Ferrari and Maserati had packed stands at Frankfurt this year! The expansion into Maserati SUVs with the Levante will probably single-handedly be able to lift trident sales massively in its first year. Maserati is rolling out semi-refreshed Ghibli and GranTurismo models for 2018. But they are pretty light facelifts to the grilles outside and the infotainment systems inside. Ghibli also bags new LEDs for the headlamps — something the MC Stradale needs pretty urgently too.
Meanwhile, Ferrari has high hopes for its new Portofino V8 convertible-coupe to replace the unloved California T. The Cali T had one of the shortest production runs in Ferrari history — just two model-years.
While it delivered scorching pace on paper, its real-world integration of the turbo drivetrain was very weak. None of the shocking kickdown and ingear speed of even the Bentley Conti GT V8S, let alone a 911 Turbo.
Ferrari Portofino
2018 Maserati Levante S Q4, Ghibli, GranTurismo, MC Stradale, Quattroporte
Tom Burkart is the founder and managing editor of Car-Revs-Daily.com, an innovative and rapidly-expanding automotive news magazine.
He holds a Journalism JBA degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Tom currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina with his two amazing dogs, Drake and Tank.
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