Maserati - Prestige and Performance
Maserati celebrated its new GranTurismo along with personalities from the world of fashion, showbiz, sport, and music at its new Milan retail store in the heart of Italy’s design capital. The Trident introduced its GranTurismo Launch Edition PrimaSerie 75th Anniversary along with three masterpieces – GranTurismo One Off Prisma and GranTurismo One Off Luce, designed by Maserati Centro Stile, and GranTurismo One Off Ouroboros conceived by the intrepid inspiration of Japanese street culture pioneer and friend of the Trident Hiroshi Fujiwara.
Style pioneer and global brand ambassador David Beckham was in attendance to pay a personal tribute to the new GranTurismo, along with Japanese designer Hiroshi Fujiwara, Italian pianist and composer Dardust and Italian actress Matilda De Angelis who raised a glass and celebrated the Trident’s icon – first designed in 1947 to enhance the long distance sports car par excellence.
The GranTurismo One Off Prisma is a refined work of craftsmanship art, equipped with the Nettuno V6 internal combustion engine, dedicated to the heritage of this glorious car. The bodywork is made of a chromatic partnership consisting of 14 different colours – all painted by hand – and embellished with details of more than 8,500 letters hand-applied and hand-varnished one by one, making up the names of Maserati cars. Two of colors look ahead to the future, whilst the other twelve have been selected from the hues of the most popular GranTurismo models of the past, such as the characteristic Amaranto from the 1947 Maserati A6 1.500, and the Oro Longchamps that brightened the 1973 Maserati Khamsin.
The GranTurismo One Off Luce is a statement of innovation and sustainability, featuring a full-electric Folgore engine, literally reflects Maserati’s experimentation and constant research. The outfit is an original chromatic mirrored monolith, engraved with a dynamic laser etched pattern and painted in an almost absent colour that makes the contours of the car blend into its surroundings. The interiors are a hymn to the future as they are made of ECONYL® – a regenerated nylon yarn – resulting in a unique aesthetic metamorphosis: the monochromatic blue interior reminds of the sea from which the sustainable material came from. The shapes of the seats are underlined also by the few graphics present on the central parts, lasered with gradient backing in contrast. The result is the two contrasting techniques, inside and outside: the mirror that almost hides the car and the laser that aims to create a strong and deep track of Maserati’s soul, technical performance, and astonishing beauty.
Klaus Busse, Head of Design at Maserati, stated: “GranTurismo Prisma is an ode to our 75-year heritage and to the know-how that has imbued all the cars Maserati has made over time. GranTurismo Luce is our future, looking ahead, in perfect balance with Prisma. The essence of each one depends on the other. In terms of innovation, Prisma expresses all the beauty and excellence of the Italian craftsmanship, as well as mastery in painting and colour; Luce reveals all the technology developed with Folgore, combining our forward-thinking attitude and Italian creativity”.
Following a long-standing partnership with Japanese brand Fragment, started in 2021, Maserati introduced the GranTurismo One Off Ouroboros, a virtual Fuoriserie GranTurismo designed by street culture innovator Hiroshi Fujiwara, as his own creative interpretation of the contemporary GranTurismo in the full-electric Folgore version. Inspired by the ‘Ouroboros’, a gnostic symbol that expresses the unity of all things which never disappear but perpetually change form in an eternal cycle of destruction and recreation, Fujiwara conceived a one-of-a-kind car seamlessly blending distinctive design elements from a curated selection of Maserati from the past.
The Granturismo Ouroboros design combines the front grill from the A6GCS Berlinetta Pininfarina and the side vents of the 3500 GT – icons of the elegance of the 1950s – along with the covered round headlights that characterized the 1960s racers such as the Maserati Tipo 151. The new forged wheels are inspired by the pioneering magnesium alloy wheels introduced by the Bora in the 1970s, while the connected taillight fascia is a direct reference to the ground-breaking design of the Shamal from the 1980s – 1990s.
Hiroshi Fujiwara, the mastermind behind Fragment, stated: “GranTurismo Ouroboros has been conceived as a visual and cultural link between the various eras of Maserati design and the current GranTurismo generation. We worked with Maserati team to connect the pinnacle of tech and performance that they have today with the icons of style that generated and fuelled the myth through the decades”.
During the soirée and as part of the Fragment collaboration, Fujiwara gave a special preview on the exclusive capsule collection inspired by a luxury road trip abord the Maserati GranTurismo, featuring a new logo designed like a car-club, combining the Trident and Fragment while paying homage to Modena and Tokyo, home cities of the two brands. The collection – available from summer 2023 on Maserati.com and at select Maserati showrooms – includes tees, zip sweats, sweatpants – available in black and white – as well as a black ball cap, a key charm in the shape of the first Maserati GranTurismo A6 1.500, a tote bag, a collector’s edition map of Italy designed by Yorgo Tloupas, as well as a cashmere blanket, a portable chair and table co-created with Helinox for the perfect stop along an unforgettable Maserati grand tour.
Finally, the unmistakable allure of a limited edition like the GranTurismo Launch Edition PrimaSerie 75th Anniversary was showcased at the event. Made in four unique configurations, the total of 300 units – 75 for each version with an internal combustion engine, in Grigio Lamiera and Nero Cometa colours, and 75 for the electric Folgore version, in Rame Folgore and Blu Inchiostro hues – celebrates the quintessence of Italian luxury in terms of performance and stands as a testament to an ideal balance between beauty and functionality, without ostentation.