At the beginning of the 60′s, Maserati started development of a new kind of car: a 4-door sportscar in line with the newly introduced Facel Vega Excellence and Lagonda Rapide. There was a new market for this type of automobiles because of the rise of motorways throughout Europe. The Quattroporte is acknowledged as the first car specifically designed for autobahn usage. The speed came from a new Maserati 4100 cc powerplant (a detuned race-engine) and Frua designed the handsome and sleek body. The Quattroporte I was launched at the 1963 Turin Motorshow and Maserati claimed a top speed of 230 kilometers per hour, a huge acchievement in that year for such a car.

Technical specification Maserati Quattroporte I Series 1:

Technical specification Maserati Quattroporte I Series 2:

Karim Aga Kahn was a regular client of Maserati ordering both regular Maseratis and also a bunch of special versions. In 1971 he ordered a new Maserati 4-door sport saloon custom build by Carrozzeria Frua. The car was built on the platform of the Maserati Indy and featured in the 002 car the 4,7 Liter engine and in the 004 Aga Kahn car the massive 4,9 Liter engine. The first car was introduced on the 1971 Paris Motor Show and again in 1972 Geneva Motor Show. As said one car was created for and delivered to the Aga Khan in 1974 and the other Frua II was delivered to the Spanish Royal Family.
Although the Frua Quattroporte II received an official Maserati chassis code (AM 121) and looked a million Dollars, it never made the production stage. Pietro Frua hoped it would be the successor of his own Quattroporte I, but Citroen took over Maserati in the mid 70′s and had their own ideas of how the Quattroporte II should look.

Technical specification Maserati Quattroporte II by Frua:

At the end of the 60′s last century, Maserati was financially in deep trouble and an unlikely buyer came to the rescue: Citroën. As turned out later, the Italian/French culture mix wasn’t a success. During Citroën’s ownership a lot of new models were introduced: the Bora, Merak, Khamsin and under Citroën brand the SM with a newly developed Maserati V6. On the same platform of latter car and with the same engine, the Quattroporte II was introduced at the 1974 Paris Motor Show. The already existing Frua Quattroporte II with its thirsty V8 engine was killed off, because of the oil crisis. The new Quattroporte was not everybody’s cup of tea, the Bertone design was very conventional and not really sparkling, the engine too small for the size of the car and the handling was very smooth, but not very sporty. Not surprise that the Bertone Quattroporte II wasn’t a great success. Untill 1975, probably 13 automobiles were constructed until the curtain fell for Citroën, handing over the power to none other than Alejandro de Tomaso. Under this new leadership the Bertone Quattroporte II was killed off immediately and Alejandro de Tomaso ordered the new Quattroporte III based on the platform of his own de Tomaso Deauville. Leaving the unfortunate number II behind.

Technical specification Maserati Quattroporte II by Bertone:

After Alejandro de Tomaso took over control of Maserati, he almost instantly started working on a new Quattroporte. Italdesign had presented two show cars in 1974 and 1976 called the Medici I and II, based on these two cars the new Quattroporte was penned down by Giorgetto Giugiaro. At the 1977 Turin Motor Show the new Quattroporte was first shown to the public and delivery started in 1979 with two models: the 4200 and 4900. The 4200 which actually had a 4.1 litre engine was phased out later in the car’s life cycle. The Quattroporte III (called 4porte in the first years) was an artistocratic and very luxurious car with lavish full leather seats (from SALT Turin), meters of wood and lots of other extras such as airconditioning. The chassis was based on the other Quattro-Porte baring the name of Maserati’s new owner: the de Tomaso Deauville. In 1986 the last Quattroporte III’s were slightly redesigned, upgraded and called Royale. Production seized in 1990 with more than 2,000 units produced.

Technical specification Maserati Quattroporte III:

The Royale was introduced to Maserati’s clients late 1986 and was basically a Quattroporte III with some minor cosmetic changes and an ultra luxurious interior. The body of the car was slightly redesigned with more rounded off body panels, new wheels and the prominent silver center side skirt. The engine was uprated to 295 HP. Main luxus was however the interior: it featured beter soundproofing and more luxurious leather seats, new extras such as automatic climate controle, a cigar lighter, a portable phone and a bar for the rear passengers. The rear seats were separate and both fully adjustable, also both passengers got retractable wood-veneered tables in the side doors and two vermeil/pewter beakers stowed behind the central door pillars. The Quattroporte Royale was built on special order until 1990, when Maserati was sold by de Tomaso to Fiat Group. Fiat introduced a new 4-door Maserati in 1994: the Quattroporte IV.

Technical specification Maserati Quattroporte Royale:

After almost 10 years of being absent in the market for four door sport saloons, Maserati returned with the fourth series of the Quattreporte. This time around the Quattroporte was designed by Marcello Gandini, noticably recognizable by the slanting wheel arches at the back of the car. Only one year ealier Maserati was acquired from de Tomaso by Fiat and the Quattroporte was the first Maserati to be launched. Development however started still in the de Tomaso ownership, having distinct design features from the 1992 Maserati Ghibli. The car was launched featuring two V6 Maserati engines, a 2.0 Liter and a 2.8 Liter, both with turbos (inheritance from the Biturbo era). One year later the 3.2 Liter V8 was introduced in the Quattroporte, coming from the exquisite Shamal. Only three years later the car was completely overhauled by its new owner and reintroduced as “Evoluzione”.

Technical specification Maserati Quattroporte IV:

In 1997 Fiat sold 50% of the Maserati shares to Ferrari, Maserati’s former ‘arch-enimy’. Imidiatelly after this take-over the Quattroporte IV was removed from the Maserati model range for a full makeover. Ferrari apparently replaced almost 50% of all parts and relaunched the Quattroporte as “Evoluzione”. The engines remained until the model was phased out in 2001. One of the distinct features -introduced under the de Tomaso reign- that did not survive under Ferrari ownership was the unique Cartier interior clock in each Maserati car.

Technical specification Maserati Quattroporte IV “Evoluzione”: