2017 Maserati Alfieri: Guaranteed to Be Not F-ing Boring

2017 Maserati Alfieri: Guaranteed to Be Not F-ing Boring

Maserati CEO Harald Wester is on record saying that his brand’s future lies in “adorable handcrafted imperfection,” which to our ears sounds like the description of a three-legged Vermont Teddy Bear rather than an Italian grand tourer. But Wester chooses his words to distance Maserati from the homogeneity and sterility of the German automakers, even as it goes toe-to-toe with them. Of this competition, Wester pulls no punches and minces no words. “They’re fucking boring,” he recently told the press.

This is the mind-set that will spawn the Alfieri, a 2+2 coupe that’s smaller, sharper, and less expensive than the brand’s GranTurismo. While the Alfieri will play a bit part in the sales figures relative to Maserati’s upcoming Levante SUV, the coupe has a key role in plotting the brand’s direction as it carves out a niche between Alfa Romeo and Ferrari in the $70,000-to-$150,000 range.

The new Quattroporte and the Ghibli are successes, at least in the objective sense. They more than doubled the brand’s global sales last year, and if you believe the story line laid out by Maserati, its biggest challenge may be keeping that growth in check. Wester claims he will cap the company’s annual volume at 75,000 sales, a promise that may prove hard to keep as the Levante comes online later this year. Yet in our drives, the newest Masers feel incomplete, flawed more than distinctive.

It’s far too early to say whether Wester’s calculated imperfection will burnish the brand or merely reinforce Italian-car stereo­types, but if the 2014 Geneva concept is any indication, the Alfieri could restore Maserati to its rightful place in autodom as a still-workingman’s Ferrari. Where the Quattroporte and Ghibli look a bit soft and dull, the Alfieri is all tension and drama.

Named for one of the three Maserati brothers who opened their workshop in 1914, the Alfieri will compete against the Jaguar F-type, the Mercedes-AMG GT, and the Porsche 911 with a starting price around $100,000. Expect the production car to be built from a mix of steel and aluminum, sharing key parts of its structure with the next GranTurismo. Maserati will separate its Alfieri and GranTurismo coupes with $30,000 between their base prices and a 9.4-inch difference in wheelbases. A cabriolet is also guaranteed, likely arriving a year after the coupe.

The 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6, already used in the Ghibli and Quattroporte, finds another home in the Alfieri. The base tune will start around 410 horsepower with an option to upgrade to 450, while the top performer may require a displacement bump to accommodate its rumored 520 horsepower. Only the 410-hp engine is expected to drive the rear wheels; more-powerful models will come standard with four-wheel drive. All Alfieris will use ZF’s eight-speed automatic.

It all has the potential to be perfect, even if that’s exactly what Maserati doesn’t want.