Unique among the Italian sports car manufacturers, Maserati has a long and rich history of offering a comfortable four-door sedan model, the Quattroporte (literally “four doors”), powered by the same engine and with near-equal performance to the two-door models. For the third generation model, first presented in 1979, the company turned to the renowned automotive designer Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign.

Giugiaro turned out a car based upon his successful Medici show car, with a rather high waistline, a glassy and angular greenhouse, and a long hood, giving it a classic Italdesign appearance. The interior was sumptuously appointed for five passengers, with an unusually wide rear seat providing comfortable accommodation for three, and the driver and front passenger in armchair-like bucket seats. Upholstery was trimmed in the finest hand-sewn Italian leather throughout, including the surfaces of the dashboard, which was accented with briarwood. Under the hood, the standard 270 brake horsepower twin-cam V-8 and ZF five-speed manual gearbox, a drivetrain developed from the Kyalami, enabled a top speed of 142 mph, a remarkable figure for a large four-door sedan in this era.

Reportedly, this was the final hand-built Italian production car, marking its most significant achievement in automotive history, and making it right at home in the illustrious gathering of historic motorcars offered here.

The Quattroporte III offered from the Quattroruote Collection is in excellent original cosmetic condition, although it has not been driven in some years. Relatively few of this model were preserved, typical of a four-door sedan by any automaker, and many were driven to the end of their time. Thus, to find one that is still very impactful and appears much as it did when new is a great rarity for the astute Maserati collector seeking to complete his or her fleet.