The Maserati GranCabrio has been an enduring presence, both in the way it’s connected to the GranTurismo coupe, but also how the model has often been considered Maserati’s style model with only exotic offerings like the MC20 surpassing its beauty. The 2024 GranCabrio aims to take the moniker in a new direction and also represents the start of a new era in styling and performance.
GranTurismo Underpinnings Give GranCabrio Depth
The outgoing version had styling that was around since the mid-2000s but it was starting to age badly when viewed against some of its GT rivals. The 2024 version gives the exterior a revamp and replaces some of its exaggerated lines with a cleaner more sophisticated look that still checks all the essential boxes for a proper GT including a long flowing hood, sweeping headlights, and a squat rear end with slender LED taillights.
The main difference between the coupe and the GranCabrio is its folding fabric roof which is lighter than the top assemblies in past Cabrio models. Maserati is also offering buyers a diverse palette of color choices for the roof: Navy Blue, Black, Dark Red, Grey, and a fifth hue Maserati calls “Greige.” In addition to saving some weight, the fabric top also allows the trunk to have more cargo space while folding into a more compact shape. The top can be raised or lowered at speeds up to 31 mph with occupants being comfortable regardless of temperature thanks to seat back mounted vents that help create an air scarf effect.
The interior is largely copied and pasted from the GranTurismo but that’s not a bad thing since it’s already a solid blueprint for luxury and technology especially when you get nestled into the leather sport seats and soak in the high levels of comfort and tech that Maserati engineers managed to bake into the car.
Trofeo Spearheads The GranCabrio Lineup For Now
For the moment, the 2024 GranCabrio will only be available as a Trofeo model with performance coming from a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged Nettuno V6 that makes 542-hp and 479 lb-ft of torque. The V6 is also used in several other Maserati models but this is the first time that a V6 has been used in the GranCabrio with prior iterations of the car being exclusively powered by a V8.
An eight-speed automatic is the lone transmission available and the GranCabrio even gets all-wheel drive to help enhance four-season capability along with improving the way it delivers power to the road. The GranCabrio does gain a bit of weight when compared to the coupe but the weight gain actually helps improve its weight distribution and the GranCabrio’s 3.6 second 0 to 60 time is only 0.1 seconds slower than the coupe.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.