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2005 Maserati Quattroporte

The Maserati Quattroporte combines luxury, sports and performance with Italian styling flair. Meaning 'four doors' in Italian, it is a luxury saloon car of which there have been six generations, the first one introduced in 1963. The fifth generation (Tipo M139) was introduced in 2003 at the Frankfurt Motor Show and produced through 2012. The U.S. premiere was at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2003. The styling for both the interior and exterior was courtesy of Pininfarina's then-chief designer Ken Okuyama.

The fifth-generation Quattroporte rested on a 198.9-inch length platform with a 120.6-inch wheelbase (making it 19.7 inches longer than its predecessor and 15.7 inches longer at its wheelbase). Maserati would later use this same architecture for the GranTurismo and GranCabrio coupés and convertibles.

Beneath the long and graceful bonnet was a naturally aspirated 4.2-liter V8 engine sourced from the Maserati Coupe. It had dry sump lubrication, a new black plastic inlet manifold (replacing the previous aluminum cast unit), and delivered 395 horsepower (294 kW). Zero-to-sixty mph was accomplished in 5.2 seconds, and the top speed reached 171 mph (275 km/h).

Initially, the Quattroporte was offered solely with an automated manual transmission, marketed as DuoSelect. It had adaptive suspension (known as Skyhook) and 330 mm brake discs with four-piston calipers. Fifteen exterior paint colors were offered, and the Poltrona Frau leather upholstery in ten colors.

In January 2007, at the Detroit Motor Show, a new 6-speed ZF-supplied automatic transmission became available. The first examples to receive this transmission were marketed as Maserati Quattroporte Automatica.

Neiman Marcus
In 2004, a limited edition of the Quattroporte became available for order through the American luxury department store Neiman Marcus's 2004 Christmas Catalog at a price of (USD)$125,000. A total of sixty examples of the Quattroporte Neiman Marcus were built, and all were finished in Bordeaux Pontevecchio (wine red) exterior with ivory Poltrona Frau leather upholstery accented with Bordeaux piping and mahogany wood trim. Additional styling elements included 19-inch ball-polished wheels and a chrome mesh-front grille.

The 2005 Maserati Quattroporte
In 2005, at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, Maserati unveiled the Executive GT and Sport GT trim levels. The Quattroporte Executive GT favored luxury and was endowed with a wood-rimmed steering wheel, rear air conditioning controls, and ventilated, adaptive, massaging rear seats. It had an Alcantara-suede interior roof lining, curtain shades on the rear windows, and veneered retractable rear tables. Styling updates to the exterior included 19-inch eight-spoke ball-polished alloy wheels and chrome side gilles and mesh front.

The Quattroporte Sport GT favored performance with a firmer Skyhook suspension system, seven-spoke 20-inch wheels with low-profile tires, braided brake lines, cross-drilled brake rotors, and improvements to the transmission resulting in faster gearshifts. The standard wood inserts on the steering wheel were replaced with carbon fiber inserts, and there were aluminum pedals that added to the sporty flair.

Similar to the vintage racing Maserati models, the Trident badges received red accents, and the trim had dark mesh front and side grilles.

The performance of the Sport GT reached new heights in 2007 with the arrival of the Quattroporte Sport GT S. Introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show, it came with a lowered ride height, 10 mm wider 295/30 rear tires, Bilstein single-rate dampers (replacing the Skyhook adaptive system), red-painted six-piston calipers, and front Brembo iron/aluminum dual-cast brake rotors. The door handles were painted in body color, and a 'dark chrome' shade was used for the 20-inch wheels, exhaust pipes, and exterior trim. The interior was upholstered in mixed Alcantara and leather, with carbon fiber accents.

The Quattroporte Collezione Cento arrived in 2008 at the North American International Auto Show with production limited to one hundred examples. They wore a special ivory exterior paint scheme with a waist coachline that matched the Cuoio tan tufted leather upholstery and Wengé trim inlaid with mother of pearl.


By Daniel Vaughan | May 2005

Related Reading : Maserati Quattroporte History

Quattroporte, meaning four-doors in Italian, was a luxury automobile produced by Maserati at various times during its history. The first example was introduced in 1962 when Prince Karim Aga Khan ordered a unique automobile to be constructed from designs created by Pietro Frua. The following year, Maserati introduced their own version of the Quattroporte, based on the Frua designs.Under the....
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Related Reading : Maserati Quattroporte History

In 1965 Maserati introduced the Quattroporte I, the first edition was introduced. Produced for 5 years, the word Quattroporte comes from the Italian word meaning ‘four-door. The original model was a sportluxury sedan that featured a slightly detuned sport-racing V8 engine. The modest flagship for Maerati, the Quattroporte I featured 260 horsepower, 4.2-liter four-cam aluminum V8 from the 450 S.....
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