2007 Maserati Quattroporte Automatica

Monaco. The legendary principality on the Mediterranean coast of Francenear Nice, the smallest of its kind in the world other than the Vatican, at 0.76 square miles, houses more than to 32,000 permanent residents including one Princess Grace, the fabulously glamorous actress considered the most beautiful of her time when simply known as Grace Kelly. She starred next to Cary Grant in the Hitchcock film To Catch a Thief, set in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, and never left. Fittingly, at the 1957 Grand Prix in Monaco the Princess, and the late Prince Rainier whom she soon wed, congratulated the winning driver, as they do every year, which just happened to be Juan Manuel Fangio at the wheel of a Maserati, on his way to his fifth world championship title and Maserati's second (Maserati won the Monaco Grand Prix the year before with Sterling Moss and in 1948 with Giuseppe Farina). The Prince, incidentally, would purchase a Maserati of his own in years to come; a Quattroporte,

Maserati's sublime sedan finally gets the gearbox it's always deserved. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

which was considered the best sport sedan in the world when it debuted in 1962 as a 1963 model.

Hallowed ground? Maybe so, at least to classic movie buffs and those who religiously follow the F1 circus each season. Maserati no longer entersthe race, now being part of the Fiat group that also is controlling shareholder of Ferrari, once its nemesis, but Monaco was nevertheless a fitting locale to launch its updated Quattroporte Automatica, the first fully automatic Maserati in a very long time. Around an oval table in a private room within the Monaco Bay Hotel and Resort, on the waterfront just to the east of the Virage du Portier (turn

Monaco is certainly a taste of the sweet life; the Quattroporte Automatica is the perfect ride. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

8) on Avenue Princesse Grace, Maserati Global President and CEO Roberto Ronchi told us that the six-speed ZF-built automatic transmission in the Quattroporte was almost two years in co-development, an undertaking that the Italian firm obviously didn't embark on lightly.

Prior to the Automatica, the only transmission available in the Quattroporte was Maserati's DuoSelect, a sequential manual derived from the coupe's Cambiocorsa unit that, many iterations before was Ferrari'sF1 gearbox (which will still be available, incidentally). In the Quattroporte it is much more refined, and to many Maseratisti is one of the key ingredients that goes into making the marque's four-door one of the best luxury-sport

New gear shift lever operates the ZF 6-speed automatic. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

sedans in the world. There are some, mind you, who are looking for more of a luxury bias in the luxury-sport equation, and for these who don't want to exert the effort needed to extract smooth shifts from the DuoSelect gearbox, the Automatica is born.

To allay any concerns as to its sporting pretensions, little straight-line performance is lost in the transformation. How quick is it? The new Q auto is the speediest in its segment, at 5.6 seconds to 60 mph, 0.4 seconds shy of the DuoSelect version which accomplishes the task in a mere 5.2 seconds. Each goes on to a top speed of 168 and 171 mph respectively. Not too shabby, and optional steering wheel mounted paddle shifters can beadded to enhance the Automatica experience. But to be clear, sheer acceleration numbers are not at all what the Quattroporte Automatica

Sure, there are more powerful sports sedans out there, but the Quattroporte has always been about balance. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

is about. If all you care about is dusting off the guy beside you at a stoplight, save your money and buy yourself a Chrysler 300C SRT8. The Quattroporte is more about balance.

It's also more about sumptuous Italian leathers stitched together with almost purposeful imperfection here and there, so that its hand-crafted artisanship is possible to see. A Lexus LS 460 it's not, nor for that matter a 7-Series or S-Class. While unquestionably good cars on their own rights, the Japanese and German counterparts seem more clinical in their approach to both luxury and performance. The Quattroporte seems the product of one clear, unhindered vision, where the others appear to be the result of collectives –talented collectives, but agreement by consensus just the same. My poor navigational skills while in the passenger seat, mind you,can only be blamed on individual

Smooth shifting gearbox means all passengers can enjoy the ride. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

effort.

After getting thoroughly lost in only a mile, turning around and then getting lost again, we were able to cover more ground in our Q than anyone else at the event; clearly an advantage for testing the car's high-speed prowess when backtracking on the A8 towards Nice. Of course, breaking the Euro limit is no problem for the Quattroporte, and maintaining a quiet, controlled demeanor at such a brisk pace is equally uneventful. No doubt, the car is well suited to our North American freeways, although a warning is due: you'll be risking more than your license if you allow this sedan to find its comfort zone while touring a local Interstate. Try jail time. Yes, as previously mentioned it's fast, and even if you tempt me with a bar of Lindt Excellence 85% Cocoa dark chocolate I'll never tell you whether or not I verified the claim. Suffice to say that my colleague and I were impressed.

More true to life in the big city, however, we also

Quad tailpipes allow the fantastic Ferrari-designed engine to breath better than your average luxo-liner. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

found it quite comfortable in stop and go traffic. As luck would have it, a semi jackknifed on thehighway as we were coming back into Monaco, making our drive feel more like an afternoon heading out of Venice on our way to Valencia (California that is), or for that matter rush hour en route from Manhattan to Jersey through the Lincoln Tunnel, or any other bumper to bumper time waster you might happen to know of. Fortunately for us this was the wind-down of a spectacular day of motoring up in the French mountains and along the circuitous roadways of the Côte d'Azur, as spectacular for its scenery as for the roads themselves.

Midway through our journey, high up in those rural mountains, I took to the esses with verve, one curve after another. The engine, which has been reconfigured for a wet sump, maintaining horsepower at 400 and allowing maximum torque to climb to 339 lb-ft from the DuoSelect car's 326 lb-ft, now found lower in the rev range than before (actually, more than 75-percent of the torque comes

Like most cars in its class, the Quattroporte's front seats are comfortable for the long haul, but check out the bolstering. It's a serious car for the corners too. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

on by 2,500 rpm), doesn't pull as strongly as some in the upper classes, such as Bentley's Arnage (at about double the price mind you) or M-B's big, fat S63 AMG(also much more expensive), but the comparatively lithe Q, despite its limousine like accommodations, is much nimbler and thus more fun to toss around coiled, undulating roadways. Even when giving it a good spanking the Quattroporte was the epitome of calm, forcing me to eye the instruments every now and then just to get a grip on reality, which at comprehending just how fast we were going, the child that I am, sent me into little laughing spasms of awestruck glee. Then, the realization that there was so much left unused in Maserati's Skyhook active suspension-enhanced chassis sent ripples of anticipation through my frame, knowing that the next few corners would only bring on more mayhem.

Thanks to near ideal weight distribution of 49 percent front and 51 percent rear (the DuoSelect car sports 47 front and 53 rear ... which is even more ideal), augmented because the new transmission connects directly to the engine rather than via the rear, I couldn't

Blue-faced instruments read up to 200 mph. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

break traction at the driving wheels, despite an honest attempt, no doubt much to do withelectronic traction and stability control, and all in all this is a very good thing as most of us, even Maseratisti, don't get enough track time to gain even a tenth of Fangio's skill and therefore should probably be watched over and then brought back into check when overzealous enthusiasm leads to potentially hazardous situations.

Just when I thought the day was coming to an end and Nice approached, traffic thickening, although not to the extend it would soon, an assortment of long tunnels appeared. Mischievous grins stole across our faces as we entered ... slowing to a crawl while the windows powered down all-round. Full on the throttle the Ferrari-derived V8 gurgled to life in a most spine tingling bellow, the first of six gears reaching its high-pitched 7,500 rpm limit while F1-like auditory delights echoed off the white tiled walls, and then a quick shift to second repeated the process spinning the engineto maximum in effortless abandon ... Whew! What an engine. What a car. What a great transmission ... say what?

Yes, after all, we were in Monaco with the express purpose of testing the transmission,

The Automatica's automatic is the elusive final piece of the Quattroporte puzzle. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

not necessarily the engine, which, as mentioned, has been updated in order to maximize torque and thus allow the automatic gearbox greater low-end thrust to work with, and concurrently produces less noise (good or bad, depending on how you look at it) and reduces fuel consumption (good all-round). Smooth, with seamless enough shifts as not to upset society's pampered, yet still positive enough engagements to feel confident about the job at hand, it's absolutely ideal. I went in thinking it would be difficult to sway me away from DuoSelect, which I happen to be very fond of, but upon leaving I truly am puzzled as to where my loyalties lie. The transmission, which reacts to throttle input, velocity, driving style and just about everything else a car and driver can stimulate it with, is exactly what the Quattroporte needs, and its four driving modes, Normal, for relaxed driving, Sport, for getting it on, Ice, for slippery conditions (duh) and Manual, via the gear selector on the console or optional paddles, give it a personality moldable to any given mood. Now those who love the car's passionate presence and appreciate its unrivaled exclusivity, have no excuses. Of course, that exclusivity quotient might be less of a factor when more people take the opportunity to drive it.