Though under the same ownership umbrella as Ferrari, Maserati has carved out an enviable niche by offering essentially hand-assembled performance vehicles, outfitted with the richest interior materials imaginable, in very limited numbers. The Trident, affectionately named and with each tine representing one of the firm’s three founding brothers, is preparing to return to supercar territory, a turf it once firmly occupied alongside the prancing horse, with its new-generation MC20. That car made a memorable reveal that encompassed part of Maserati’s august past.
Emerging in this image is the MC20 cabriolet prototype, not very determinedly disguised, at the factory that will build it in volume. The Viale Ciro Menotti plant in Modena, Italy, has been a benchmark of Maserati history for more than 80 years, with some of the marque’s most historic offerings rolling from its gates. The factory has been fully retooled for the MC20, including the use of automatically guided vehicles to move under-construction MC20s between assembly stations. Maserati is vocal about the fact that the Menotti plant’s MC20 process will involve just three robots – two for painting, one to spread the glue that holds the windshield and backlight in place – with most construction hearkening back nearly to the craft era.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 