Co-Pilots' Notes #2:- '08 Maserati GranTurismo S

If only I had seen it coming. Had I kept my eye on the Radar I would have know that the Maserati would be present, and would have made arrangements to take it for an “evaluative appraisal”. As it was, I was only able to experience the machine from the passenger seat.

Time, then, for one of my ultra-cheaty, pinch-o’-salt Co-Pilots Notes instalments, and only the second Maserati to make it to the electronic pages of this here journal.

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Driven #38:- Alfa Romeo 159 1.9 JTDm

I seem to be conjuring cars up out of thin air, right now. No sooner have I taken the Giulietta out for a drive (here), and start thinking to myself that it would be nice to have a 159 to compare it to, then suddenly one turns up. So, next week, expect a full report on the McLaren F1.

The Giulietta plays the fashion card, and tries appeals to an image-conscious market. The 159 is the Alfa Romeo for those who want a straight-forward, hard working saloon car, but one which is still an Alfa through and through. Of course, achieving that is no mean feat. 

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Driven #26:- Maserati Quattroporte

The Italians are fortunate with their language, it can transform phrases as mundane as “four doors” into words as charismatic as “Quattroporte”. And in the context of the name of Maserati’s big, posh saloon car offering, it'd a word that has a strange and unshakeable power over me.

For as long as I've been able to pronounce it, I have loved the Quattroporte. Every iteration, from the first, Citroën-related model in the ‘70s, through the Marcello Gandini-penned fourth generation (my favourite, for reasons unknown), to today’s very much more curvaceous car. It's been an ambition to get my hands on one, any, of these, and then on a beautiful sunny Tuesday this week, the keys finally landed on my desk.

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A short lived affair. Alfa bye-bye.

I introduced my Alfa Romeo 156 in this post from a few months back. And tonight, at 21:14 GMT, somebody else will own it. Of all my ownership experiences this has been my briefest. So what happened?

Well, I happened. It’s all my fault and Alfa Romeo enthusiasts around the globe are welcome to throw unpleasant smelling things at me and call me names. 
 

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Driven #16:- Fiat 500 Abarth

I’m six foot five and there are certain cars I simply cannot fit inside, a Renault Alpine, for example, and a Lotus Exige. Both of these cars have something in common; they were built for enthusiasts. Their drivers would likely put up with a bit of discomfort for the sheer joy of driving. I know I would, I have grazed knees, bumped heads and pulled muscles to savour the experience of a Lotus on a winding road.

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