Remember when Michael Schumacher revealed that he drives a Fiat Croma when he was still working closely with Ferrari? Well new Ferrari F1 driver and Schumacher rival Fernando Alonso just revealed his choice of company car – the Maserati GranCabrio.

The GranCabrio’s powered by a 434 bhp 4.7L engine that’s mated to a six-speed ZF automatic gearbox. Alonso got one with a granite gray paint job, a bordeaux (yup, that red/brown/purple) colored roof and a beige and bordeaux leather interior.

Alonso may like the car but as far as we’re concerned it’s just some publicity stunt to sell more of these GranCabrios since the RHD version of the car is set to be sold in the UK next month. These things sell for £95,510 (US$ 144,000).

Looks like Maserati really is making full use of the Geneva motor show to showcase their badge with the Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S “Awards Edition.”

The “Awards Edition” is a special model that aims to celebrate the Quattroporte’s six-year existence. (Really, it’s that long since they came out with this speedy four-door).

The special edition comes with a Quarzo fuso exterior color and chrome trims on the side air vents and grille. The car sits on top of 20-inch Multi Trident dark grey rims. The Brembo brake calipers get a polished treatment as well.

Inside, the car gets a Poltrona Frau leather seats with bits of alcantara. The door sills are made of brish aluminum and the wood moldings are finished with Pinao Black satin-finish.

The Maserati Quattroporte, Quattroporte S, and Granturismo S are all available in detailed scale models that cost a mere £194, which converts to around $315 or 230 Euros. You might think that’s a bit on the expensive side even for licensed scale models, but do keep in mind that these high-end models are detailed like no other.

Those who want to purchase the models have a choice between 7 exterior colors, 2 interior colors, 5 brake caliper colors, 2 unique rims, and even have a glass sunroof. Buyers can also choose from 4 kinds of fonts that will be used for a personalized number plate. That kind of customization and detail should be quite a treat for those with the money to shell out.

If you don’t have the money to spend on the scale model, you can still treat yourself to a Maserati experience by going here and configuring your dream Maserati scale model.

And since the 8C shared some of its underpinnings with Maserati, 2008 models of the GranTurismo and the Quattroporte are also part of the recall. The culprits – incorrectly torqued front and rear suspension upper and lower ball joints. The ball joint nuts can loosen and when failure happens, the driver can lose all steering. Guess what can happen when you can’t steer at all.

Hey, if you pay $265,000 for a car, at least you should be able to have at least a bit of guarantee that it works, right? Not the 8C. At least, encountering an 8C on US roads would be slim as only less than a hundred were shipped across the Atlantic. The total of the Maseratis and Alfas that are part of the recall, however, amount to 7,912.

Owners of affected vehicles can contact Maserati at (201) 816-2600. The recall is expected to begin in February.

Source: Inside Linedownload wackness the dvd