Long before there was The Grand Tour there was today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe GranTurismo, which has been described by many as an any-day exotic. Let’s see if this one’s price actually makes today that day.
Mick Jagger famously saw a red door that he wanted painted black. Last Friday’s 2008 Mercedes Benz CLK 63 AMG Black was similarly compelling, as was apparently its asking price. Yes, many of you opined that there were newer, more capable ways to dump money into a rabid offering from Stuttgart, but that didn’t stop Friday’s hot Benz from taking home an RCH-close 52% Nice Price win. Black Friday indeed.
At the same time Mercedes was building coupés with scrotal-stretching capabilities, Maserati was crafting cars with more genteel aspirations. The GranTurismo, as exemplified by this 2008 Coupé, took its name seriously and was designed to eat Autostrada all day without complaint.
The cars aren’t just capable, they’re achingly beautiful as well from just about every single angle. The GranTurismo is big too, sporting a capacious 2,942-mm wheelbase which allows for an interior roomy enough for four passengers even with all their limbs intact.
That interior is a grand place to be. Here it comes in deep rosso leather accented with real wood and… well, yes a bunch of plastic. Look, if you can’t get past limited production cars sharing certain bits with cheaper cars then you’re simply going to have a bad time. I’m over it, you should be too.
This one looks like a place to have a good time, the ZF six-speed automatic gives you full-auto mode or let’s you do some of the work via steering column-mounted dumbo ears. In front of that is a glorious-sounding 4.2-litre DOHC V8, co-developed with Ferrari and rocking more aluminum than a frat house recycling bin on Monday morning.
Don’t worry about the mill spoiling the GT mood though, because it’s not the twitchy, peaky, snarly sort of power delivery favored over in Maranello. Well, maybe just a bit. After all the apple doesn’t fall far form the tree.
The F136 U in the GranTurismo does pump out its 399-horsepower at an Alpine pass high 7,000-rpm. That power is good for zero to sixty sprints a couple tics over five seconds and a top speed of 177 miles per hour. That later spec owes much to the car’s low 0.33CD. Unfortunately the 4.2 doesn’t feel all that fast, and contemporary tests of the car found mid-range grunt to be lacking.
Why is that? Well, the curb weight on the GranTurismo is a hefty 4,200 pounds.
Maybe you won’t notice that weight while driving. The double wishbone front/multi-link rear suspension, derived from the QV sedan, means the car should ride and handle as a proper GT should.
This one has ridden and handled 56,206 miles, according to the ad. The car is dealer-offered and presents well in the seller’s pics.
Is it all Monica Bellucci and a bottle of vino? Well, there does seem to be some paint chipping in the grille surround, and some scraping on the lower lip. The right-rear wheel also shows evidence of some curb rash.
Both doors seem to have fit issues at the trailing corner too, but that may be just a quirk of the car’s Italian hand-built nature. Other than that, all of this car’s foibles seem concealed in the ad, or maybe in the marque forums where common problems are brought to light.
The car comes with a clean title, and seeming a CarFax report card that you could magnet to your fridge. It’s offered in Phoenix so the standard cautions of rust, flood, or hail damage likely need not apply.
What does apply is its price which is $38,928. Now, let’s get one thing out of the way: that price is just the beginning. This is not a Toyota Corolla that you can just drive and sort of ignore when it comes to changing the oil or checking the wear on the brakes. A Maserati requires regular maintenance be followed—and it’s expensive—or else it likely will shit the bed in spectacularly costly fashion, perhaps ending your Grand Touring days for good.
With that in mind, what’s your take on this Maserati’s $38,928 cost of entry into the GT club? Does that seem like a fair deal for the car as presented? Or, is this a GranTurismo priced with too many grand?
You decide!
Phoenix AZ Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to fauxshizzle for the hookup!
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