It’s nonetheless creepy when it occurs. After I discuss one thing solely to be later served content material or adverts referencing it on my socials. Nothing lights up the a part of my mind most liable to conspiracies quicker though I ought to know higher. It’s the top of 2024, and I’m in Miami, FL for the vacations. The content material in query examines the Maserati MC20, particularly its depreciation curve.
On Instagram, movies name its lack of worth “insane.” Others declare it’s “in all probability the worst depreciating automobile available on the market.” I flip to YouTube and discover that the subject is common there, too, with creators citing “$99,000 reductions” or adorning their thumbnails with “50 p.c off stickers.“
Content material that covers monetary losses units off alarm bells for me. Given its potential to attract in giant audiences, it’s extremely profitable and infrequently sensationalized. Nonetheless, I do know why I’m getting it. As I scroll on my telephone late at evening, there’s a Maserati MC20 Coupe stashed within the storage instantly under my room. I’m revisiting it for the primary time since 2022 after driving the convertible Cielo in 2023 and forward of my time with the GT2 Stradale later this yr.
Now, as I’ve nonetheless received over every week with this mid-engined two-door whose as-tested worth is available in at $304,200, I’m left questioning: Is there some reality to those movies? And if that’s the case, why?
I picked up the Grigio Incognito two-door from a parking storage a number of blocks away from Miami Worldwide. It’s gorgeous. Its form isn’t cluttered with extreme aero elements, ducts, or slats. There’s considerate restraint from a design perspective and a deliberate give attention to creating an everlasting and stylish silhouette. Its design strategy is harking back to Pininfarina-era Ferraris just like the F430 and the 599 GTB, attractive and completely proportioned machines that didn’t have to depend on gimmicks to face out.
Though Miami isn’t identified for its glorious driving roads, it’s a super place to depend on a supercar for day by day transport. Sloped driveways make entrance elevate use a rarity. The asphalt high quality is superb, making even the firmest suspension really feel tame, and there’s ample safe parking so long as you’re keen to pay for it. A full tank of fuel all the time feels prefer it’s half off, and even the Florida Freeway Patrol appears sympathetic to vehicles with engines within the center.
The Maserati MC20 settles properly on this surroundings as a pseudo grand tourer. It achieves this regardless of sporting real supercar credentials like a carbon-fiber monocoque co-developed with the racing legends at Dallara. Energetic DampTronic X shocks by Bilstein solely add to the breadth of its versatility, delivering a experience that’s settled however by no means excessively agency. On the similar time, visibility stays respectable for a automobile of this form, though a digital rearview mirror improves this considerably. Solely its tiny space for storing presents a usability problem.
Alongside its attractiveness and compliant experience, the Maserati MC20 is fast. The Trident quotes a 3,306-pound curb weight, which, paired with a 621-horsepower engine and a dual-clutch computerized, permits for a 2.9-second dash to 60 mph. A determine made extra spectacular while you study that every one that energy goes completely to its rear wheels. Its prime velocity is 202 mph. Nonetheless, these aren’t the figures that matter most.
Scan previous them, and also you’ll land on this automobile’s 538 pound-feet of torque output, which kicks in at 3,000 rpm following some preliminary lag. It arrives in a sudden burst, which, ought to you’ve gotten traction management dialed again, immediately lights up the rears by first, second, and third. You rapidly sense that the MC20 will stab you within the again if given the possibility, and in a world of overly-dialed supercars, these hints of lunacy are greater than welcome. It requires you to be intentional, grounding you within the driving expertise.
Some refinements would push the Maserati MC20 even additional. Its brakes, though carbon ceramics with six-piston calipers up entrance as customary, require appreciable pedal journey earlier than you’re rewarded with the stopping pressure you’re after. Its steering, whereas gentle, lacks suggestions, and a number of the cabin buttons and knobs you most frequently work together with lack the standard you’d count on from a automobile with an as-tested worth of $304,200.
It’s been almost three years since I final drove a Maserati MC20 Coupe, and simply as I keep in mind, it’s a versatile, quick, and gorgeous machine. It nails the supercar fundamentals whereas providing a compelling counterargument to the phase’s normal suspects. What about these earlier questions, although?
Answering the primary is straightforward. There may be some reality to the movies that appeared on my feed. Based on iSeeCars, a car itemizing aggregator and knowledge analytics agency, it estimates that an MC20 will lose 45.5 p.c of its worth over the primary 5 years. That’s 13 p.c above the luxurious sports activities automobile common of 32.5 however not far off the 43.7 determine that components in your entire auto business.
It’s an identical story if we shrink the timeline to 3 years. This automobile’s worth is predicted to drop by 29.6 p.c, whereas the phase it competes in is predicted to fare higher at 16.9. Nonetheless, this anticipated depreciation curve nonetheless aligns with the broader business common of 30.5 p.c over the identical interval.
Proportion-wise, the Maserati MC20’s depreciation is greater than common however not so excessive that it’s totally deserving of the damaging superlatives usually thrown its means. The distinction is, in fact, {that a} almost 30 p.c loss over three years ranging from $300,000 hurts far more than it does from, say, $150,000. From right here, we are able to start to reply the second half of the query, the all-important why.
First, we have to flashback to September 2020, because the Maserati MC20 drives onto a stage, its debut broadcasted nearly as a result of social distancing necessities. The Trident marketed its debut as a serious turning level for the model. It not solely returned to the supercar house, it introduced its re-entry into motorsport. Quickly after, the carmaker acknowledged its earlier high quality and reliability shortcomings and revamped its complete lineup, discontinuing the outdated one and introducing a powerful product line.
Pretty much as good as the newest vehicles are, be it the GranTurismo, the Grecale, or the GranCabrio, which lately ranked amongst duPont REGISTRY’s prime vehicles of 2024, shifting public notion takes time. It’s far simpler to break a model’s repute than rebuild it, and public notion instantly impacts second-hand values. Though the Maserati MC20 debuted almost 5 years in the past, US deliveries solely began in 2022, and gross sales volumes have been comparatively low. Nonetheless, there’s already been optimistic motion, with the MC20’s depreciation price, on common, being a lot decrease than that of the vehicles that preceded it.
Some undoubtedly received’t strive it due to the stigma of a twin-turbocharged V6 engine. When it comes to public notion, it doesn’t matter that at 3.0 liters of displacement, it generates 621 hp, making it one of the vital power-dense engines presently in manufacturing. That’s 207 hp per liter. Its engine be aware isn’t as engaging as that of the discontinued Ferrari-V8-powered Trofeo fashions. Nonetheless, it’s nonetheless thrilling, due to a great deal of turbo noise.
The notion of this engine and V6s total will possible shift within the coming years as environmental laws make this configuration extra prevalent throughout high-end manufacturers. At its 2015 debut, the second-generation Ford GT caught loads of warmth for using an EcoBoost V6. Since then, nevertheless, the Ferrari 296 GTB, the McLaren Artura, and the Maserati MC20 have confirmed that this configuration can ship great efficiency whereas slicing again on weight and emissions.
As I drive again to Miami Worldwide, now in early 2025, I’m glad to see that what impressed me in regards to the Maserati MC20 again in 2022 stays, at the same time as new rivals just like the McLaren Artura and the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 provide fierce competitors, whereas others just like the Lamborghini Huracan and Audi R8 exit of manufacturing totally.
It isn’t the primary time that it’s taken a automobile some time to search out its tribe. Recall McLaren’s street automobile rebirth in 2011. From the 12C by the 650S and onto the 720S, purchaser confidence took the very best a part of a decade to develop, ultimately stabilizing the second-hand market as high quality and reliability improved. With this MC20’s $304,200 as-tested value, up from a $230,000 base determine, a large potential loss at this worth level is sufficient to make anybody rethink a purchase order.
Nonetheless, if there’s something that each the information and the content material creators agree on, it’s that costs are coming down. Whereas this hurts new automobile consumers within the quick time period, it concurrently makes the MC20 a extra thrilling proposition as a used automobile. As soon as it reaches a worth level the place its worth stabilizes, extra folks will probably be compelled to strive it and expertise what Maserati’s new period affords.
In any case, the Maserati MC20 continues to be a carbon-tubbed mid-engined supercar that delivers staggering efficiency, a compliant experience that urges you to drive it usually, and top-of-the-line exterior designs of any automobile on sale. It’s solely a matter of time earlier than extra folks expertise it and its cult following emerges.
