A series of patent drawings picturing the upcoming Maserati SUV, Levante, have emerged on the internet.
According to the Maserati Levante forum, the Italian car maker filed these documents in Australia, on April 8, registering the SUV. Unfortunately – for Maserati – someone just couldn’t keep it a secret, making the drawings available to the public.
Well, knowing the “wow-factor” will be diminished when the car will be launched (expected to debut in Detroit, next year), it’s time to take a look over the patents to know what to expect when the real things rolls out.
It’s been 4 long years since Maserati first unveiled its first SUV Concept called the Kubang. By the looks of the car pictured in patent drawings, everything turned out fine and we’re extremely happy to see that it looks more composed than the Kubang. Of course, most styling cues are taken over from the original concept, but the proportions of the new vehicle seem different form the Humpty-Dumpty shaped Kubang.
From the drawings, the car appears to sit lower than an actual SUV, which makes it look more like a crossover-type vehicle. Sleeker and cooler too, but that’s OK, we don’t mind a potential low center of gravity.
The front-end is in accordance to Maserati’s current design language and it looks a bit inspired from the Ghibli model. The trademark Maserati side-fender vents are present as well and the hood’s curvature gives the car an aggressive look. The car’s rear-end now has quad exhausts, which aren’t embedded in the bumper – a nice old-school look, if you ask us.
We don’t know for certain what engines the future Levante will sport, but a twin turbo V6 (developing 345 and 419 BHP) and a V8 (developing 552 BHP) are expected. A 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel, producing up to 335 BHP, is believed to be adopted too.
Of course, purists will loathe the car reminding everybody of the good old days, when Maserati was a car maker driven by passion, beauty and soul and didn’t have diesels and SUVs in its lineup. We miss that too, especially when it was on the brink of bankruptcy all the time…
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