|
A $1.8 million Maserati sports-racer will make its Asia-Pacific debut at the
Australian International Motor Show.
The 330 km/h road-going version of Maserati’s MC12 will be unveiled at the
Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre on October 7, just weeks after the race
version competes for the first time in Europe.
The MC12 is a mid-engined coupe-spider with a race-style removable hardtop,
developed with the primary purpose of taking Maserati back into top-line sports
car racing for the first time since the 1960s.
The car’s bodywork, shaped in a wind-tunnel, combines Maserati’s classic
trident grille with sinuous lines designed to produce maximum downforce and
minimum aerodynamic drag.
The bodywork is made entirely of exotic carbon-fibre while the
ultra-lightweight chassis is constructed with a combination of carbon fibre and
Nomex honeycomb sandwich.
Powered by a quad-cam 6-litre V12 engine producing 465kW, the road version of
the MC12 will accelerate to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds.
The supercar’s Cambiocorsa automatic-clutch sequential manual transmission is
controlled by F1-syle shift paddles on the steering wheel.
The rest of the interior is a combination of carbon fibre, perforated leather
and high-grip fabrics.
In addition to the race-style instrumentation, the dashboard also features
Maserati’s traditional oval clock.
One other concession for road use is that the nose of the car can be raised
to allow it to negotiate driveways and parking ramps.
Maserati says only 30 MC12s will be built, with five of them reserved for
racing.
Road versions will be painted exclusively in blue and white - a Maserati
tradition which dates back to the company’s “Birdcage” sports-racers which
competed at the Le Mans 24 Hour in the early 1960s.
The Maserati MC12 will be among dozens of new models which will star at the
Australian International Motor Show, to be open to the public at Darling Harbour
from 5pm, October 7 - 17.
Details of opening times, ticket prices and new models can be found at
www.australianmotorshow.com
|
