Let’s run through the headlines. There are two major ones. The GranCabrio Folgore is the first fully electric convertible in the luxury segment. It’s also the fastest fully electric convertible, although headline two is clearly related to headline one.
So it’s a convertible. And an electric one.
Indeed. Although Maserati will still sell you one with a combustion engine, too, a very lightly reworked version of the 3.0-litre twin turbo ‘Nettuno’ (Neptune – Trident, geddit?) used to such dazzling effect in the MC20. A convertible version of a car that TG.com was extremely impressed with. Now we get to find out if removing the roof enhances or detracts from Maserati’s impressive work so far.
NB: We noted with interest after driving the Grecale Folgore that some online commentators were bitching that Maserati was a brand that had no reason to exist in 2024. Well, there’s no need for any rose-tinted romanticism here: the GranTurismo is simply seriously bloody good.
Good to hear. We like the A6 GCS and 1500. And the Ghibli, Merak and Bora. Even the Nineties Quattroporte. And that really wasn’t very good…
But it did have an eye-catching bit part as the villain’s wheels in the most recent Bond movie. As for the A6 1500, Maserati reckons that was the first ‘grand tourer’, the automotive idiom into which the GranCabrio elegantly slides. Seeing as it’s the soft-top version of the GranTurismo.
The original A6 arrived in 1947 and since then Maserati has perhaps contributed more to the idea of long-haul glamorous motoring than any other marque. Not least because cars like the 1957-’64 3500 GT kept the Italian coachbuilding industry going pretty much single-handedly; Allemano, Bertone, Frua, Pininfarina, Touring and Vignale all had a go. The Mistral was lovely, too, although the Giugiaro-designed Ghibli Spyder is probably the definitive Maserati convertible. Until now.
Yes. Back to 2024, please. How does the GranCabrio stack up in the flesh?
It looks pretty much like you’d expect it to. The coupe version consciously stayed close to the form language espoused on its predecessor, perhaps playing it a smidge too safe. Packaging the engine is one explanation for that, although the V6 is actually quite compact. The stylistic conservatism is more to do with the fact that Maserati is still emerging from brand rehab, and a wildly louche new GT wouldn’t land with its customer base. “A decision was made to maintain continuity with the design of the previous generation, widely appreciated among customers,” Maserati says.
Actually, the new GranCabrio treads this fine line more successfully than the coupe. The vertical headlights are the most obvious difference, but the old car’s slightly over-bodied look has gone. The new GranCabrio has curves in all the right places, and the single-piece ‘cofango’ – it’s a portmanteau of cofano (bonnet) and parafango (fender or wing, for UK readers) – is an impressive piece of sculpture. Indeed, unlike some convertibles, it works equally well roof up or down.
Fabric roof, we see.
Yep, the retractable hardtop is currently as fashionable as yesterday’s Pret cheese and pickle sandwich, possibly for packaging reasons but more likely aesthetic ones. Big convertibles also just look better with canvas roofs. It’s available here in five colours – Black, Blue Marine, Titan Grey, Greige, and Granata. (If you have a few moments, it’s worth heading over to the Maserati online configurator. Amongst the 26 available Fuoriserie colours you’ll find a texturised Powder Nude, a Hypergreen or an Azzurro Astro Matte – each costs £29,160. Yikes.)
The roof itself can be operated at speeds up to 31mph, and opens in 14 seconds and closes in 16. That process is done via a swipe on the central display. There’s still space in the boot for some luggage even with the roof closed, though not a lot.
A neck warmer blows hot air from the seat, with three levels of intensity to choose from. A wind stopper is an option, and slots in behind the front seats to improve thermal comfort for the occupants there. Unless you’re travelling four up, in which case the comfort of the rear seat occupants is entrusted to whichever alternative transport they’ve elected to take, though probably not the no.19 bus.
What about the Folgore?
Maserati is keenly – and perhaps surprisingly given its heritage – committed to electric propulsion. We liked the Grecale Folgore but you could argue that the GranCabrio is a more appropriate advert for the refined sort of travel a luxury EV can deliver. Albeit one that rearranges your concept of Grand Touring to slightly more range-limited distances. It’s about refinement, isn’t it, and a sense of occasion rather than doing 850 miles in a diesel people carrier.
While the GranCabrio Trofeo’s Nettuno engine produces 542bhp here, the Folgore ponies up 750bhp. It actually has three electric motors, two at the rear and one at the front, each of which is good for 400bhp. The inverter and battery can’t handle the theoretical 1,200bhp, but you’d have to be power-crazed and somewhat warped to have a problem with 750.
The new GranTurismo/Cabrio uses a modular chassis conceived from the outset to run a combustion or electric powertrain. It’s 65 per cent aluminium, the rest of it utilising high-tensile steel in structurally sensitive parts of the car. In the Folgore, the 92.5kWh battery pack (83kWh useable) is configured in a way that mimics the layout of the petrol engine. It’s in a ‘T’ format, sited across the car in front of the driver and then within the transmission tunnel. This is clever packaging, and means that the interior space is identical to the ICE version, including those roomy rear seats. Maserati says its experience in Formula E has informed the tech, including the use of silicon carbides.
It also enhances the centre of gravity for improved agility, and means the low-slung GT can keep, erm slinging low. It’s 1,353mm tall and, says Maserati, sits lower than any other electric car on sale. Maserati also claims that the GranCabrio has 50:50 weight distribution. The Folgore convertible is only 80kg heavier than its coupe equivalent, so 2,340kg. Chunky. It also claims a range of 280 miles WLTP, which translates to 3.4 miles/kWh. We suspect that’s only going to be possible if you drive this high performance GT convertible in the manner of a Fiat 500e with a Faberge egg in a bowl on the bonnet.
The system has an 800V architecture so if you can find a 350kW charger you should be able to sluice 100 miles of range back into it in 10 minutes. This is currently the stuff of fantasy but it looks good written down.
Maserati has stated it wants to close the gap between petrol and EV, but before we tried the GranCabrio in Trofeo and Folgore guises we’d have stuck money on the combustion car putting manners on the EV. How could an Italian sports car live without explosive internal combustion?
So we’re happy to say that, in this case, the electrified car takes the honours. To be clear, they’re both elegant, refined and comfortable cars in the old-school GT tradition, but with seriously sharp dynamics and abundant character. That the Folgore manages its extra mass so adroitly is perhaps the biggest surprise here, and as it’s currently the only high-end electric convertible, it’s got bragging rights there, too.
The GranCabrio is just as engaging and well-engineered as its coupe sibling, but gains extra cachet as a convertible.