The early history of Maserati focused on motorsports. In fact, one of the first cars built by Maserati brothers won the Targa Florio in 1926. That’s the open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily and considered the oldest sports car racing event. But nearly a century later, the practical reality of the automotive industry is that sports car sales are fractional compared to crossover SUVs. Maserati, following its luxury performance competitors, has succumbed to that fact by introducing its own crossover, the 2017 Maserati Levante.
The Levante is powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 making 345 horsepower in the standard CUV and 424 horsepower in the Levante S. Both models are hooked to an eight-speed automatic gearbox that sends twist to all four wheels. The S model should sprint to 60 miles per hour in a scant five seconds. A 530-horsepower V8-powered prototype is in development to potentially take on the Porsche Cayenne Turbo.
Visually, the Levante follows Maserati’s distinctly Italian design language seen in cars like the Gran Turismo. It features curvaceous sheet metal and Maserati’s trident logo prominently displayed on the front grille. Inside, the Levante takes a page from the playbook of SUVs like the Range Rover Sport, offering a rich mixture of performance and luxury amenities.
Maserati is quick to point out that the Levante is a genuinely Italian vehicle, with production set to commence at the Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy later this year. It should make its way to the United States shortly after its European debut. It comes with a base price tag of $72,000 for the standard Levante and $83,000 for Levante S.
See Maserati Levante 2017 for sale on eBay.
