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S_w203 · Site Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2006 Posts: 374

The MC12, at the Pinnacle of the Sports Prototype Range

Maserati has designed a new road-going Grand Tourer known as the MC12 from which a GT racing version has also been developed.

The result is that 37 long years after its last victory in an international championship (1967, Cooper Maserati F1, South African Grand Prix), the Trident is returning to the track.

The Ferrari Maserati Group’s wealth of knowledge and technological excellence have been poured into the design of the new car. In addition to this, its styling was developed in the wind tunnel from a Giugiaro idea by Maserati technicians with the support of Frank Stephenson, the Ferrari Maserati Group’s own Director of Concept Design and Development. The European type-approved version of the new car goes on sale after the summer.

Designed for high level road use, it can exceed 205 mph at full throttle, sprinting from 0 to 62 mph in just 3.8 seconds. Although easy and pleasant to drive on the road, the MC12 is also a brilliantly dynamic car.

It handles very sweetly and fluidly yet the driver can still feel all the power of a genuinely sporty thoroughbred under the surface. The new model adds the definitive flourish to Maserati’s return to the racing circuits after the recent and highly successful debut in the Daytona 24 Hour Race, of the Trofeo Light, inspired by the equally impressive single-series protagonist. Under the guidance of engineer Giorgio Ascanelli, Maserati’s Racing Division is currently developing the new car to meet the rules of the major international championships.

The client version for road use will be available exclusively in a white and blue livery, harking back to an old Trident tradition. In fact, blue and white are the colours of the America Camoradi (Casner Motor Racing Division) Scuderia which raced the famous Maserati Tipo 60-61 Birdcages in the very early 1960s with Stirling Moss as their lead driver.

Lightm Rigid Structure

The Maserati MC12 is a two-seater long-tail coupe-spider with a long wheel base (2800 mm). It has a typical racing/sporty set-up with a removable hard top. It is also powered by an impressive 630 bhp six-litre mid-rear V12 engine and boasts 41%-front and 59%-rear weight distribution. Highly advanced composites and alloys have enhanced its structural rigidity and kept its overall weight down. The MC12’s bodywork is entirely carbon fibre, while its stress-bearing chassis is made from a carbon fibre and Nomex honeycomb sandwich. Two aluminium sub-chassis’s support the ancillaries, help absorb bumps, and guarantee an excellent standard of safety.

630 bhp Six-Litre Engine

The MC12 benefits from all of the Ferrari Maserati Group’s most advanced technologies and competition experience. It boasts a powerful naturally aspirated 12-cylinder 65° V engine that displaces 5998 cc and punches out 630 bhp at 7500 rpm. Designed to meet the specific needs and characteristics of a road-going Maserati, it also offers absolutely excellent drivability. The MC12 delivers a maximum torque of 481 lb-ft at 5500 rpm and remains exceptionally nimble and fluid, even at low engine speeds. It has an aluminium crankcase, titanium con rods, and extremely aerodynamically efficient four-valve cylinder heads to boot. Distribution is by way of four overhead camshafts per cylinder which are gear-driven, a solution that offers perfect timing control. The dry sump lubrication also boasts a highly efficient scavenger pump.

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