We’re a little bit late to the Maserati MC20 party, the prestige mid-engine sports car that’s intended to steal a little bit of thunder from the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini. Aside from a few high-end hypercars, the Italian brand hasn’t been a player in this particular niche for decades, preferring instead to focus on grand tourers and super saloons.
Back in 2004, the brand launched the MC12, an extremely limited edition (62 examples) sports car that heralded the company’s return to high-profile motorsport. Based on the Ferrari Enzo, the road-going versions of the MC12 were oversized and awkward.
After years of alternating between vicious rivalry and close partnership, Maserati’s last hook-up with Ferrari effectively ended for good in 2021, when parent company Fiat was absorbed in Stellantis (Ferrari having taken itself public in 2015 and leaving Fiat the following year).
The MC20 debuted in 2020, but the pandemic pushed back drives and deliveries until a couple of years later, risking the presentation of a car that was significantly off the pace in comparison to its competitors. Thankfully, the company put sufficient thought and energy into ensuring the MC20 was very much a worthy challenger from the outset.
A completely clean sheet design, the MC20 pairs a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis with a 3.0 litre V6 engine, developed in-house and dubbed ‘Nettuno’ (it can also be found in other Maserati models). The interior is lightweight and stripped down but is far from rough and ready.
In fact, it’s one of the most ergonomically appealing of all modern Maseratis, eschewing awkward quirks in favour of easily accessible controls, good visibility and comfortable seats. Even the touchscreen works well, helpfully placed close at hand so you don’t have to stretch a wobbly finger to change functions.
It’s not luxurious, of course – no mid-engine sports car should ever claim to be such a thing. Three driving modes – GT, Sport and Wet – give you a choice of fast, faster and cautious, and the suspension is never less than firm. The low-slung nose can be hydraulically lifted to cope with raised curbs and speed bumps, and the view out back comes courtesy of a digital rear view ‘mirror’ that shows a high-res scene of the road behind; the real view is somewhat obscured.
Objectively and subjectively, this is an excellent car. It fulfils the unspoken brief of a mid-engine machine by delivering visual drama and drawing attention whether it’s static or in motion, thanks to the butterfly doors and vocal engine noise (albeit mercifully a touch more subdued than Maserati’s V8 models).
And while performance is certainly competitive, it stops short of being top dog. There’s a sense that Maserati has moved on from the minutiae of split-second sprint times and largely theoretical top speeds, choosing instead to focus on creating a super sports car in an all-round usable package.
But why now? Why introduce a storming conventionally powered supercar just as we’re entering the twilight of these automotive thunder gods? It’s true that rumblings about e-fuels have been getting louder in recent months, as German manufacturers lobby to extend the 2035 ban on ICE car manufacturing. For Maserati, the immediate future means splitting its range into EV and ICE versions, starting with the GranTurismo Folgore (‘lightning’), which will be sold alongside a V6 Nettuno version.
From next year, MC20 customers will get the same choice, and the MC20 Folgore promises to deliver equivalent levels of power and range. However, there’s no escaping the fact that MC20 ownership, regardless of your chosen powertrain, is priced in line with competitors from Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren, ie, high.
If you simply must have the swagger of a low-slung mid-engine machine but can’t run to nearly £200k, consider the Lotus Emira, which weighs in at just under the MC20’s 1,500kg, packs a V6 and starts from £77,795.
The real test is whether an EV delivers the dopamine fix of focus and attention garnered by the sound of combustion. As the EV era dawns, there are going to be some shake-ups in the world of luxury sports cars.
Maserati MC20, from £197,994, Maserati.com
