Maserati offering customized series in North America

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Maserati Ghibli Trofreo
Maserati Ghibli Trofreo wears 'historic Birdcage Livery' | Manufacturer photos

MC, short for Maserati Corse, is the first part of the name of the MC Edition, cars that celebrates Maserati’s “performance and racing spirit.” The Italian automaker said it will apply that name to the most powerful Ghibli, Levante and Quattroporte cars with V8 engines.

Maserati also announced that its Fuoriserie customization program, which includes the Corse cars, is being made available to customers in North America. To launch Fuoriserie in North America, Maserati created three 580-horsepower Trofeo Collection vehicles — an Orange Zest metallic-painted Levante Trofeo on 22-inch Orione wheels with pieno fiore black-leather interior with living coral-colored stitching; a Verde Royale-colored Quattroporte Trofeo with woven leather interior; and a Blu Maserti-painted Ghibli Trofreo with “historic Birdcage Livery” and special interior. 

In North America, the Fuoriserie customization effort features Corse (racing), Unica (contemporary style) and Futura (technology and new materials) combinations.  The company offers a special website so you can figure out which combination most appeals to your tastes.

More on those Corse cars

In addition to their badges, the Maserati Corse cars will be available in two exclusive colors — Giallo Corse and Blue Vittoria.

“Yellow and blue are the colors of Modena, the city that symbolizes the Motor Valley and is the home of Maserati,” the company said.

“Giallo Corse is a three-layer yellow color with blue mica interfering with the light in a highly sophisticated manner, for a sporty and advanced look. Conversely, Blue Vittoria is a matte three-layer blue. Extremely deep, impactful, new and contemporary, it has a notably tangible effect.”

Interiors feature blue carbon fiber and yellow-and-blue stitching on black leather seats.

Ford will join GT3 racing competition

In conjunction with the recent Rolex 24 at Daytona race, Ford announced plans to return to factory-backed production-car competition with a new Mustang GT3 IMSA racer to launch at the 24-hour Daytona race in 2024.

To be developed by Ford Performance and Multimatic Motorsports, the cars will be powered by 5.0-liter Coyote-based V8 engines, developed by Ford Performance and built by M-sport of Cumbria, England. 

M-Sport worked with Ford on the development of the Ford Puma hybrid rally car that won the recent Monte Carlo Rally and is engine supplier to the British Touring Car Championship.

Ford plans a two-car factory team in the 2024 IMSA GTD Pro class and will offer customer cars to privateer racers.

“We’re thrilled to introduce the GT3 version to compete head-to-head against some of the greatest manufacturers in the world,” Mark Rushbrook, Ford Performance Motorsports director, was quoted in Ford’s announcement.  “With 58 years of global endurance racing heritage, including NASCAR and Australian Supercars today, we are ready to take Mustang to the next level of global performance.”

Rushbrook added that Multimatic has worked with Ford on previous Mustang racing programs, and on the Ford GT and Bronco racing efforts.

Ford announced that Joey Hand, one of the drivers of the class-winning Ford GT at Le Mans in 2016, will be one of the GT3 car development drivers. As part of that effort, Hand will drive in six NASCAR Cup road races in 2022 with Rick Ware Racing.

As part of its announcement, Ford also said it would develop an updated Mustang GT4 customer racing car to debut in 2023.

Alfa unveils metamorphosis in Tonale

Alfa Romeo hybrid, the Tonale

Saying the new model “marks the metamorphosis of Alfa Romeo while remaining true to its DNA of Italian sportiness,” the Italian automaker has unveiled its Tonale model.

The car is a hybrid. Buyers have a choice of a new, 130- or 160-horsepower, turbocharged 1.5-liter petroleum-fueled 4-cylinder engine linked to an electric motor, or as an all-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid version with 275 horsepower and an electric-only range of up to 80 kilometers.

The car offers such features as electronic suspension and electronic self-locking differential, Level 2 autonomous driving and comes with an NFT digital certificate designed to enhance resale value, Alfa said.

Spirit of Ecstasy gets sleek update

Spirit goes aero

After 830 hours of design and wind-tunnel testing, the Spirit of Ecstasy, Rolls-Royce famed and 111-year-old hood ornament, has been redesigned to be more aerodynamic for use on the company’s electric vehicles, starting with Spectre. 

In its announcement, the company noted that the Spirit’s new and lower stance “brings her much closer to the drawings made by her original creator, the illustrator and sculptor Charles Sykes…

“Now she is a true goddess of speed, braced for the wind, one leg forward, body tucked low, her eyes focused eagerly ahead.”

Louvre edition by DS Automobiles

DS is the upscale division of Citroen and has just unveiled the DS 3 Crossback Louvre that comes not only with special badging and wheels, but with 182 iconic works of art from the Louvre museum built into the car’s 10.3-inch central display screen as podcasts.

The car can be purchased in Europe with either an electric or a choice of two petrol-fueled powertrains.

Murray’s T.33 sold out

It was about a week ago that Gordon Murray Automotive announced its newest supercar, the T.33 coupe. If you wanted one of the $1.83-million cars you’re already out of luck. All 100 to be built — with the first deliveries in 2024 — have been claimed by customers, GMA reports. 

BMW shows electric scooter

BMW has added an electric motor scooter, the 2022 CE 04, to its Motorrad lineup. The 42-horsepower 2-wheeler has a range of 80 miles, automatic stability control-like traction control, a 10.25-inch display screen with navigation, and an MSRP of $11,795. It also has economy, rain, and road modes, with an optional dynamic mode available.

BMW Motorrad called the CE 04 “a forward-looking design…the new scooter merges transport and communication functions into a new brand of personal urban mobility.”

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