And just a matter of magazine journalists often write any rubbish to fill the site.

If you do burned the Maserati brand, the Italians are not stupid, they may be hampered, not donkeys.

The first models with Ferrari engine must come out and question the status, performance and compete to win market where BMW, Porsche, Audi, ...

Then you can launch most popular models, with finishes and engines less than noble.

 

This may have been meant in jest, but I think it's a far better idea than the V8. A V10 given the right exhaust is a fabulously exotic sound. The Hemi sounds great as well, but I hear that sound 50 times a day. A V10 never fails to turn my head, and almost every car ever made with one is, in some way, special (except for that silly Ford truck).

Realistically, the heavier the car, the more it needs a high-torque/low-rpm motor. If you put a screamer in there, you need to gear the thing so low to get it to perform, you sound like you're qualifying at Monza pulling out of your neighborhood, which is a bit incongruous. American companies are really the only ones building engines like that without using turbos, and if you're Maserati, where are you going to source such an engine?

So, a fettled Viper engine would give the sound and the torque. Emissions might pose a small technical problem, though...

 

Chrysler is ruining Fiat/Maserati. I can't wait for the Ferrari-badged Chrysler 300.

 

I had a 2002 Ford F350 with that V10. It was epic lol

 

i'm surprised, that actually looks very good

 

The whole truck, or just the engine?

I'm not demeaning Ford trucks, BTW. I'm sure they're great for their intended purpose, but it's not really in the same category of 'specialness' as a Gallardo/M5/Viper.

 

^ Touche'!

No, the truck, fully intact WITH said V10. lol

 

For what it's worth the V10s Dodge used in its Ram pick up line were pretty similar to the the 8L used in the Viper, so I don't know if that affects your perception of it being an exotic.

 

That's a good point. There's a history there of awesome American vehicles sharing powerplants with less awesome ones. The Viper/Ram sharing being similar to the Ford GT/SVT Lightning scenario, and I don't think we'd argue that the Ford GT isn't exotic. That said, 'exotic' and 'special' are different. I loved my M5, but I couldn't describe it as an exotic, even though it was undeniably 'special'.

Specialness is that quality of a car that makes people miss it once it's gone. The S85 engine in the E60 M5 was a jewel, and no matter how great the new M5 is, there's something about the E60 that will always be special, as it is with the E39. The 993-era air-cooled 911s are special as well. I don't think there will ever come a day when I don't turn my head for a passing 993TT. I owned 2 996's, though, and they tend to pass me by without comment.

Overuse of an engine can be a bit of a killer as well. The ubiquity of the Toyota engines that power a Lotus *really* detract from that car's specialness. Those cars are carried entirely by their chassis. The S85 was only used in one car (OK, there was that weird roadster thing...), the air-cooled flat six wasn't shared with anything else, etc. It also helps that those engines have more charisma than the Dos Equis guy, and the Toyota lump is a bit more of a wine cooler sort of guy.

 

My Brother had a F150 Lightning. It was epic. LOL