When it comes to winning marques at the Indianapolis 500, Miller and Marmon come to mind - but Maserati? Sure enough, the Italian sports car manufacturer first won at the Brickyard seventy years ago, and in celebration, it's created the 2009 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S.
At first glance, you'd be forgiven for thinking the Quattroporte S is but an appearance package. The sedan gains a black grille (much like the Gran Turismo), complete with a chrome trident logo with red accents. Black finish has also been applied to the door pillars, belt line, door handles, and exhaust pipes. Inside, the cabin receives new M-design seats with Alcantara and leather trim, while door and dash panels are accentuated with a titanium-colored composite material.
But as this car is intended to celebrate motorsports, Maserati didn't stop at cosmetic changes - they poked around under the hood. The 4.7-liter V-8 receives a re-mapped engine computer, boosting power to 433 hp. The car's suspension has been revised; not only has the ride height been lowered, but it now sports single-rate dampers and stiffened springs.
To read more about the 2009 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S, go to our 2009 Detroit auto show blogs coverage. All the latest blogs from the Editors of Automobile Magazine can be found HERE. We've got our whole staff wandering the floor at Cobo Hall bringing back live photos and more information about all the new debuts from Detroit.
For complete coverage of the 2009 Detroit auto show, click HERE.