On the Road to Excellence in a Maserati GranTurismo S Automatica - VIDEO ENHANCED

REIMS, Germany - July 27, 2010: In the automotive world there are a few steadfast dogmas. One of them states that a high-performance sports car should be broad, low and uncomfortable, therefore not suitable for long trips. With the GranTurismo, Maserati has opposed this belief and combined the two qualities all drivers dream of: sportiness and comfort.

For this very reason, we’ve chosen a GranTurismo S Automatica—equipped with the MC Sport Line kit, rigorously in carbon fiber and complete in every detail—to test and customize the line and the interior. To top it off, the car has also been equipped with a sporty fixed-setting suspension.

The aim was to field test and confirm the car’s comfort and performance levels in its pluckiest version.

This was the route: from the Trident home of Modena 1,000 kilometers north through the Mont Blanc Tunnel and then toward Paris, but with a significant detour to Reims, the capital of the Champagne region. Into the land of excellence, the natural habitat of classy, prestigious Maserati.

There the old Gueux racetrack awaits us. In the 50’s it was the scene of legendary battles between the greatest names in auto racing, such as Fangio, Moss, Behra, Musso, Villoresi and others. The pits and the stands of the main straight have been renovated and the track’s 5.10 miles are open to ordinary traffic. An irresistible temptation. Some yens should be satisfied immediately because after that there will be a stop at Maison Bollinger, world excellence in champagne perlage since 1829, and as good form requires, only a teetotaling driver will get behind the wheel after forgoing the wine-tasting ritual.

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The GranTurismo S Automatica’s two qualities alternate and blend at approximately 3,000 revs. At this speed, the car responds with ease to the controls and allows cruising through Reims to admire the tallest spires of the famous Gothic cathedral. However, if the right foot presses down just a few millimeters lower, the V8 Maserati gets ready to fly. The car’s nature and sound change radically. The car’s interior is surrounded by a powerful roar and the cruising ease is transformed into full power on the old track’s straight, where at approximately 40 mph it’s still necessary to ease up on the gas pedal: the local gendarmerie is very strict.

Despite its double nature being evident from the onset, the GranTurismo S Automatica nevertheless discloses its qualities gradually and this increases the pleasure of taming it. The comfort felt on board is worthy of a sedan and does not tire out the driver. After a 10-hour trip, despite stops along roads full of curious onlookers, we felt like a stroll and the Marne Valley, which spreads from Champillon to Epernay, is a tempting treat. In this area, first the Gauls and later the Romans set up their headquarters, taking advantage of the strategic crossroads leading to Reims. And since the Gauls and the Romans were shrewd men, they also chose this place for the breathtaking panorama of the most famous Champagne vineyards in the world. Nowadays at this point—which was once a post office where Napoleon loved to take refuge while on his way to reach battle fields—there is the “Royal Champagne”, a high-level hotel complex owned by the Baglioni Group and directed by David Casadewall. Member of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux chain, the hotel can offer its guests one of the most beautiful views of this area from both the rooms and the halls. While the panorama of vineyards from the age-old Hautvillers abbey up to Epernay dominates undisputed, the Royal Champagne restaurant’s wine cellar cannot help but offer a rich selection of over 200 labels from producers of quality bubbly. Having a rest from driving our GranTurismo for an entire night, we abandoned ourselves to the sublime if predictable pleasure of drinking a goblet of champagne while sitting in the heart of the region of the same name. It’s a little like going to Bourgogne and drinking a fine red wine or to Tuscany to enjoy an authentic Brunello. Run by the experienced Frank Taupin, the cuisine at the Royal Champagne should not be overlooked and it often happens that, to show the exact point where a certain champagne is produced, the waiter moves over to the window to point at a hilly area in front of us. Ah, for life’s small, deep pleasures.

The lights of Epernay shine timidly after sunset and the darkness that jealously envelopes the world’s most famous vineyards is driven away. The next morning, after a refreshing night of rest, we take advantage of the best light dawn has to offer to photograph the Maserati under the Gueux racetrack’s stands and in front of the pit stops. The situation is paradoxical: the logos from long-ago sponsors are intact, creating a colorful collage on the buildings. The track seems to still be operational were it not for the contemporary street signs and city paving. Monsieur G�rard Cuif —Honorary President of the Friends of the Old Gueux Racetrack Association and organizer of the “4�me Week-End de l’Excellence de Reims”, an international event held in mid-September, attracting thousands of people and hundreds of cars— comes to our aid. The Association is devoted to respectfully preserving all the structures which are still standing around this old track. Monsieur Cuif confides: “along with Spa and Monza, this was one of the few tracks worldwide that could make real champions show their mettle thanks to the characteristics of each track. On these tracks the overall average per car with around 290 horsepower was approximately 120 mph. To keep this average unvaried, it was necessary to face three historical turns at full speed: the huge Monza parabolica turn, the Stavelot corner at Spa and the virage du Calvaire in Reims. Few people knew how to take them, and their names were Fangio with the Maserati, Musso and Hawthorn with the Ferrari and not many more.”

The very air one breathes at that turn is redolent of history and anecdotes. All one has to do is close one’s eyes and see drivers without seatbelts holding large wooden steering wheels, busy keeping under control and on track cars that skidded and often advanced crosswise, not unaided by a type of road surface that was very different from today’s porous asphalt pavement. We go around the 8.2 km of the circuit in religious silence. The one who is fully at ease amid stupendous panoramas and bright colors is the GranTurismo S Automatica, a conceited car that, thanks to its pastel red color in homage to the color of Italian racecars of the times, does not waste an opportunity to make itself noticed. After all, beauty is not an opinion and the French seem to decidedly appreciate the shiny black patent leather 20-inch rims with the aggressive Neptune design, which is reminiscent of the color of carbon, present in several of the car’s components, such as the rearview mirrors, the door handles and the front and back spoilers. After each corner, the 4.7 liter Maserati is raring to fully unleash its 440 horsepower, but speed limits do not allow for high gears. Yet the racing potential of this car, which goes from 0 to 100 in only 5 seconds, is nevertheless imagined. This legendary circuit now open to general traffic makes drivers wish they could put the pedal to the metal on a real racetrack.

Before ‘enduring’ a second night in front of champagne vineyards, we let the teetotaler drive the GranTurismo and we head for the heart of the Champagne region. 10 minutes after Champillon we enter A�, Bollinger country since 1829. It is one of the three largest producers that has remained independent and in the hands of the same family since its foundation. “Bollinger is renowned as the King of the Pinot Noir,” Monsieur Cl�ment Ganier, Bollinger’s marketing manager tells us. “Nature and the history of the Maison have been good to us, offering us Pinot Noir Grand and Premiere Cru as well as Chardonnay, which make up the majority of our vineyards. Our harvest covers more than 60% of our needs and this is an unusual percentage among producers.” The 163 hectares of Bollinger vineyards allow the Maison to produce 2.2/2.3 million bottles a year, but we feel the deepest thrill when Monsieur Cl�ment takes us to the Bollinger cellars. After descending a steep stairway that abandons known civilization 15 meters above our heads, we delve in a microcosm made of 10 million bottles, 6,500 of which magnums, stacked to allow settling and to sharpen their character. In its cellars Bollinger keeps a veritable treasure: in other words, the heritage of A�’s champagne history immersed in dark corridors and grottos populated by fungi that help maintain the proper amount of dampness. To wander around the cellars is a fundamental experience in order to understand the essence of such a celebrated and delicate wine. To unstop a bottle after a visit like this one means to know how to savor the very spirit of champagne. Fully satisfied, we get ready for our second night at the Relais & Chateaux Royal Champagne, while outside in the parking lot the GranTurismo S Automatica shows signs of veiled jealousy. For a little while, a champagne has dethroned it. Actually, they are two worlds belonging to luxury and sophistication regarding each other with deep respect, but they are not superimposable. This, too, is part of culture: safe driving requires some sacrifice, and abstaining from alcohol is one of them.

In any case the GranTurismo S Automatica has no other demands, nor does it fall short where other sports cars lead the way, for example in terms of fuel consumption (an average of 20.9 mpg over 1 509.9 miles in three days with a loaded car is amazing) or in terms of trunk space. With an interior that seats the driver and three passengers, it can hold two large suitcases.

So hats off to Pininfarina and the Maserati engineers who have savvily combined style and functionality. As for nerviness and performance, Maserati technicians have created the MC Sport Line kit relying on the Maserati Corse staff’s great experience acquired on international circuits. The use of carbon fiber for many of the car’s details stems from competitions and enables customization that highlights the sporty DNA of the Trident both in the cars’ interior and exterior.

Au revoir, Maserati, et � la prochaine foi!

Roberto Rasia dal Polo