Wednesday 30th October 1963

The Maserati Quattroporte was unveiled. The name translated from Italian literally means “four doors”. Regular production began in 1964. The Quattroporte joined two other grand tourers, the Facel Vega and the Lagonda Rapide, capable of traveling at 200 km/h (124 mph) on the new motorways in Europe. It was equipped with a 4.1-litre (4,136 cc or 252 cu in) V8 engine, producing 260 hp (194 kW; 264 PS) DIN at 5,000 rpm, and either a five-speed ZF manual transmission or a three-speed Borg Warner automatic on request. Maserati claimed a top speed of 230 km/h (143 mph). The car was also exported to the United States, where federal regulations mandated twin round headlamps in place of the single rectangular ones found on European models. There have been six generations of this car, with the first introduced in 1963, and the current model launched in 2013.