2006 Maserati Quattroporte Test Drive

Luxury Sedan With A Sports Car Soul

This exquisite Italian is the antithesis of German luxury sedans and not for everyone.

The Maserati Quattroporte — Italian for "four doors" — is utterly unlike any other upscale full-size sedan. In stark contrast to bulky and pragmatic German luxury cars laden with electronics, this soulful Maserati is fashioned for those who actually enjoy driving and delight in controlling a car rather than letting electrons do most of the work.

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It's likely that just a small subset of luxury-sedan buyers will fully appreciate the Quattroporte's high-strung and sporting Italian spirit — as opposed to simply craving one for its inherent cachet. That's not to say that more should: Like peaty Scotch, slack-key guitar or Thomas Pynchon novels, either you get it or you don't.

The Quattroporte is, in the best sense of the phrase, a modern vintage car — not that there's anything old-fashioned about a 400-horsepower 4.2-liter V8 (the first non-turbocharged or supercharged engine of its size to achieve such high output) or a race-bred six-speed sequential manual transmission. But there's a feeling, both in the Quattroporte's quietly classic styling and its Old World furnishings that this is a car for sophisticated connoisseurs rather than simple strivers.

Maserati made a scant 4,800 sedans, roadsters and coupes in 2004, so the 2006 Quattroporte will be a rarity. The company intends it for "technical drivers" — a polite way of saying rich gearheads. For roughly the same money, you can buy an enormous Audi, BMW or Mercedes with substantially more power than the Quattroporte, but you might as well let your chauffeur drive while you play with the electronics.

Despite a storied past and a reputation — in both racing and manufacturing — that rapidly eroded after the brand's 1950s glory days, Maserati somehow remains a powerful brand in the minds of many, almost as synonymous with Italian sports car as is Ferrari. (Remember the Chrysler TC "by Maserati" convertible of the late 1980s, essentially a repackaged LeBaron?) Never mind past missteps: to say you drive a Maserati is more of a meaningful boast today than anytime in the last half-century.