Maserati Quattroporte (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles The Maserati Quattroporte is a luxury four-door saloon made by Maserati of Italy. The name translated from Italian literally means "four doors." There have been five generations of the car, each separated by a period of roughly five years. In the early 1960s, Maserati's reputation was at a high. With growing sales, Prince Karim Aga Khan ordered a special Maserati 5000 WP, chassis no. 103,060, designed by Pietro Frua. The following year, Maserati showed the first-generation Quattroporte of 1963, which bore a striking resemblance to the earlier drawing. Also designed by Frua, the 1963 'Tipo 107' Quattroporte joined two other notable grand tourers, the Facel Vega and the Lagonda Rapide, which could comfortably do 200 km/h (124 mph) on the new motorways of Europe. However, the Quattroporte could be said to have been the first car specifically designed for this purpose. It was equipped with a 4.1 L (4136 cc/252 in) V8 engine, producing 256 hp (SAE) (191 kW) at 5,600 rpm, and either a five-speed ZF manual transmission or a three-speed automatic. Maserati claimed a top speed of 230 km/h (143 mph).