Rare Rides: The Stunning 2009 Maserati Quattroporte Wagon Has Passion, Flair, and NSFW Wheels
Our last Rare Ride was a true bespoke vehicle — a one-of-one Rolls-Royce coupe which drew mixed opinions from our readers. But we’ll have none of that today, as I expect only passionate and flair-y discussion once you’ve reviewed this beautiful Maserati Touring Bellagio Fastback.
Prepare yourselves.
The elegantly named Bellagio Fastback was constructed from a standard 2009 Maserati Quattroporte sedan, with design and construction executed by Superleggera Touring.
The company decided to make four examples of the shooting brake, breaking from the Italian tradition of completely ignoring British people and the wagon-type things they create from their inferior British-Leyland vehicles or whatever. The vehicle was ordered by Italian financier and ex-Ducati president Dr. Carlo Bonomi for use around his Italian estate.
And might I say, Dr. Bonomi has excellent taste. Finished in a dark metallic green, the overall look here is one of style and substance. While the standard Quattroporte in its first generation was quite a looker, surely this wagon will get gawks of admiration from the plebs as you growl past.
And growl you will, because the 4.2-liter V8 engine familiar to many other Maserati models is still present.
Another vehicle highlight is the sexy wheels: color-matched Borrani Bimetals. I can’t think of a more suitable wheel choice for this vehicle.
Interior accommodations have received an upgrade here as well. The rear seats recline due to the available space in the luggage area, and there is a champagne cooler back there as well.
Sticking to functionality concerns, there’s a removable dog barrier and a concealed compartment to house a pair of shotguns. In summation: this Italian custom-built V8 wagon is for drinking, shotguns, and your dog. Are you on board yet?
This example is not currently for sale, so you’ll have to track down one of the other three. RM Sotheby’s (do I know someone who works there now?) auctioned the car in 2013 for just over $131,000 USD.
[Images: RM Sotheby’s via Classic Driver]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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Oh god that is gorgeous. The first gen Quattroporte is a stunning car. Today's still looks good, but its not as much of an exotic now that Ghibli's are running around everywhere.
Clearly this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I love it!