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Attention to detail extends to ensuring the outward face of the radiator is painted black so when viewed in the rear view mirror the open shutter is fully disguised behind the concave trident-badged grille.
What’s quite astonishing for an SUV is the Levante V6’s drag co-efficient of 0.30. Not that many years ago, such a low number was only conceivable for low-slung sports cars.Īiding this class-leading aero performance is the electric Air Shutter over the front grille, which opens and closes as required to allow cooling air to be fed to the radiator. The GranSport’s side air intakes are now more aggressive in design, with side bezel plates and a front splitter. The 2019 Levante GranSport borrows a little something here and there in exterior styling from the newly announced, gob-smacking Trofeo 3.8 litre twin-turbo V8 version. Maserati’s brilliant sat-nav system, displayed on the MTC+ 8.4” centre screen and operable via touch or the centre console’s rotary dial, would provide an invaluable graphic and audio guide in the days ahead. The density of traffic in and out of the principality’s winding access roads varies from busy to sardine-packed, forming a starkly contrasting conga-line of tour buses, buzzing scooters and even mega-buck hypercars. Such is the attractiveness of the Ferrari opus is that encourages the downshift of a gear (or perhaps even two) as the pneumatic opening of special flaps sends the engine exhaust down the fastest possible path, delivering a more audible and always pleasing driving soundtrack. Even in Monaco, this impromptu concert draws a small, appreciative crowd and offers a timely reminder of how these engines provide such a unique appeal to the Maserati brand. In warm-up, the combined Ferrari engines mutter a wonderful, rich basso profundo symphony. We are encouraged by the Maserati support crew and not for the last time during the journey ahead, to double click the “sport” button alongside the newly designed gearshift lever and enjoy the musica produced by the cavallinos rampante. Our preferred choice of the 2019 models for the first leg is a Levante S SUV GranSport with its Ferrari-sourced 430bhp twin-turbo V6 and pearlescent Bianco Alpi paintwork. However, the journey, as the adage goes, is more important than the destination. Some of our group are focused less on the latest nautical styles and more on haute couture as the City of Lights prepares to host its annual Fashion Week in just a few days’ time. Manolo Blahniks give way to soft-soled boat shoes so as not to score the immaculate teak decking on which an early tranche of prospective customers sip champagne and exchange views on the relative advantages of choosing a stern-based helipad over a generous plunge pool with swim-up platform.īerthed and arrayed below us from our perch on the top floor of the Yacht Club de Monaco are hundreds of millions of dollars in aquatic indulgence, and assembled nearby is the small fleet of Maseratis that will carry us from Monaco and north to Paris. Every September, the genteel folk of Monte Carlo are inconvenienced in moving their various luxury aquatic craft out to accommodate what is regarded as one of the world’s premier floating exhibits of superyachts. Port Hercules, the tiny Mediterranean harbour which nestles below the ringed gaze of apartment blocks and prestige homes which cling like high-browed limpets to the principality’s steep hillsides, becomes a hive of activity for the Monaco Yacht Show as dozens of trade stalls go up along the harbour-front, trucks disgorge boxes of nautical-themed wares and laden forklifts weave erratic paths between the pedestrians.