2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo: Drop Top Dream Car

MotorTrend

At MotorTrend’s 2024 Performance Vehicle of the Year

Transcript

00:00Endless power whenever you want it.

00:15This is the Maserati MC20, Maserati's first crack at a proper supercar in some 50 years

00:23and boy, what a job.

00:27You may have noticed this isn't the standard MC20 Coupe, this is the MC20 Cello, Cello

00:35of course in Italian means sky, this is a beautiful folding hardtop cabriolet.

00:44So yes this really is Maserati's first authentic real ground up design supercar in 50 years

00:53which is quite crazy when you think about it.

00:55Now of course Maserati hasn't been dormant for those years, we had the wonderful MC12

01:03homologation special back in the early 2000s, that of course was a platform share with the

01:10almighty Ferrari Enzo.

01:14This though, the MC20 is bespoke, it's completely new from the ground up and this Cello specifically

01:22has its own brand new carbon tub which was developed purely for this drop top version

01:29and also for the EV which will be coming along later, yes there will be an electric MC20

01:36in time.

01:37What a thing that will be, but right now we're in the MC20 Cello so let's talk about it.

01:45621 horsepower and 538 pound feet of torque from this beautiful, sonorous, in-house developed,

01:57engineered and built Maserati twin turbocharged V6.

02:03This engine really is an absolute cracker, very surprising, the performance is magical.

02:11This car really does personify the mid-engine supercar feel, it's spectacularly well balanced,

02:22excellently poised in the corners, wonderful under acceleration, the brakes are excellent.

02:34Listen to that, and can we talk about spec for a moment?

02:40This colour is out of this world pretty, it's the kind of thing that if someone said to

02:46me the MC20 Cello that you're going to get is going to be baby blue but it's going to

02:51be metallic, baby blue, I'd have said what on earth.

02:54And this Cello weighs in at 3,920 pounds, and of course the vast majority of that comes

03:03from the folding roof mechanism.

03:07It's beautiful, beautiful to drive, it's beautiful to look at, Maserati have done a

03:13stunning job with this thing.

03:21I love that the paddle shifts are fixed and they're big and they're wide and they're

03:26carbon fibre of course, great to look at, great to operate.

03:30The steering wheel is actually the best steering wheel here, that's important actually.

03:36Too many of these steering wheels now, I've got too much crap going on, of course this

03:40does have buttons, dings, dials, and I think the launch button's there, the start stop

03:45button's there, but it's well thought out, it's carbon fibre and Alcantara which I like.

03:52There's room here at three and nine, not only for your hands and your thumbs to rest but

03:57your palms as well.

03:59Few other cars, yeah they do a lot of it but then they sort of forget that if you're going

04:07to make a track car, the steering wheel needs to work on a track.

04:11I cannot tell you the amount of cruise controls I've started to activate with the inside of

04:16my palms while I've been mid-corner this week.

04:19That's annoying.

04:21Luckily, thankfully the MC20 does a wonderful job.

04:28Aerodynamics are another very interesting thing with this car.

04:32Maserati challenged themselves to give this car as much downforce as possible without

04:40having to resort to huge, great big wings, gurney flaps and monstrous aero which would

04:47detract from this car's other beautiful, crisp lines.

04:53And they did that.

04:54They used ground effect and a lot of underbody aerodynamics in order to achieve what is a

05:02miraculous amount of downforce.

05:04I really mean it.

05:05I've been pushing this car trying to find the limit in the corners and it just grips

05:10and pulls.

05:11It's so good.

05:12It's really good.

05:16Love the sound.

05:18The gearbox is beautiful.

05:20I've got it in Sport mode at the moment.

05:22The reason for that, in Corsa mode with the traction control set to full off, this car's

05:29a little bit tail happy.

05:31I've been told that that isn't happening today.

05:33So we're in Sport mode where everything firms up just a touch.

05:38You still get just a little bit of aid which I think is advisable.

05:44Beautiful turn in.

05:46The steering is lovely.

05:47It's nicely light.

05:50But as we know, it's so hard when you get in a car where the steering is too light and

05:58this is just perfectly balanced.

06:00You get a great amount of feedback.

06:02The car goes where you point it.

06:04That is the crucial thing.

06:06Wherever you point this car is where it goes.

06:11Limit you so much, if you try and downshift and you're right on the rev limit, it will

06:16drop down and take you there.

06:18Torque, brilliant as well.

06:20It's plentiful and it comes on in a really nice gradual way.

06:24It doesn't feel laggy but it also doesn't run out of puff.

06:28Look at this, 6,000 rpm, 7,000 rpm, 78 and shift.

06:31It's just pulling all the way.

06:34Love it.

06:35Oh, that turn in.

06:37It's brutal.

06:38It's elemental.

06:40Oh yes, oh yes.

06:43This car represents something of a mine in the sand Maserati, right?

06:49It shows that it can be successful on their own.

06:53They can make cars which compete with the very best Italian, English and German supercars

07:01and argue it's one of the prettiest cars on sale.

07:05I'd say it's probably one of the most approachable whilst also being one of the best handling also.

07:10Sort of don't want to stop driving it.

07:12It's really good.

07:24$261,200 is what this car costs.

07:29Of course, that's a lot of money.

07:32Come on.

07:33Look, this car does a bit of everything, right?

07:35It's a perfect Grand Tourer.

07:38It's a monstrous sports car, supercar.

07:41Looks great.

07:42Feels special.

07:44Really good.

07:45Really, really good.

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