Saturday, May 9, 2009

Maserati GranTurismo Spyder coming early next year with $130,000 price tag

Fans of open air cruising have something new to look forward to. The long awaited Maserati Granturismo Spider will make its official debut this upcoming September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The new convertible from FIAT was designed by Pininfarina and uses the same basic architecture as Maserati’s other sportscars, the Granturismo and the Quattroporte.

Maserati is yet to reveal if the car will sport a traditional canvas roof or a new hard-top, but according to Car and Driver it will come with a conventional cloth top and a price tag of $130,000. This puts it in perfect competition with cars like the Mercedes Benz SL, Aston Martin Vantage Roadster, BMW M6 Cabrio, and Jaguar XKR Convertible.

In keeping with its premium status the Spyder will likely come standard with the new 434hp 4.7L V8 engine from the more recent GranTurismo S. This means it will likely get Maserati’s new automatic gearbox (as opposed to the previous automated manual) and a Brembo brake package as standard.

Performance will likely be down on its hard-top sibling, however, as the Spyder will require extra reinforcements due to its missing roof. Remember, the regular GranTurismo already weighs in excess of 1,800kg so the extra weight of this reinforcement plus the automated folding roof system could easily push the drop-top past the two ton barrier.

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