguished by 19 inch eight-spoke ball-polished alloy wheels and chrome mesh front and side grilles. The Quattroporte Sport GT variant offered several performance upgrades: a re-configured transmission providing faster gearshifts and a firmer Skyhook suspension system; courtesy of new software calibrations, seven-spoke 20 inch wheels with low-profile tyres, cross-drilled brake rotors, and braided brake lines. Model-specific exterior trim included dark
mesh A mesh is a barrier made of connected strands of metal, fiber, or other flexible or ductile materials. A mesh is similar to a web or a net in that it has many attached or woven strands. Types * A plastic mesh may be extruded, oriented, ex ...
front and side grilles and red accents to the Trident badges, as on vintage racing Maserati models. Inside, there were aluminium pedals, a sport steering wheel and
carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
in place of the standard wood inserts. A new 6-speed ZF-supplied automatic transmission was presented at the
Detroit Motor Show The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), also known as the Detroit Auto Show as of 2022 and prior to NAIAS, is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., at Huntington Place. The show was held in January from 1989 to 2019. I ...
in January 2007, with the first cars delivered right after the launch, marketed as Maserati Quattroporte Automatica. As all the three trim levels were offered in both DuoSelect and Automatica versions, the lineup grew to six models. The Quattroporte Sport GT S was introduced at the
Frankfurt Motor Show The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility shows. It cons ...
in September 2007. Taking further the Sport GT's focus on handling, this version employed Bilstein single-rate dampers in place of the Skyhook adaptive system. Other changes from the Sport GT were a lowered ride height and 10 mm wider 295/30 rear tyres, front
Brembo Brembo S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of automotive brake systems, especially for high-performance cars and motorcycles. Its head office is in Curno, Bergamo, Italy. History Brembo was established in Paladina, Italy on January 11, 1961 ...
iron/aluminium dual-cast brake rotors and red-painted six-piston callipers. The cabin was upholstered in mixed Alcantara and leather, with carbon fibre accents; on the exterior, the door handles were painted in body colour, while the exterior trim, the 20 inch wheels and the exhaust pipes were finished in a "dark chrome" shade. At the 2008
North American International Auto Show The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), also known as the Detroit Auto Show as of 2022 and prior to NAIAS, is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., at Huntington Place. The show was held in January from 1989 to 2019. ...
, Maserati launched the Quattroporte Collezione Cento, a special edition of the Quattroporte limited to 100 examples. Its unique specification featured an ivory paint colour with a waist coachline, matched to Cuoio tan tufted leather upholstery and Wengé trim inlaid with
mother of pearl Nacre ( , ), also known as mother of pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer; it is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is ...
. Standard equipment comprised most of the available
infotainment Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of infor ...
options.


2008–2012 facelift

The facelift Quattroporte débuted at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. Overseen by Pininfarina, the facelift featured redevised bumpers, side sills and
wing mirror A side-view mirror (or side mirror), also known as a wing mirror, is a mirror placed on the exterior of motor vehicles for the purposes of helping the driver see areas behind and to the sides of the vehicle, outside the driver's peripheral v ...
s (the latter carried over from the GranTurismo), a convex front grille with vertical bars instead of horizontal, new headlights and tail lights with directional
bi-xenon A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...
main beams and LED turn signals. Inside there was a new navigation and entertainment system. All Quattroporte models now used the ZF automatic transmission, with the DuoSelect being discontinued. The 4.2-litre Quattroporte featured single-rate damping comfort-tuned suspension and 18 inch wheels. Debuting alongside was the Quattroporte S, powered by a wet-sump 4.7-litre V8 engine, the same engine utilised in the Maserati GranTurismo, Maserati GranTurismo S, with a maximum power output of and maximum torque of . In conjunction with the engine, the braking system was upgraded to cross-drilled discs on both axles and dual-cast 360 mm rotors with six piston callipers at the front. Skyhook active damping suspension and 19 inch V-spoke wheels were standard. Trim differences from the standard 4.2-litre cars were limited to a chrome instead of a titanium-coloured front grille. Production of the facelift Quattroporte models started in June 2008. The Quattroporte Sport GT S premièred at the
North American International Auto Show The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), also known as the Detroit Auto Show as of 2022 and prior to NAIAS, is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., at Huntington Place. The show was held in January from 1989 to 2019. ...
in January 2009. Its 4.7-litre V8 has a maximum power output of , ten more than the Quattroporte S, owing to a revised intake and a sport exhaust system with electronically actuated bypass valves. Other mechanical changes were made to the suspension system, where the Sport GT S single-rate dampers took place of the Skyhook system, ride height was further lowered and stiffer springs were adopted. The exterior was distinguished by a specific front grille with concave vertical bars, black headlight bezels, red accents on the Trident badges, the absence of chrome window trim, body colour door handles and black double oval exhaust pipes instead of the quad round exhaust pipes found on other Quattroporte models. On the interior, the veneer trim was replaced by "Titan Tex" composite material and the cabin was upholstered in mixed Alcantara and leather. The Quattroport
Centurion Edition
was presented in March 2009 for the UK market. It was special version developed only for the holders of black American Express cards. The car was finished in black exterior colour and with the Centurion logo on the headrests and instrument panel. The engines available were the standard 4.2-litre and 4.7-litre V8. A special edition of the Quattroporte GT S was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show#2010, 2010 Geneva Motor Show: the Quattroporte Sport GT S Awards Edition, celebrating the 56 awards received by the fifth generation of the Quattroporte in just six years since its launch. Its unique specification consisted of "Nero pianoforte" or specially-developed pale gold "Quarzo fuso" Pearlescent coating, pearlescent paint, satin grey wheels, polished brake callipers and all chrome trim in a dark finish.


Sales


Specifications

The Quattroporte's body is a steel Vehicle frame#unibody, unibody, with an aluminium boot lid and engine bonnet; the coefficient of drag is . Front and rear aluminium
subframe A subframe is a structural component of a vehicle, such as an automobile or an aircraft, that uses a discrete, separate structure within a larger body-on-frame or unit body to carry certain components, such as the engine, drivetrain, or suspens ...
s support the whole suspension and drivetrain. A 47%/53% front/rear weight distribution was achieved by setting the engine behind the front axle, inside the wheelbase (Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout#FMR layout, front-mid-engine layout) and the adoption of a transaxle layout. With the later automatic transmission - fitted in the conventional position en bloc with the engine - weight distribution changed to 49%/51% front/rear. The suspension system consists of Double wishbone, unequal length control arms with Forging, forged aluminium arms and hub carriers,
coil spring A selection of conical coil springs The most common type of spring is the coil spring, which is made out of a long piece of metal that is wound around itself. Coil springs were in use in Roman times, evidence of this can be found in bronze Fib ...
s and
anti-roll bar An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) wheels ...
s on both axles.


Transmissions

The DuoSelect transmission available at the launch of the fifth generation of the Quattroporte was a development of the ''Cambiocorsa'' unit first used in the
Maserati Coupé The Maserati Coupé and Spyder (''Tipo M138'') are a series of grand tourers produced by Italian automaker Maserati from 2001 to 2007. The two nameplates refer to the four-seater coupé and two-seater convertible models, respectively. The design ...
and built by Graziano Trasmissioni. It was a Ferrari-based automated manual transmission, mounted at the rear axle in the block with the differential in a transaxle layout, with the Clutch#Multiple plate clutch, twin-plate dry clutch located in a bell housing attached to the rear of the engine. A torque tube joined rigidly together the two units. Gear shifting was done via the standard paddle shifters behind the steering wheel; there was no gear lever on the centre tunnel, but rather a small T-shaped handle used to quickly engage first gear and reverse when maneuvering at slow speed. The 6-speed torque converter
automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...
was a ZF 6HP26 transmission, 6HP26 supplied by
ZF Friedrichshafen ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, originally ''Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen'', and commonly abbreviated to ZF (ZF = "Zahnradfabrik" = "Cogwheel Factory"), is a German car parts maker headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south- ...
. Unlike the DuoSelect, it was placed in the conventional position right behind the engine; to accommodate it and the new rear differential the front and rear subframes as well as part of the transmission tunnel had to be redesigned. Manual shifting was possible by the centre-console mounted gear lever; in addition, Sport GT cars came equipped with paddle shifters as standard, while on other models they were an optional extra. All Quattroporte models were fitted with a
limited slip differential A limited-slip differential (LSD) is a type of differential that allows its two output shafts to rotate at different speeds but limits the maximum difference between the two shafts. Limited-slip differentials are often known by the generic tr ...
.


Engines

The
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
s of the fifth generation of the Quattroporte belonged to the Ferrari F136 engine, Ferrari-Maserati F136 family; they had Aluminium alloy, aluminium-silicon alloy block and heads, a crossplane crankshaft, four valves per cylinder driven by two
overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...
s per bank and continuous variable valve timing on the intake side. ''F136S'' 4.2-litre engines in DuoSelect equipped cars used a
dry sump A dry-sump system is a method to manage the lubricating motor oil in four-stroke and large two-stroke piston driven internal combustion engines. The dry-sump system uses two or more oil pumps and a separate oil reservoir, as opposed to a conve ...
lubrication system; ''F136UC'' 4.2-litre engines on automatic cars were converted to use a wet sump oiling system, as did the later 4.7-litre, codenamed ''F136Y''.


Coachbuilders


Bellagio Fastback Touring

In 2008, at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, Milanese
coachbuilder A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...
Carrozzeria Touring, Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera unveiled the Maserati Bellagio Fastback Touring, a 5-door hatchback built on the chassis of the fifth generation of the Quattroporte. In May 2013 a Bellagio Fastback was auctioned by RM Auctions at their Villa Erba event, in occasion of Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este; the price was €117,600. According to the auction house, four examples have been built by Carrozzeria Touring. A Maserati Quattroporte V has also been used as a hearse as seen on the funeral of the Polish president Lech Kaczynski in 2010.


Motorsport

In 2009 Swiss Team announced the development of "Maserati Quattroporte EVO" Superstars Series, International Superstars Series racing cars based on the 4.2-litre Quattroporte M139, to be piloted by Andrea Chiesa. Swiss Team fielded the cars in the 2009 Superstars Series season, 2009, 2010 Superstars Series season, 2010, 2011 Superstars Series season, 2011 and 2012 Superstars Series season, 2012 seasons; Italian racing driver Andrea Bertolini won the 2011 championship season at the wheel of a Swiss Team Quattroporte.


Quattroporte VI (M156, 2013–present)

The current and sixth-generation of the Quattroporte was introduced in early 2013. With a wheelbase it is a considerably larger vehicle than any of its predecessors, to set itself apart from the smaller Maserati Ghibli (M157), Ghibli, which shares its underpinnings. Engine choice includes
twin-turbocharged Twin-turbo (not to be confused with a twincharger setup, which is a combination of a supercharger and a turbocharger) refers to an engine in which two turbochargers work in tandem to compress the intake fuel/air mixture (or intake air, in the case ...
V6 and V8 petrol engines, as well as a turbodiesel V6.


History


Development

The new Quattroporte was designed at a special Maserati-only department within the Fiat Group Centro Stile design centre, under the guidance of ex-Pininfarina designer Lorenzo Ramaciotti. Drivetrains, platform, suspension, and body elements such as the front doors are common to the Quattroporte and the smaller Ghibli saloon, which sits on a shorter wheelbase. The Quattroporte is manufactured at the Officine Maserati Grugliasco plant in Grugliasco, near Turin, dedicated to Giovanni Agnelli; this former
Bertone Bertone is an Italian surname meaning "descendant of Roberto". Notable people with the surname include: * Alicia Bertone, American academic, researcher, and veterinary surgeon * Catherine Bertone (born 1972), Turkish-born female Italian marathon r ...
plant was acquired by Fiat S.p.A. in 2009 and renovated for production of the two cars.


Launch

The current-generation of the Quattroporte was unveiled at the
North American International Auto Show The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), also known as the Detroit Auto Show as of 2022 and prior to NAIAS, is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., at Huntington Place. The show was held in January from 1989 to 2019. ...
in Detroit in January 2013. Production started in November 2012. Initially the range included the twin-turbocharged V8 equipped, rear-wheel drive Quattroporte GTS and the entry level Quattroporte equipped with a twin-turbocharged V6 engine; available with Q4 four-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive depending on the market and the choice of the customer. The flagship GTS can be distinguished by its trapezoidal instead of round tail pipes. A V6 turbodiesel model for European markets was introduced in September 2013 at the Frankfurt Motor Show#2013, Frankfurt Motor Show.


2015 Quattroporte Zegna Limited Edition

A total of 100 Quattroporte Zegna Limited editions were produced for worldwide markets in collaboration with Italian fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna. This unique model based on the Quattroporte GTS features unique exterior and interior details including a custom platinum-metallic silk paint scheme with aluminium pigments the exterior of the car along with matching color coordinated 20-inch wheels. On the interior, the seats, panels, roof lining and sunshades are made from specially-milled silk fibers, high performance leather and woolen herringbone fabrics.


2015

At the November 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show Maserati introduced the model year 2015 range. The Quattroporte GTS received mild cosmetic updates, such as new multi-spoke forged alloy wheels, colour-matched lower bodywork, and red-accented Maserati logos, while all models were given upgraded standard equipment and ampler trim choice.


2019

In 2019, the Maserati Quattroporte GTS was awarded "Best Luxury Vehicle" by the Washington Automotive Press Association (WAPA), in Washington DC. The sixth generation Quattroporte is considered as one of the fastest relatively depreciation, depreciating production cars.


Sales


Specifications


Body and chassis

The Quattroporte uses a mixed steel and aluminium
unibody A vehicle frame, also historically known as its '' chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car ha ...
chassis. Front and rear crash structures, the shock towers, the front wings, all four doors, the engine bonnet and the boot lid are made of aluminium. Quattroporte has a . Front suspension uses Double wishbone suspension, unequal length wishbones with a forged aluminium upright/hub carrier, and an
anti-roll bar An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) wheels ...
; rear suspension is a Multi-link suspension, 5-link, with four aluminium Suspension link, links and a larger, steel fifth lower arm that also serves as a spring seat. A front aluminium
subframe A subframe is a structural component of a vehicle, such as an automobile or an aircraft, that uses a discrete, separate structure within a larger body-on-frame or unit body to carry certain components, such as the engine, drivetrain, or suspens ...
supports the engine by two mounting points; the steering rack and the lower suspension arms. A rear subframe, made of steel, houses the differential and supports all of the five suspension links. Unlike the predecessors, the new Quattroporte has frameless doors.


Engines and performance

The Quattroporte is offered with range of two petrol engines. The Quattroporte GTS features a variant of the F154 engine platform shared with the Ferrari 488, the Ferrari Portofino, Portofino and other Ferrari models. The engine is a 3.8-litre 90° twin-turbocharged V8, generating a maximum power output of . The base engine used throughout the trim levels is a 3.0-litre 60° twin-turbocharged V6 generating a maximum power output of . The same engine is shared with the mid-size Ghibli. Both of the engines are designed and assembled by
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
. The V8 engine of the Quattroporte GTS differs from the other members of the Ferrari F154 family, in that the Maserati version has a crossplane crankshaft and wet sump lubrication. Turbine housings and exhaust manifolds are integrated in a single piece. The engine also has an overboost function which raises the maximum torque from between 2,000 and 4,000 rpm to between 2,250 and 3,500 rpm. The V6 engine blocks are cast and machined to Ferrari's specifications respectively in Chrysler's Kokomo, Indiana and Trenton Engine Plant from where they are then shipped to the Ferrari factory in Modena, Italy for assembly. Apart from the gasoline engines, a diesel engine is also available in the Quattroporte lineage, a 3.0-litre V6 with a single variable geometry turbocharger, designed and assembled by FCA's subsidiary VM Motori. As of the 2018 model year, the Quattroporte S Q4 was upgraded to raise the maximum power to from its twin-turbocharged V6 engine. The GTS also received a power upgrade and now generates a maximum power output of from its twin-turbocharged V8 engine. The Quattroporte GTS can accelerate from in 4.2 seconds and can complete the quarter-mile in 12.7 seconds as evident in Car and Driver's December 2014 road test.


Transmission

All engines are mated to a ZF-supplied ZF 8HP transmission, 8HP70 8-speed automatic gearbox, with four-wheel drive available on the V6 in left-hand drive markets only. The V6 four-wheel drive Q4 drivetrain is the same as that in the Maserati Ghibli (M157), Ghibli. Attached to the end of the 8-speed transmission is a transfer case, containing an electronically controlled multi-plate wet clutch, which sends power through a drive shaft to an open Differential (mechanical device), differential bolted to the oil pan. During normal operation the car is rear-wheel drive only; when needed the system can divert up of 50% of engine torque to the front wheels.


See also

* Riverside International Automotive Museum * Maserati M139 platform


References

*


External links


Maserati Quattroporte
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