Maserati MC20 Cielo

We've already raved about the coupe version, but what does the MC20 lose and gain in the process of shedding its top? 

- JETHRO BOVINGDON

THEY'VE THOUGHT OF EVERYTHING. Sweated the details. Of course they have. Despite the connotations of the name Maserati - which range from impossibly mysterious glamour to characterful oddball to plain old-fashioned shoddy irrelevance, depending on your point of view - it's very obvious that the MC20 supercar and the new spider version, named MC20 Cielo, have been developed with engineering rigour, fully informed of rivals' strengths and weaknesses and with clear performance and dynamic targets. That's just the way it is in 2022. Even at Maserati. And yet, it doesn't feel like it for a second.

That doesn't mean that it's woefully off the pace. Not at all. The MC20 Cielo ('Sky' in Italian) is brutally fast, its carbon-fiber chassis is commendably stiff, it grips and turns with a lightfooted ease that can easily stand comparison with McLaren or Ferrari. It just doesn't feel built to chase or imitate. Instead it treads its own path with great success and provides a wonderful new dynamic experience that's reminiscent of cars as diverse as an Alpine A110, Bugatti EB110 and even the Ferrari F40, yet remains unique. From the chaos of Maserati's spectacularly volatile history, little threads of DNA have been weaved together and a new identity has emerged. I'm sure this was intentional. Agonised over, even. But the MC20 and now the Cielo seem such an organic, effortless project. Oh, it looks pretty good, too.