Open-top supercar will be brand’s first mid-engined roadster since the MC12.
Maserati is preparing to reveal a convertible version of its flagship MC20 sports car next week, and has confirmed it will be called the Cielo.
Set for a debut next Wednesday (25 May), the new open-top supercar takes its name from the Italian for sky, which Maserati says “highlights the fact that it is a model devoted to driving pleasure in the great outdoors”.
Late last year, the first completed prototype starred in an official photoshoot ahead of on-road testing getting underway.
It wore a bold new-look livery in the style of clouds. “After all”, Maserati said, “it is a convertible”. It will be Maserati’s first convertible since the GranCabrio bowed out in 2020, and the first mid-engined roadster since production of the MC12 supercar ended in 2005.
There are no shots of the rear, but the silhouette of this prototype suggests it will feature a folding hard top, rather than a fabric item – similar to its Ferrari F8 Spider rival.
Otherwise, it is expected to be technically and stylistically identical to the coupé. That means it will take its power from a 457kW mid-mounted, twin-turbo V6 which revs to 7500rpm and will get it from 0-100km/h in around 3.0 seconds. The convertible should nearly match the coupé’s 327km/h top speed.
A folding hard top will likely bump the MC20’s kerb weight up slightly. For reference, the similarly conceived Ferrari F8 Spider weighs 70kg more than its coupé sibling.
As for pricing, expect the convertible to command a slight premium over the coupe, which costs $438,000.
Felix Page