Although a terrible year for most people, Maserati’s 2020 calendar has been very productive indeed, vying to turn what was a charmingly mediocre line-up of forgettable cars, to hark back to the early days when the Trident dared to challenge the odds. It all begins here, with the MC20 – Maserati’s first mid-engine supercar in 16 years. It’s been a long time coming since the MC12 bowed out after a brief, but successful career.

The First Of Many

The instant I laid eyes on it, I was stunned at how beautiful the MC20 is. Although that might not be surprising coming from the Italians, as they know a thing or two about making pretty things. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. In this year’s online-only Festival Automobile International, the MC20 has already netted the award for the most beautiful supercar of 2021.

Compare the MC20 to its fellow supercars – like a Lamborghini or a McLaren – and you may as well be comparing a pair of elegantly tailored suit trousers, to ripped denims with more holes than a cheese-grater. It’s almost tame in a way, not at all with the ‘look at me‘ factor as other supercars. With minimalistic aesthetics inspired by the 2005 Birdcage Concept, the whole MC20 was built from scratch in just two years, with more than 90% of the car being created virtually.

Meticulously sculpted and tested for over 2,000-hours in a wind-tunnel, there’s no shortage of aerodynamic trickeries to be found in the MC20, guiding the atmosphere carefully fore and aft. But as you can see, most of them are being hidden underneath the car, thus keeping its sultry exterior uncluttered. It stays true to the doctrine of ‘form follows function’, and with an alluring result without being boring, nor gaudy.

As is by necessity for cars that have a starting price of £187,000, you’ll find neat little artistic details, such as the louvres on the lightweight Lexan rear-glass panel subtly arranged in a trident. The MC20 is the first Maserati to come with dihedral, butterfly doors – ticking box in the supercar must-haves list.

Instead of using the more conventional aluminium, the MC20 uses a carbon-fibre monocoque tub – another first for a Maserati production car – designed in collaboration with the world-famous chassis masters at Dallara. Not only rigid, but the overall kerbweight of the MC20 is a fairly lithe sub-1,500kg. Plus, they’ve also adopted this carbon-tub for a future convertible Spyder variant, and a Greenpeace-friendly all-electric model.

A Heart of Gold

For now however, we’ll stick with good ol’ internal combustion, in the form of a (mostly) in-house 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6, so-called the Nettuno. It even carries a piece of F1 technology in the form of pre-chamber ignition, resulting in a more potent, reliable, and cleaner combustion process. The Nettuno V6 in the MC20 will happily output 630hp, with 730Nm of torque, and revving its way upwards of 8,000RPM.

This turbocharged V6 is the most power-dense engine in its class, and has the best power-to-weight ratio as well, with each horsepower needing only to carry 2.33kg. Mated to an equally competed 8-speed double-clutch gearbox, the MC20 will manage a 0-62mph sprint in just 2.9-seconds, and an impressive 0-124mph jaunt in only 8.8-seconds, before running out of breath after 202mph.

With these performance figures in play, you’ll be needing a very focused interior, away from any piffling distractions. In that regard, the MC20 pays dividends, and reinvests some added attention to detail on the material choices, such as the textured Alcantara, fine Italian leather, and lovely carbon-fibre detailing.

Much of the crucial controls have been moved to the steering-wheel, as the rest hide inside of two, 10.25-inch screens that thankfully, doesn’t run on some rubbish old system dug out of Fiat-Chrysler’s basement. The MC20 is also the first modern Maserati to not include an analogue clock, now being replaced with a brand new drive-mode selector that mimics a high-end mechanical timepiece, toggling between Wet, GT, Sport, Corsa, and ESC-OFF.

But don’t make the assumption that the MC20’s beauty and grace has been designed with the sole intent of being driven slowly around Beverly Hills, Monaco, or Mayfair. No, the MC20 was built from the ground up to go racing. It’s in the name after all, Maserati Corse 2020, if you want the unabbreviated version of MC20. This marks the beginning to a new, adventurous, and ambitious renaissance for Maserati. The MC20 then, is more than just a car, but an intensely radiating beacon of hope for the brand.