Maserati is currently undergoing a company-wide revitalization, with the long-lived V8 GranTurismo having been put out to pasture. The entire range is now moving towards a fully-electrified future but there’s still petrol-power planned too.
So, while a range of SUVs and EVs are seemingly essential for long term sustainability, Maserati has been at pains to ensure that its core products are still exciting driving machines regardless of what powers them.
One such core machine will be the as-yet-unnamed sports car, which will be arriving in mid-2020. Other than a short “Save The Date” audio clip released earlier this month that revealed a gas-powered engine—a V8 by the sound of it—would still be part of the package, we have not had much to go on, until now.
The first test mule of this upcoming vehicle was spotted leaving the Maserati factory and a release from the manufacturer stated that this experimental vehicle is equipped with a new powertrain entirely developed and built by Maserati.
It said that this powerplant would go on to power a new generation of vehicles from the brand and while no further details were revealed we can surmise from previous data that it will almost assuredly be a hybrid powerplant, which in this application looks to be mid-mounted.
The prototype itself has a special wrap that echoes the “Save the Date” teaser sent out ahead of the May 2020 reveal and its lines suggested that it might have been based on the Alfa 4C platform. While Maserati was tight-lipped on the actual design, it did say that the data gathered from the test mules and driving simulators would be used to fine-tune and develop the prototypes with final bodywork and mechanics.
Reading between the lines, it means that what you see here may bear very little resemblance to the finished product come May next year.
Images courtesy of Maserati
