Maserati has opened the doors to its new London showroom, with help from David Beckham. The former England football captain drove to the launch party in a new Maserati GranTurismo, then spoke to guests about his custom MC20 supercar.
The flagship Maserati facility is located in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, just outside the M25 and close to the Galleria shopping centre. It forms part of luxury dealer group H.R. Owen’s huge new multi-marque site, which includes showrooms and servicing workshops for Bentley, Ferrari and Lamborghini.
This is also the first UK showroom to adopt Maserati’s new design aesthetic, including colours ‘reminiscent of the rustic hues found in Italian countryside villages’. Or so it says here.
Blue is the colour
Pride of price on the opening night went to a glamorous, deep blue GranTurismo Trofeo (pictured above) – Maserati’s answer to the Bentley Continental GT or Porsche 911 Turbo, with a 550hp V6 engine and price tag of around £163,000.
We tested the Trofeo earlier this year, saying: ‘it feels like a car you could drive for hours to the French Alps, then enjoy threading together a few hairpins when you get there’.
Bernard Loire, chief commercial officer at Maserati, also spoke about the fully electric GranTurismo Folgore (‘lightning’ in English), which is due imminently. With a mighty 761hp from a 92.5kWh battery, it will bring true supercar performance to the Italian brand’s luxury GT.
Speaking of supercars, there were three examples of the McLaren-baiting Maserati MC20 on display in Hatfield, two parked outside (see below), plus the same MC20 Cielo convertible we reviewed in May. Our thoughts at the time: ‘Whatever the weather, it excels as a refreshingly uncomplicated and authentic supercar’.
A game of two halves
As Maserati’s global brand ambassador, David Beckham naturally owns an MC20, which has been modified using the in-house ‘Fuoriserie’ personalisation service – also offered in Hatfield via a 3D digital configurator on a large screen.
As Beckham explained, his car sports the colours of his Miami-based football team (sorry, ‘soccer team’), with gloss black paint and pale pink MC20 badges and brake callipers.
Each to their own, of course, but we discovered our favourite Maserati of the evening outside in the car park: an ultra-rare classic Kyalami. The crisply styled V8 coupe was one of 210 produced between 1976 and 1982. It served as a reminder that glamorous Maseratis are nothing new.
ALSO READ:
