Rare Maserati Quattroporte Bellagio Fastback Up for Sale

Back in 2008, Italy’s revived Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera presented a station-wagon version of the Maserati Quattroporte with a fastback-like silhouette called the Bellagio. The stylish Italian family hauler was more than just a pure design exercise as Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera actually produced the car, albeit upon customer request.

We’re not sure how many Maserati Bellagio Fastbacks have been built, but it’s safe to assume that it’s an extremely rare car. That said, we were quite surprised to find one up for grabs in the used car market, and more specifically, by a Dutch dealer.

The blue-colored Bellagio Fastback was built to order in 2008 and according to the seller, has a mere 1,546 km or 961 miles on the odometer. The asking price is €165,000, equal to about $233,300. Photo gallery follows after the jump.

Seller: Helfferich via Autoblog.nl

2008 MASERATI BELLAGIO FASTBACK FOR SALE

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PHOTO GALLERY

Geneva Preshow: Maserati's Go-Faster GrandCabrio Sport

It's been a year-and-a-half since Maserati lifted the wraps off a drop-top version of its GranTurismo coupe at the Frankfurt Motor Show in late 2009, and now the Italians are getting ready to expand the range of the GranCabrio with the presentation of a sportier variant at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show.

The new GranCabrio Sport follows in the footsteps of its hardtop sibling offering an improved chassis, more horse power and optimized gearshift response. The convertible is motivated by a more potent and fuel-efficient version of the firm's all-alloy 4.7-litre naturally-aspirated V8 churning out 450HP and 510 Nm or 376.2 lb-ft of peak torque, an increase of 10HP and 20Nm respectively over the standard GranCabrio. The top speed of the GranCabrio Sport is 285km/h or 177mph.

The company said the engine benefits from what it describes as "Maserati’s Friction Reduction Program", without providing any specific details, but claims a 6% reduction in fuel consumption.

The V8 is coupled to an upgraded ZF six-speed automatic transmission equipped with the MC Auto Shift software from the Quattroporte Sport GT S, which promises faster shift times. Maserati's engineers also revised the car's Skyhook active-suspension system and added grooved and drilled dual-cast brake discs.

On the outside, the GranCabrio Sport receives some mild tweaks in the form of a black grille, smoked headlamps with white sidemarks, new front corner splitters and redesigned side skirts. There's also a new shade of red called Rosso Trionfale, said to have been inspired by the red Italian national colors used on 1950s racing Maseratis.

Sales of the GranCabrio Sport will start from summer 2011.

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Racing Flashback: On Board Video of Juan Manuel Fangio Driving the Maserati 250F

In today's world of motorsports, much to the delight of fans, it's the norm to have one or more cameras fitted in the car or even in the driver's helmet. But that wasn't the case back in the 1950's, so we were quite surprised to discover such a video featuring the five-time Formula 1 World Champion and one of the greatest pilots of all time, Juan Manuel Fangio. A moment of coolness follows in the film after the break, with Fangio driving the Maserati 250F racecar at the Modena Aero-Autodrome.

By Csaba Daradics

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