Maserati Quattroporte I.

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Maserati
Maserati Quattroporte I.
Maserati Quattroporte I.
Quattroporte I
Production period: 1963-1970
Class : Upper class
Body versions : limousine
Engines:
Petrol engines : 4.1–4.7 liters
(191–213 kW)
Length: 5000 mm
Width: 1720 mm
Height: 1360 mm
Wheelbase : 2750 mm
Empty weight : 1650 kg
successor Maserati Quattroporte II

The Maserati Quattroporte I (in-house: Tipo AM 107 ) was a four-door sedan by the Italian sports car manufacturer Maserati , which was produced from late 1963 to late 1970. The Quattroporte was the first car to occupy the niche of faster and larger sedans, which was later claimed by numerous competitors.

The conception

Rear view of a Quattroporte

The suggestion to develop a fast, four-door sedan came in the early 1960s from some (mostly American) Maserati customers who had previously used the two-door Gran Turismo coupés 3500 GT and 5000 GT and registered a need for a larger, stylish car . For a long time, Maserati's management was undecided whether to give in to this concern. Adolfo Orsi, owner of the company, supported the idea, but his son Omer was against it. Omer Orsi saw the technical and, above all, the economic risk as too high, since no comparable car had been developed and the success of such a product could hardly be assessed. Ultimately, Maserati's management decided to develop a sedan. In order to keep the effort within limits, however, the car should be closely related to the brand's previous products.

The chassis of the Maserati 5000 GT with a noticeably longer wheelbase was chosen as the technical basis of the sedan . An eight-cylinder engine was used as the drive, which had been redesigned, but in its basic features corresponded to the engine from the Maserati 5000 GT. The displacement was initially 4.1 liters, the power was 260 hp. Later, larger and more powerful versions of the engine should also be available. A manual five-speed transmission from ZF and a three-speed automatic transmission from BorgWarner were available as the transmission .

The body of the car was designed by Pietro Frua . According to general opinion, Frua succeeded in creating a structure that is as dignified as it is sporty. Stylistically, the design was a further development of the Maserati 5000 GT "Aga Khan", which had been designed by Frua in 1961. The belt line of the Quattroporte was low, the passenger cell was spacious, but looked very light thanks to the generous glazing and thin vehicle pillars. The bonnet fell off significantly between the headlights, citing a common feature of sports car construction. A few years later, much of Frua's Quattroporte design was reflected in the Glas V8 , also designed by Frua , which from some perspectives looked like a coupé version of the Quattroporte and was therefore popularly called "Glaserati" with a mixture of respect and derision.

Overall, Maserati tried a balancing act between sportiness and luxury. Assuming that a large sedan had to be more comfortable than a pure sports car, the Quattroporte received some ingredients that Maserati had previously omitted: Electric windows were just as available as air conditioning , power steering and an automatic transmission .

The production

The prototype

The first copy of the Quattroporte was presented to the public in November 1963 on the occasion of the Turin Motor Show. The car had recently been manufactured in Frua's Turin workshop and aroused great enthusiasm among salon visitors.

The first series

Series production of the Quattroporte began in 1964. The first series was produced from 1964 to 1966. It can be recognized from the outside by the rectangular headlights - at least in the case of vehicles intended for the European market. Some of the first Quattroporte models were fully assembled at Pietro Frua in Turin. Frua's workshop, however, was not set up for series production.

The production process was therefore changed in the course of 1964. The bodywork was now manufactured by Maggiora in Moncalieri , while the connection with the engine, the installation of the interior fittings and the painting were carried out by Vignale in Turin . Equipped with the 4.1 liter engine, the Quattroporte reached a top speed of 230 km / h with manual and 210 km / h with automatic transmission.

Of the first series, a total of about 260 copies were made.

The second series

In the course of 1966 some technical changes were made to the chassis. The De Dion axle used in the first series was replaced by a massive rigid axle. According to Maserati, the move was made to allow the vehicle to run more smoothly on poor roads. Externally, the second series could be recognized by four round headlights that were necessary for supplying the American market. The dashboard has been completely redesigned; it was now completely paneled with root wood. Finally, the previously optional air conditioning was included in the standard equipment; this made Maserati - alongside the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud - the only car in the world that delivered this detail as standard.

Another change came in 1968. Maserati expanded the engine range to include a 4.7 liter version of the well-known eight-cylinder. The engine developed 290 hp. Together with a reduction in weight, this resulted in a top speed of 255 km / h. The Quattroporte was thus (by far) the fastest sedan of its time.

In the second series of the Quattroporte 510 copies were produced. In the course of 1970 (according to other sources: 1971) the production of the Quattroporte was stopped. There was initially no immediate successor. It wasn't until 1974 that Maserati presented the Quattroporte II , a significantly smaller front-wheel drive sedan based on the Citroën SM compared to the first series , of which only 13 were produced. It was not until the Quattroporte III , presented in 1976 and in series production from 1979 , which is technically based on the De Tomaso Deauville , that the tradition of the 1960s resumed.

Special model: Quattroporte Aga Khan

One of two “Quattroporte Aga Khan” next to a Maserati Indy

From 1971 Pietro Frua produced individual copies of a four-door sedan with Maserati technology on his own, which could have been a direct successor to the Quattroporte. The history of these models has long been fraught with uncertainties.

The Frua models produced from 1971 onwards are usually referred to as "Quattroporte Aga Khan". However, this is misleading, as the first vehicle of this type, presented in 1971, did not even come into the possession of Karim Aga Khan IV . Only the second model, which was created three years later, was delivered to the Aga Khan as the first owner. It should therefore be correct that Frua created the sedan on their own initiative and in the hope of getting Maserati interested in the model and producing it as a successor to the discontinued Quattroporte I. But nothing came of it. Maserati did not give the car the blessing of the factory, as Citroën , the then owner of the Italian sports car manufacturer, was keen to develop a future model with Citroën SM technology.

Frua's design for this sedan was in many ways a sleek, modernized version of the first Quattroporte. As there, the waistline was also comparatively low here, and the structure of the passenger cell was high and richly glazed. The roof struts were very thin. A special feature were five windows that could be opened on each side of the car. At the front, the car had semi-covered headlights in the style of the Iso Grifo of the second series. At the rear, the taillights of the Alfa Romeo 1750/2000 Berlina of the first and second series were used as an alternative . Pietro Frua used many features of this design for the American sports car Momo Mirage, which was designed around the same time .

For a long time it was unclear how many vehicles Frua made of this type. For many years the automotive literature assumed that only a single copy was made. It has been clear since 2005 that there were at least two vehicles. Since this year two copies have been owned by an American who sometimes presents them at the same time and has them photographed side by side. There are also rumors of a third vehicle that is said to be missing.

The AM 121.002

The first vehicle, painted blue, has the chassis number AM 121.002. There are different details about the chassis. It is sometimes reported that the car uses a chassis from the Maserati Quattroporte I, while others claim that the chassis comes from the Maserati Indy . What is certain is that the engine is a 4.7 liter eight-cylinder. The vehicle was presented to the public at the Paris Motor Show in October 1971 . The presentation did not take place at Maserati, but at Pietro Frua's stand. Several other exhibitions followed until the car was first sold to a Spanish customer in 1975. Rumors persist that the first purchaser of the later Spanish King Juan Carlos I was. However, this is considered dubious in the specialist literature.

The AM 121.004

The second Frua-Quattroporte was commissioned by Karim Aga Khan IV and delivered to him in September 1974; the first approval took place in Paris . The exterior of the car, also painted blue, differs from older AM 121.002 in some details. A 4.9 liter eight-cylinder from the Maserati Ghibli was used as the engine .

A third vehicle?

There are reports of a third vehicle painted in silver, which is also said to have been made for the Aga Khan. It is said to have been offered for sale in Spain in the mid-1980s. Nothing is known about his whereabouts.

Well-known Quattroporte drivers

The Maserati Quattroporte I was a vehicle that was driven by many movie stars, but also by politicians. The owners of a Quattroporte I include, for example, Peter Ustinov , who bought two vehicles, Marcello Mastroianni , Stewart Granger , Anthony Quinn , Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev , and Prince Rainier III. by Monaco and Conte Giovanni Volpi di Misurata , the founders of the Scuderia Serenissima racing team and the racing car manufacturer Automobili Serenissima .

Competitors

literature

  • Cancellieri, Gianni, et al. (Ed.): Maserati. Catalog raisonné 1926–2003 . Automobilia. Milan 2003. ISBN 88-7960-151-2 .
  • Lange, Hans-Karl: Maserati. The other Italian sports car . Vienna 1993. ISBN 3-552-05102-3 .
  • Blaube, Wolfgang: Quattro phobia . Presentation and background report on the Maserati Quattroporte "Aga Khan", in: Oldtimer Markt 3/2007, p. 184 ff.
  • Matthias Braun / Alexander Franc Storz: Maserati. Type compass, passenger car since 1947 . Motor book publisher. Stuttgart 2007. ISBN 978-3-613-02708-4

Web links

Commons : Maserati Quattroporte I  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • www.pietro-frua.de Detailed information on the Quattroporte I and the special model "Aga Khan"