The Maserati Ghibli has been discussed numerous times, with topics ranging from whether or not they would build it (before it had been confirmed), to the fact that it had a very rough idle when it was filmed by bystanders while shooting for a promo video. Now, Maserati’s head designer, Marco Tencone gives us additional insight into how the car came to be, and why it looks the way it does.

Still a bit of an opinion splitter, the Ghibli is a thorough design exercise, which clearly is meant to attract attention and look oh so Italian chic. Being much shorter than the larger Quattroporte, it has quite different proportions, and while one would recognize both as being from the same manufacturer, I think some people would be hard-pressed to choose what they think is the more stylish car.

For me, it’s the smaller Ghibli, simply because it is more compact and muscular-looking, while the Quattroporte looks like it has been elongated with the only purpose to free up rear space for passengers – this makes the roof seem a bit too long for my taste, but there’s no denying the amount of room it has in the back.

Still, these two new Maseratis are not bad to look at, so at least design-wise they’re on the right track to achieving their goals. Let’s just hope that the Chrysler connection doesn’t ruin the special feeling one is supposed to get when driving a Trident-badged sedan.

By Andrei Nedelea

Video via Vadimauto/YouTube

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