Maserati GranTurismo: Built in Nine Months, Sold for Twelve Years
Born out of a Ferrari corporate reshuffle that left Maserati without a coupé, the GranTurismo went from design sketch to finished production car faster than almost any model in automotive history — and went on to sell over 40,000 examples across a 12-year run.
Illustration for editorial purposes
Born From a Corporate Accident
The GranTurismo wasn't originally supposed to exist in this form. Reviewers keep telling the same origin story: Ferrari took the platform meant to replace the Maserati Coupé and turned it into the Ferrari California instead, leaving Maserati's engineers scrambling to build a genuine replacement from scratch.
History & Development
Unveiled at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, the first-generation GranTurismo went from design concept to full production in just nine months — a genuine industry record — after Ferrari's California effectively poached the platform originally intended for Maserati's next coupé. Styled by Pininfarina's Jason Castriota and built on a shortened version of the fifth-generation Quattroporte's platform, it launched with a 4.2-litre Ferrari-developed V8 before the more powerful GranTurismo S arrived just a year later with a 4.7-litre unit. A GranCabrio convertible followed in 2010, and the range continued largely unchanged in spirit, receiving a comprehensive facelift in 2018, until production finally ended in December 2019 after 28,805 coupés and 11,715 convertibles had been built.
Design & Engineering
The GranTurismo's V8, developed jointly with Ferrari and hand-built in Maranello, used a cross-plane crankshaft rather than Ferrari's usual flat-plane design, giving it a meatier, more gravelly exhaust note than its Maranello relations. Power ranged from 405 horsepower in the standard model to 460 horsepower in the track-focused MC Stradale, with the range-topping versions capable of 0-62mph in well under five seconds. A six-speed ZF torque-converter automatic was standard, while an electro-actuated automated manual, derived from the Ferrari F430's transmission, was offered as a sportier alternative on certain versions.
Cultural Significance
The GranTurismo's twelve-year production run coincided with the most financially stable period in Maserati's modern history, with reviewers and industry commentators widely crediting the model with effectively keeping the brand solvent through a difficult era. Its replacement, a second-generation GranTurismo revealed in 2022, introduced a fully electric "Folgore" version alongside conventional petrol power — a genuine first for the brand and a clear signal of where Maserati's future was heading.
Value Today
Values for good used examples of the original GranTurismo have fallen to genuinely accessible levels, with well-specified GranTurismo Sport models available for around the price of a well-optioned Volkswagen Golf. The model has developed a strong reputation for reliability given its age, with the Ferrari-derived V8 and ZF transmission both proving largely dependable, making it one of the more approachable ways into genuine Italian V8 grand touring ownership.
Watch & Explore
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Sources: Wikipedia, evo, autoevolution, Supercars.net.