The Maserati Quattroporte is a luxury four-door sedan made by Maserati of Italy. There have been five generations of the car, each separated by a period of roughly five years.
Quattroporte I (1963–9)
In the early 1960s, Maserati's reputation was at a high. With growing sales, Prince Karim Aga Khan ordered a special Maserati 5000 WP, chassis no. 103,060, designed by Pietro Frua. The following year, Maserati showed the first-generation Quattroporte of 1963, which bore a striking resemblance to the earlier drawing.
Also designed by Frua, the 1963 'Tipo 107' Quattroporte (Italian for 'four doors') joined two other notable grand tourers, the Facel Vega and the Lagonda Rapide , which could comfortably do 200 km/h on the new motorways of Europe. However, the Quattroporte could be said to have been the first car specifically designed for this purpose.
It was equipped with a 4,136 cm³ V8 engine, producing 260 PS at 5,600 rpm, and either a five-speed ZF manual transmission or a three-speed automatic. Maserati claimed a top speed of 230 km/h.
Between 1963 and 1966, 230 examples were made.
In 1966, Maserati revised the Tipo 107, adding twin headlights (already on the US model) and, from 1968, a 4·7 L, 300 PS engine. Around 500 of the second series were made. Production stopped in 1969.
Quattroporte II (1974–5)
In 1971, Karim Aga Khan ordered another special on the Maserati Indy platform, given the reference code AM 121. In 1974, at the Turin Show, Maserati presented its Quattroporte II (Tipo 123) on a Citroën SM chassis, since Citroën had purchased the Italian company. It had an angular Bertone body, fashionable at the time, and was the only Maserati with a hydropneumatic suspension. However, the 1973 oil crisis had intervened and demand for such cars disappeared. Maserati made 13 Quattroporte IIs.
Quattroporte III (1979–90)
Giorgetto Giugiaro presented two ItalDesign show cars on Maserati platforms, called the Medici I and Medici II. The latter, in particular, featured hallmarks which would make it into the production of the third-generation Quattroporte. By the end of 1976, Maserati announced the Quattroporte III (Tipo AM 330), which took much from the Medici show cars, based on Maserati's Kyalami coupé, which in turn was based on the De Tomaso Longchamp .
A 4·2 L (255 PS) and a 4·9 L (280 PS) finally made it into production in 1979. The latter initially has a three-speed Borg–Warner automatic transmission, soon replaced by a Chrysler Torqueflite 'box. The smaller engine was deleted in 1985.
In 1986, the Maserati Royale, an ultra-luxury version of the Quattroporte III, appeared. The engine was uprated to 300 PS.
In all, 2,100 Quattroporte IIIs were made, one of them being for Italian presidential usage. Production ceased in 1990.
Quattroporte IV (1994–2000)
At the height of Fiat's styling prowess, Maserati was confident to be more adventurous with Quattroporte IV from 1994. Designed by Marcello Gandini, who had penned the Lamborghini Countach, the new car was smaller, very aerodynamic (Cd 0,31), and featured Gandini's trademark angular rear wheel arch.
A 2·8 L Biturbo V6 was installed, producing 284 PS, reaching a top speed of 255 km/h. A V8 3·2 L Biturbo was announced in 1995, developing 335 PS and reaching 263 km/h. However, it was essentially a BMW M3 rival and did not fare well against the German car.
When Ferrari took over Maserati, it introduced a Quattroporte Evoluzione in 1998. This improved model saw the famous oval Maserati clock disappear from the interior. Production stopped in 2000.
Quattroporte V (2004–)
In 2004, Maserati started production of the Quattroporte, with the same 4.2 L engine as the Coupe and Spyder but improved to 400 bhp (298 kW). Due to the greater weight than the Coupe and Spyder, the 0-60 time for the Quattroporte to 5.2 seconds. The Quattroporte made its US première at the 2003 Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance . It continues the long tradition of Quattroporte luxury sedans in the Maserati line-up.
