Spy shots aren’t usually something that involves an OEM. Instead, the companies tend to be minding their own business in Sweden, Germany, or France when a photographer comes along and sells whatever pictures they can nab to the likes of us.
We then write speculative pieces about whatever hotly anticipated Mercedes, Aston Martin, or Range Rover happens to show up in our inbox covered in tape and camouflage.
Not so much this time around. In this case, the “spy shots” came directly from Maserati itself. And to add to the authenticity of it all, a man going through alcohol withdrawls seems to have taken most of them on an early 2000s flip phone.
Oftimes OEMs want to generate a bit of hype and will “leak” the locations, times, and contents of their testing to certain photographers. But usually the middle man is involved in the process somewhere. Either way, the Italian automaker would like to subtly bring attention to the upcoming Grecale, GranTurismo, and GranCabrio. So let’s see what’s new on all three vehicles.
The changes on the GranCabrio and GranTurismo are seemingly identical
From what we can tell, all three vehicles have received a bit of a facelift with the changes on both the GranCabrio and GranTurismo matching. This isn’t a surprise, as the GranCabrio is just the convertible version of the GranTurismo and both vehicles are functionally identical otherwise.
So, what’s new. The vehicle’s front has had a pretty aggressive redesign. The grille is notably larger, and the size of the side intakes may have increased too. The latter might actually provide a significant performance boost.
Having personally driven a Maserati GranTurismo on track a few times I can say the acceleration and handling are great, but if you’re driving aggressively you’re going to cook the brakes after a lap or two. More air being forced over said brakes might help keep them cooler for longer, though a heftier set of anchors in general would be nice.
At the back, the rear bumper is also sporting a hefty amount of camouflage. However, the photographer seems to have poured half a bottle of vodka into his lens before both of the rear shots we have were taken, and both also feature a fair amount of glare from the sun. So it’s hard to make out exact details there.
The Grecale, Maserati’s luxury SUV, also features a heavily camouflaged and updated front and rear bumper, though the grille seems to have been spared the update this time around. A lot of camouflage is also visible on the SUV’s side skirts.
While the Grecale isn’t a big SUV in general, the updates seem to give it a sportier and more hatchback-like feel. But overall, like the GranCabrio and GranTurismo, the changes don’t seem to be wholesale.
Obviously this is just a glimpse at what appears to be a mid-cycle refresh for Maserati’s three mainstream vehicles. Traditionally, this kind of shake up doesn’t involve wholesale changes to things like the powertrain or interior features. But as nothing has been officially announced (beyond Maserati leaking “candid style” shots of all three vehicles) we can’t say bigger changes aren’t on the way.
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