Maserati Quattroporte II

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Maserati
Maserati Quattroporte II
Maserati Quattroporte II
Quattroporte II
Production period: 1974-1988
Class : Upper class
Body versions : limousine
Engines:
Petrol engines : 3.0-3.2 liters
(140-162 kW)
Length: 5130 mm
Width: 1870 mm
Height: 1370 mm
Wheelbase : 3070 mm
Empty weight : 1600 kg
Previous model Maserati Quattroporte I.
successor Maserati Quattroporte III

The Maserati Quattroporte II (internal: Tipo AM 123) was a four-door sports car from the Italian car manufacturer Maserati , which was presented in autumn 1974.

The Quattroporte II was developed under the direction of Citroën and was technically more closely related to Citroën models than any other Maserati. It was the only front-wheel drive passenger car in the history of the Italian brand.

The project did not get beyond the prototype stage. It ended when Alejandro de Tomaso took over Maserati from Citroën in 1975. A little later, the Quattroporte III, based on De Tomaso technology, replaced the Quattroporte II .

background

Maserati successfully offered a sporty luxury car with the Quattroporte I presented in 1963 . In 1970, the production of the Quattroporte I ended. The car designed by Pietro Frua was out of date and technically outdated.

Pietro Frua designed a potential successor (Tipo AM 121) on his own initiative in 1971 , which was technically based on the Maserati Indy . Frua exhibited the AM 121 publicly with some success. Maserati's owner, the French car manufacturer Citroën, decided against mass production of the Frua model. Frua sold the exhibit to Spain in 1972, possibly to the later King of Spain, Juan Carlos I. A second example was made in 1974 for Karim Aga Khan IV . Both vehicles still exist. There are rumors about a third Frua-Quattroporte, which is also said to have been in Spain in the 1980s.

Instead of the Frua design, Citroën decided to develop its own Quattroporte, which was to rely on series technology from the French manufacturer to a far greater extent than the previous Maserati models. The Quattroporte II basically became an extended notchback version of the Citroën SM , with which it shared the essential technical components.

Model description

technology

Delivered the drive technology for the Maserati Quattroporte II: The Citroën SM

For the Quattroporte II, Maserati took over the entire drive technology from the Citroën SM, the chassis with double wishbones of equal length at the front and parallel swing arms at the rear, hydropneumatic suspension, the power-assisted steering and the braking system. The Quattroporte II, like the SM, was designed as a front-wheel drive car. The six-cylinder engine that Maserati had developed for the SM was used as the drive. It appeared here in the enlarged 3.0-liter version available in the SM from 1973, which delivered 140 kW (190 hp). At least one copy of the Quattroporte II received a further enlarged version of the engine, not available in the SM, with a displacement of 3.2 liters and an output of 147 kW (200 hp), according to other sources 162 kW (220 hp). A manually shiftable five-speed gearbox from Citroën served as power transmission; an automatic transmission was provided as an alternative.

Body and interior

The body of the Quattroporte II was designed by Bertone , the executive designer was Marcello Gandini . The notchback-bodied car bore no resemblance to previous Maserati models. Rather, it was reminiscent of the BMW 5 Series, also designed by Bertone . There was a family resemblance to the Citroën SM insofar as the Quattroporte II also had six headlights behind a glass cover, the inner ones of which were movable and followed the steering angle.

The rear lights of the Lancia 2000 were installed, which were framed by a plastic cover and slightly alienated. The Quattroporte II had massive, black-painted plastic bumpers at the front and rear.

Independent design features of the Quattroporte II were the engine and trunk hoods that reached far into the sides of the car and protruded down to the side edge of the light. Seats, dashboard, doors and headliner were covered with leather. The dashboard was decorated with inlays made of pepperwood.

The Quattroporte II was also a relatively heavy vehicle, because with the 3.0 liter engine it weighed - depending on the source - 1.6 or 1.8 tons.

Driving performance and driving behavior

The Quattroporte II was - unlike its direct predecessor - not an outstanding sporty car. It was just as heavy as the Quattroporte I, but had significantly less power. The maximum speed of the 3.0 liter version was 190 km / h; the acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h was given as 10 seconds. Later test drivers describe this information as "optimistic".

The driving behavior is described as "soft" and "unsporting". The hydraulically assisted steering was very direct and showed little resistance. Overall, it was criticized that the car does not make you want to be driven fast.

Presentation and scope of production

The Maserati Quattroporte II was presented to the public on October 3, 1974 at the Paris Motor Show; it was also presented at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1975. At this exhibition, an engine enlarged to 3.2 liters was announced, but not shown. In the months that followed, Maserati went bankrupt; In August 1975, Alejandro de Tomaso finally took over the traditional sports car manufacturer. No further development work had been carried out on the Quattroporte II since March 1975. Immediately after taking over Maserati, de Tomaso gave up the Quattroporte II project.

The information on the scope of production varies. Some sources speak of five copies, others of nine; most assume a total production of 13 vehicles.

According to the prevailing opinion, six pre-series copies of the Quattroporte II had been produced by 1975, some of which were destroyed in crash tests. In addition, body shells and spare parts for other vehicles were created. Some of the bodyshells were on the Maserati factory premises for several years. By 1978, a total of seven more vehicles were gradually built by hand from the existing parts. In the German car catalogs, the Quattroporte II was described as deliverable until 1977.

The Quattroporte II were not homologated for the European market, so they could not be sold in the European Economic Community . Most of the vehicles were exported to Spain. From there they were sold to South America and the Middle East.

Reasons for failure, conspiracy theories

The development of the Quattroporte II ended when Alejandro de Tomaso took over Maserati in the summer of 1975. The decision to forego series production of the Quattroporte II should initially be understood as a break with the previous Citroën era. After the takeover by De Tomaso, Maserati was again a purely Italian brand; this impression should not be watered down by a top model that clearly showed the roots of the former French owner.

Apart from that, there are conspiracy theories about the Quattroporte II. You have to do with the question of whose initiative the development of the Quattroporte can be traced back to. Some authors believe that the development of the Quattroporte II originated from Citroën, where a sedan version of the SM was to be developed in the late 1960s. The project quickly proved problematic because of the size of the car and the inefficient engine. It is therefore of the opinion that Citroën passed the project on to Maserati in 1971 or pushed it off in order to blame the Italian designer for the foreseeable failure of the large sedan. In support of this theory, it is stated that the Quattroporte II, unlike the Bora , Merak and Khamsin models developed under Citroën leadership, had no relation to Maserati, but was basically a large Citroën.

Further use of the construction

Some sources report that the French automobile manufacturer Renault reportedly had an interest in acquiring the Quattroporte II design in 1975. After that Renault wanted to equip the car with its own six-cylinder engine and it above the recently presented models Renault 20 / 30 position itself as a high end model. However, these considerations were not followed up.

Used car market

It is not known how many of the 13 Quattroporte IIs produced still exist. At the beginning of the 21st century, one vehicle was in Germany and another in Great Britain.

The Quattroporte II is almost not present on the European used car market. In summer 2011, a used car magazine named a price of 85,000 euros for a Quattroporte II in excellent condition. In August 2011, a copy of the Quattroporte II went on sale in the UK at a price of £ 125,000.

See also

Technical specifications

Datasheet Maserati Quattroporte II
Maserati Quattroporte II 3000 Quattroporte II 3200
Engine:  Six-cylinder V-engine (four-stroke), fork angle 90 °
Displacement:  2965 cc 3200 cc
Bore × stroke:  91.6 x 75 mm
Performance at 1 / min:  190 hp at 6000 200 hp at 6000
Compression:  8.75: 1
Mixture preparation:  3x1 Weber 44
Valve control:  Four overhead camshafts
Cooling:  Water cooling
Transmission:  manual five-speed gearbox,
optionally automatic gearbox
Front suspension:  double wishbones, gas springs ( hydropneumatics )
Steering: 
Rear suspension:  Parallel swing gas springs (hydropneumatics)
Brakes:  Front and rear disc brakes, internal front
Body:  Steel, self-supporting
Wheelbase:  3070 mm
Dimensions (length × width × height):  5130 × 1870 × 1370
Empty weight:  approx. 1600 kg
Top speed:  190 to 200 km / h

literature

  • Gianni Cancellieri et al. (Ed.): Maserati. Catalog raisonné 1926–2003 . Automobilia, Milan 2003, ISBN 88-7960-151-2
  • Richard Heseltine: Cubist Revival. Presentation of the Maserati Quattroporte II in: Classic & Sports Car, issue 4/2001.
  • Hans-Karl Lange: Maserati. The other Italian sports car . Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-552-05102-3
  • Halwart Schrader, Georg Amtmann: Italian sports cars . Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-613-01988-4 .
  • David Sparrow, Iain Ayre: Maserati Heritage. Osprey Classic Marques. Auckland 1995, ISBN 1-85532-441-5 .

Web links

Commons : Maserati Quattroporte II  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Both in the Maserati sales brochure and in Bertone's press photos, the car is expressly referred to as the “Quattroporte II”.
  2. ↑ http://www.maserati-alfieri.co.uk/alfieri65a.htm
  3. ↑ a b Classic & Sports Car, issue 4/2001, p. 120.
  4. ↑ Amtmann, Schrader: Italian Sports Cars, p. 304.
  5. ^ Long: Maserati. S: 41.
  6. ↑ a b c Lange: Maserati. P. 41.
  7. ↑ Auto Catalog No. 21 (1977/78), p. 197.
  8. ↑ Classic & Sports Car, Issue 4/2001, p. 121.
  9. ↑ Brief description of the Quattroporte II on the website www.maserati-alfieri.co.uk (accessed on October 6, 2011).
  10. ↑ a b c Classic & Sports Car, issue 4/2001, p. 118.
  11. ^ Schrader, bailiff. Italian sports cars, p. 304.
  12. ↑ Auto Catalog No. 21 (1977/78), p. 127.
  13. ↑ See Lange: Maserati. P.56.
  14. ↑ Oldtimer Markt, special issue prices 2011, p. 162.
  15. ↑ Classic & Sports Car, issue 10/2011, p. 215.
  16. ↑ The technical data are taken from the car catalog No. 21 (1977/78), p. 190 f.
  17. ↑ http://www.maserati-alfieri.co.uk/quattroporte/qp2-025.gif