MASERATI MC20

Rare-groove V6 supercar belatedly goes under the road test microscope

Few products are as rare or dazzling as an all-new mid-engined Maserati supercar. In the modern era, there have been just two, which makes it all the more unforgivable that we, the Autocar road test desk, managed to allow the MC20 to slip between our fingers when it first arrived in this country in 2021.

Of course, we have driven this car, and extensively so, but it has never seen a weighbridge, a tape measure or the vanishing point of MIRA's mile straight. Here, we correct that oversight and commit to the record a formal verdict for this V6-fired, carbon-tubbed statement, tested here in recently released, open-air Cielo guise. Nowadays, supercars are always striking but rarely pretty. The MC20, designed in-house by a team overseen by Klaus Busse, is both. A bluff tail, adorned with only two blunt pipes and the hint of a lip, plus the pursed, 250F-inspired nose, give the car an elegance next to insectoid rivals from Ferrari, McLaren and Lamborghini. Maserati says the underbody was pivotal in achieving aero stability with an unfussy body.

It seems a job proficiently done. And, for once, you can in fact judge the book by its cover, because in mechanical terms the Maserati is also a good deal less complicated than its core rivals, all of which are PHEVs. It uses a 3000cc twinturbo V6 that drives through a Tremec-built eight-speed dualclutch gearbox and a limited-slip differential, optionally controlled electronically. There is no hybrid integration, no four-wheel drive, no rear-wheel steering. There is just a 621bhp driveline hung from extruded aluminium subframes that are attached to a circa-100kg carbonfibre monocoque developed by Dallara, all driven forward by the rear axle alone and damped adaptively. Cast-iron brake discs are carbon-ceramics standard fit, with optional. It's refreshingly simple.