Maserati Alfieri Concept – Video

The Alfieri Concept Car, introduced at the 2014 Geneva Auto Show, is more than a concept. It’s a statement. Proving once more that Maserati is a sports-car company to its very core, and paving the way for the continuation of Maserati’s racing legacy.

The deep, concave grille lacks the normal chrome surround at the bottom, so it seems to float. The glasshouse area is clean, and the rear end has its corners cut back. Right here, Marco Tencone explained, is one of the clearest differences between Italian and, say, German design languages.

“The idea of the rear is to not have a lot of metal at the rear behind the wheel. This is a sort of trick. The way to play with the volumes [of the shapes] is close to the heart of the Italian way to think about cars. In the Italian school, the idea has always been to play with [shapes] to make the cars look lighter than they really are.”

 

 

He went on to explain that the German designers don’t necessarily care if they show a strong, heavy looking car. For Italians, however, “the light weight and feel of the design is very important, and that’s why we balance the round and the square. Everything is pulled in so as not to give the feeling of a massive car. You see a lot of athletic Italian designs, but not many muscular Italian designs.”