1984 Maserati Quattroporte

The four-door full-size luxury sports saloon, known as the Maserati Quattroporte, was first introduced in 1963. It wore styling by the Turinese coachbuilder Pietro Frua, who drew inspiration from a Maserati 5000 GT (chassis number 103.060) which he had designed for Prince Karim Aga Khan in 1962. Frua created the design while Vignale was tasked with the body construction.

The second generation of the Quattroporte (AM 123) was built between 1974 and 1978 and was built during Citroen's ownership of the Italian company. It rested on an extended Citroen SM chassis and wore Bertone bodywork, penned by Marcello Gandini. It had Citroen's front-wheel drive, hydropneumatic suspension, and swiveling directional headlights. Power was from a 3.0-liter V6 engine based on the Citroen SM engine. Rated at 210 PS, it gave the car a modest top speed of 124 mph.

The third generation of the Maserati Quattroporte (Tipo AM 330) was developed under the Alejandro de Tomaso-GEPI ownership. Much different than the second generation, the third Gen had a rear-wheel drive, a Maserati V8 engine, and a design penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro. Giugiaro had presented two Italdesign show cars on Maserati platforms from 1974 to 1976, named the Medici I and Medici II. Several features of the Medici II would make it into the production version of the third-generation Quattroporte.

First shown in 1967, the production version went on sale in 1979. The Kyalami, the first new model from Maserati after its acquisition by DeTomaso, donated several mechanical components including the quad-cam V8 engine. A conventional power steering setup replaced the hydraulic system of the Quattroporte II.

Prior to 1981, the third generation Quattroporte wore '4Porte' badging, but this was later changed to ones that spelled out 'Quattroporte.' Two displacement versions of the V8 engine were available, including a 4,930cc that offered 280 PS and a smaller 4,136cc that produced 255 PS. The 4.1-liter version was phased out in 1981.

At the time, the Quattroporte was considered the world's fastest sedan. These four-passenger automobiles could achieve speeds in excess of 100 mph while carrying its occupants in luxurious accommodations. They were the choice of many wealthy Italian industrialists and celebrities, including the country's president, Alessandro Pertini.

Maserati produced 6,180 vehicles in 1984, with just 315 of those being the Quattroporte, which had a base price in the United States of nearly $67,000. Between 1979 and 1990, a total of 2,155 third-generation Quattroprote's were produced.

by Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2019