If It Ain’t Broke

While the automotive world continues to move forward and we see new developments on a regular basis, the thought that if something isn’t broken you don’t need to fix it seems to be an idea that most people aren’t sure of anymore. We tend to expect things to be done better every year and certainly one of the most important aspects of offering cars to us for the drive is the fact that we want something new to drive. There is one company that has kept with the thought of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and makes the case for longer generational runs of the models that we see and enjoy.

The company that has been building one car the same way or at least very close to it for the past eleven model years is Maserati. This brand is one of the most iconic and respected on the planet and it has been offering exceptional Italian styling and performance for several decades for us to have a car that is impressive to drive on the road. It’s really not that big of a surprise that Maserati hasn’t changed some of the models for several years and when you do things as right as Maserati has, you don’t have to.

The Gran Turismo is the car that has been around since 2007 in the same form whether it’s been the coupe or convertible models. There is a mild refresh that’s being added for the 2018 model year in order to bring in a sharknose front bumper that was inspired by the Alfieri Concept model along with a new hexagon patterned grill and new lower air intakes. There is also a new rear bumper that finishes off the changes that have been made to the outside of this car to be subtle but impressive.

On the inside, the new 8.4-inch high-resolution touchscreen shows up for the infotainment system that supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A new Harman Kardon audio system also comes to the mix while the drive mode selector for the driving style and performance you want to experience have been moved to a new place next to the gear selector to be more accessible. These are minor changes as well, but also make sense, especially bringing in the connectivity that is needed for anyone who wants to drive this excellent sports car.

Under the hood, we see more sameness than anywhere else. The Gran Turismo is powered by the 4.7-liter V8 engine that uses a ZF six-speed automatic transmission for the shifting. The Sport model will sprint to sixty mph in 4.8 seconds as will the more performance oriented MC Stradale model. The speed difference between these two models shows up with the top speed which is 185 mph for the Sport and 187 for the MC Stradale. These two cars showed themselves together for us to discuss the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed and those that purchased one of the Gran Turismo models at the event were presented with a new Bulgari watch.

Maserati shows us how they have chosen to leave well enough alone and only make minor changes to keep up with the technology and slight improvements made. The Gran Turismo is a car that has the same power as when it came to the fray eleven years ago. This car is elegant, stylish, powerful, planted and sophisticated to be one of the favorites for us to drive and experience wherever we want to go. There’s something impressive about a car that has stayed as same and as perfect as this one has for so long.