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The Maserati Coup follows hard on the heels of
the Spyder released in September 2001 at the Frankfurt Motorshow. The Coup is scheduled for release at the
Detroit Motor Show on January 7, 2002 and it will mark the return of
Maserati to the US market at this its world premier. Powered by the same all new 4.2 litre naturally
aspirated V8 that powers the Spyder, the introduction of the Coup formally
brings to an end the turbo-engined Maserati introduced by de Tomaso with the Bi Turbo
series. Although similar in appearance to the 3200GT, the new Coup
is a completely new car and, apart from the obvious styling difference, is basically
identical in specification to the Spyder which preceded it. The new Coup
thus adopts the new Maserati 6-speed manual rear mounted transaxle type
gear box and the new option - the Cambiocorsa gearbox introduced with the
Spyder. The gearbox is hydraulically operated
with electronic management by levers behind the steering wheel, there is no
clutch. Whilst front and rear track are the same as the 3200GT, the
wheel base is 220mm shorter and weight is down slightly relative to the
Spyder. The closely related 3200GT styling has a number
of subtle differences - and some not so. As can be seen from the rear
view of the car the distinctive 'boomerang' rear light treatment has been
abandoned, the power bulge on the bonnet is also more pronounced. These photographs have been taken from
the official factory website dedicated to the new car:
www.maseraticoupe.com
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