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: