Driving the new Maserati GranTurismo MC convertible in the hills north of Milan was like living in the Land of Hairpin Corners. We'd rush up to a tight uphill turn, tap the tall shift lever in the manual gate, and hear the Maserati V-8 blip a downshift. At 4200 pounds, the GranTurismo MC convertible is no lightweight, and agile isn't the word to describe how it carves through tight corners. But it turns in smoothly with no overt hint of understeer, steady and secure, foot down and up to the next switchback. With the Maser in its Sport setting, the open exhaust note bounces off the trees, chasing behind you, all the better with the top down.
Aiming to put 50,000 automobiles on the road annually by 2015, Maserati has expanded to four models: the Quattroporte, the Ghibli, the GranTurismo, and the GranCabrio. Next year comes the SUV, with Maserati rumored to be dropping the Kubang name for Cinqueporte or Levante, two monikers the company has trademarked. To avoid name confusion, Maserati doesn't use the GranCabrio label in the U.S., preferring to call what we were testing the MC convertible. MC could stand for Machismo Character instead of Maserati Corse. It brings a more aggressive appearance, with an evil grin framed by a full-width black spoiler up front. The tail gets a taller spoiler with an integrated center stoplight, and at the bottom is an extractor to aid undercar airflow. The front and rear changes are said to increase downforce by 10 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Instead of a pair of exhaust outlets per side, a single, large-diameter pipe from each cylinder bank exits through the diffuser, and 20-inch wheels frame Brembo brakes. Naturally, the suspension’s springs and shocks are firmer.
What sets the MC convertible apart from many ragtops is that it's a reasonably generous four-place ride. Those are real seats back there, not a bench with dimples that masquerades as rear seating in some convertibles. The upholstery can be leather or suede, and Maserati would be more than happy to open its extensive personalization order book to let buyers tick off the expensive boxes. Behind the rear seats is a pair of pop-up roll bars for safety, should you make a compete mess of things. The folding cloth top is a three-layer design with a steel-and-aluminum frame that rises or folds in 24 seconds at speeds below 20 mph and provides the interior with the top-up quietness that's expected in a luxury convertible these days. Unfortunately, the well into which the top folds dominates much of the trunk.
Maserati's 454-hp, 4.7-liter Ferrari-built V-8 works in league with a six-speed automatic that's happy doing its own thing or prompted via shift paddles. And that epitomizes the MC convertible—happy to cruise or carve through a corner. It is neither a soft-riding, tomb-quiet cruiser nor a hard-edged, pseudo racer, but it splits the difference very nicely, albeit expensively.
