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April / May 2011

THE BULLETIN

79

The moto ring column

In celebration of this months money issue, Emma Beddington goes for a spin in the Maserati Quattroporte and finds herself dizzy with admiration for the luxury sports saloon

Bose stereo, wood trim, manual and automatic settings, as well as that sport function for extra oomph, parking sensors, and seat positioning thats virtually telepathic. Its fatally seductive.

Cons: The GPS was obstinately uncoop-

est a really expensive car this month, said my editor airily. Something over a hundred thousand. Rarely have so few words made one woman so popular. And I dont mean the editor. When my friends particularly male friends found out that Maserati had kindly offered me a trial of their luxury sports saloon, the Quattroporte Sport GT S (which retails at around 120,000), I was inundated with offers of help. Acquaintances, ex-boyfriends, people I barely exchanged ten words with all year appeared from nowhere, offering to accompany me to an industrial estate in Walloon Brabant to collect the car, or to join me on an impromptu trip to the seaside. The name Maserati arouses strong emotions, it seems. For myself, whenever I tried to imagine what a 120,000 car would be like to drive, my thoughts were drowned out by the insistent screaming in my head: A hundred and twenty thousand euros? Thats ten years rent! What if I broke it? Or worse still, what if I got a taste for it? On the day of the test drive, I viewed the Quattroporte warily, from a distance, squatting on the car park like a wild animal. It is, undoubtedly, a beautiful car. Ocean liner vast, low-lying and gorgeously curved, it had the look of a car I had no business putting my H&M-clad bottom into. Even so, I plucked up the courage to move closer, and finally, with distinct trepidation, sat in the drivers

seat. The interior trim is lustrous black leather with neat red stitching and the steering wheel is soft to the touch, like buttery suede. It smells good too, like expensive mens cologne. Laurent, who had the thankless task of explaining its many bells and whistles to me, turned on the engine. The Quattroporte roared into life, half playful, half scary. Wow! If you have it in sport mode, he said as he indicated a button in the forest of dashboard controls, it makes even more noise. Go easy on the acceleration until you get used to it. Its powerful. It certainly is. Once the initial terror of driving a roaring monster equivalent to ten years rent passed, the Quattroporte was a lovely ride, with the fabulously responsive acceleration I was promised, great handling and that seductively throaty engine noise. Its huge, yes, but not unwieldy. I had a lot of fun. Did I get a taste for it? Honestly, it outclassed me so effortlessly I couldnt get too attached. Its a gorgeous car, sure, but its out of my league in every way. I was just relieved to get it back in one piece.

erative, despite Laurents best efforts, and at over five metres long, parking is a challenge. Of course, if you can afford a Quattroporte, you probably have someone to deal with that for you, but still...

People with better clothes, better teeth, and better driving skills than me. Oh, and 120,000 to spare. Taking the Quattroporte to Colruyt felt like sacrilege. I whispered my apologies as I parked, stroking its steering wheel in a conciliatory sort of way and promising to take it somewhere nicer afterwards. I cant tell you about the boot capacity because mine wouldnt open, but there was ample room on the back seat for my groceries, and Maserati say you can fit four bags of golf clubs in the boot although I must say it amuses me no end to imagine that a bag of golf clubs is their standard unit of volume measurement.

Whos this car for? The Colruyt test:

Kerb appeal: The Quattroporte

got lots of love from passers-by but it was a discreet checking out, rather than openmouthed staring. Thats because its not a particularly flashy car, its more elegantly imposing.

Pros: The pros are fairly obvious when

youre driving a 120,000 sports car of extraordinary beauty. The Quattroporte is a completely decadent car with a radar-busting top speed of 280 km/h and everything you could possibly want from a luxury saloon:

Probably, but are you?

The verdict: Is it worth it?

Maserati Quattroporte GT S Sport 4.2 from 117,450 www.maserati.com