1990 Maserati Chubasco

The Maserati Chubasco was a design exercise; a static model that displayed an aggressive and bold supercar that was both an design and engineering marvel. Before production began it was estimated that development and production costs would be too high to create a profit. The mock-up design is now displayed in the Panini Museum near Modena.

The engine was to be mounted in the rear, powered by a twin-turbocharged eight-cylinder engine capable of producing 430 horsepower. A six-speed manual transmission would send power to the rear wheels.

Marcello Gandini was tasked by Maserati to create the design. The creation would be centered around the mechanical requirements. All areas of the mechanics needed cooling such as the air-conditioning, turbo-chargers, engine, brakes, mufflers, catalytic converters, etc. The solution was large ducts and three large frontal airscoops under the doors which would accelerate and exhausted air. The doors opened upward and forward. The roof section was electrically-controlled. When operated, the roof moved back and over the engine compartment.

By Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2006