Maserati one-off sprouts extra door

Innovative, or downright sacrilegious? We're inclined to think the Maserati 'Cinqueporte' -- pictured alongside -- is the latter.

Created by Italy's StudioM and Alfredo Stola's StudioTorino, this 1:4 scale model is an indicator of how a 'shooting brake' wagon version of Maserati's suave Quattroporte could shape up.

The project was commissioned by a Middle East-based customer, whose previous orders for one-offs have included wagon-ised versions of Ferraris for weekend getaways to the desert.

Its creators say the objective in creating the Cinqueporte was to "embrace the traditions of shooting brake conversions to high performance, luxury vehicles, creating the useability of an estate without taking away from the styling and donor car's DNA."

We're not entirely convinced it's a case of mission accomplished as the doctored derriere looks somewhat awkward -- particularly in the front-three-quarter image.

There's no doubting it's lost the brilliantly balanced proportions of the donor sedan. Be that as it may, beauty is clearly in the eye of the beholder, and for the well-heeled Arab who'll be the recipient of the Cinqueporte, its uniqueness alone is likely to be enough of a drawcard.

One advantage of tailoring it to the Middle East was that the less stringent homologation requirements of this region made it possible to develop new folding rear seats and reposition the fuel tank to boost space efficiency.

But how much the Cinqueporte gains in terms of practicality is debatable, as the heavily tapered roofline suggests its luggage capacity won't be appreciably greater than that of the sedan.

Other visual tweaks include a two-tone effect paint finish -- although the body is white, the B-pillar, door mirrors and rear windows frames are all coated in gloss black. Meanwhile, the nose gains a more aggressive bumper/spoiler assembly.

There's been no fiddle to the drivetrain, which means the 295kW/451Nm 4.2-litre V8 remains unchanged, as does the six-speed ZF automatic transmission.

Its makers haven't disclosed how much the finished product will cost, but StudioTorino/StudioM's creations don't come cheap. They recently did a pimped-out Quattroporte for a private customer in a project that ended up costing a total in excess of half a million bucks… the Cinqueporte is likely to come in well north of this figure.

To comment on this article click here