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The fictional characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde first come to mind when I step into the cockpit of the MC12. This is a car with a license plate that you could drive everyday from your home to your headquarters downtown. Come the weekend, however, you could put your race number on the doors, take it to a racetrack, and run circles around other supposed sports cars.
The real essence of a sports car has always been the dream of speed. Some sports cars are able to go very fast, but they haven’t any connection with the track. Even worse, some may been created pursuant to an extraordinary marketing strategy.
The Maserati MC12, however, is a car borne of a more petrol-soaked, passionate ethos.
Since 1914, the Maserati brothers have built extraordinary race cars. You may recall the Type 26, or the V4 and V5 with their incredible V16 engines; the great Tazio Nuvolari piloted the 8C 3000 in the 1930s; or the 8CTF that won twice at Indy 500. The lineage can be further traced down to the beautiful sport “barchettas” of the 1950s; the monstrous 450 Sport spyder with 400 hp; the Birdcages, and the Type 151 in the mid-1960s. Through passion, a love of racing, and the spirit of competition, this rich line of cars created the magic of this marque with the distinctive Trident emblem.
The latest Maserati supercar, the MC12, harks back to those days when cars were all hand made, incredibly difficult to drive, but breathtakingly beautiful. A time when drivers were akin to knights on iron horses: always flirting with danger around the corners.
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