Maserati GranTurismo (2007)

Scope of this guide

This guide is scoped to the original Maserati GranTurismo coupe with the 4.2L naturally aspirated V8 petrol engine, the rear-wheel drive, front-engined 2+2 that Pininfarina styled and Maserati unveiled at the Geneva show in March 2007. It is not a guide to the GranTurismo S that arrived with a 4.7 litre V8 in 2008, to the MC Stradale, to the later Sport and MC models, or to the GranCabrio convertible, which is a separate line with its own entry. Where those cars differ we say so below, because an advert that says only "GranTurismo" can describe any of them, and the badge ran for twelve years.

We have not driven this model for this article. Everything here comes from three cited sources: The Auto Channel's copy of the Maserati launch announcement datelined Modena on 6 March 2007, PistonHeads' buying guide by Alisdairsuttie (July 2016), and the government recall checker. We also read the evo history and buying guide (26 March 2024), a CarBuzz review of the 4.2 syndicated on AOL (4 March 2026), an Indian news report on the 2018 range (4 July 2017), an Italian data sheet and Wikipedia, and we flag the points that rest on them. Where sources disagree we say so rather than pick a winner quietly. Prices are history, not valuations.

The figures at a glance

• Engine: 4.2L naturally aspirated V8 petrol, 4244 cc, a 90-degree V8 developed with Ferrari and mounted at the front, set back behind the front axle.
• Power: 399 bhp at 7100 rpm. Maserati's announcement and Wikipedia give 405 PS (298 kW) at 7100 rpm, and the announcement prints it as 405 hp. We convert with 405 PS x 0.9863, which is about 399.5 and rounds to 399 bhp, the figure evo prints. Converting 298 kW x 1.341 gives about 399.6, so some sites round up to 400 bhp. The difference is rounding, not a different engine.
• Torque: 460 Nm at 4750 rpm, which evo prints as 339 lb ft. Maserati says about three quarters of it is available at 2,500 rpm.
• 0-100 km/h: 5.2 seconds. Maserati's announcement gives 5.2 seconds for 0-62 mph, which is 99.8 km/h, and we treat it as the 0-100 km/h time. Magazine figures are slower: PistonHeads and evo both print 5.5 seconds for 0-62 mph, and CarBuzz says roughly five seconds. We use the manufacturer claim and name it as one.
• Top speed: 285 km/h (177 mph), the figure in the announcement, in PistonHeads and in evo.
• Drive: rear-wheel drive through a six-speed ZF automatic with a torque converter. The announcement says weight distribution is 49 per cent front and 51 per cent rear, while PistonHeads says 50:50, so treat both as claims.
• Size: wheelbase of 2,942 mm and length of 4,881 mm in the announcement. An Italian data sheet gives 1,880 kg, and CarBuzz gives 4,145 lb, which is the same weight.

How this car differs from the later GranTurismos

The 4.2 is the launch car and the least powerful of the family. Wikipedia and PistonHeads place the GranTurismo S at the 2008 Geneva show with a 4.7 litre V8 shared with the Alfa Romeo 8C, 440 PS and 490 Nm, a claimed 4.9 seconds to 100 km/h and 295 km/h. The S also swapped the torque-converter automatic for MC Shift, an automated manual that PistonHeads describes as a transaxle mounted at the rear. A later S automatic and the 2012 Sport brought the ZF back, and the Sport made 460 PS and 520 Nm with a claimed 4.7 seconds. The MC Stradale of late 2010 was lighter, with 450 PS at launch and a claimed 4.5 seconds and 303 km/h on Wikipedia, or 4.6 seconds and 188 mph on PistonHeads. CarBuzz says the 4.2 cars were never offered with MC Shift, so a 4.2 with a clutch gearbox is not what the paperwork says.

How long the 4.2 stayed on sale

The end date is the loosest fact in this guide. CarBuzz says the 4.2 was dropped for the United States at the end of 2012 but kept elsewhere. The Indian news report of 4 July 2017 says the 4.2 was discontinued when the range was trimmed to Sport and MC, and evo dates the comprehensive facelift to 2018. We therefore store 2007 to 2017, but we found no manufacturer statement of the last 4.2 build, so a car sold in your market may differ. The whole GranTurismo line ended in December 2019, which is why the old catalogue range of 2007 to 2019 described the family and not this car.

How many were built

We do not state a production count for the 4.2. Wikipedia gives 40,520 GranTurismo and GranCabrio cars built from 2007 to 2019, made up of 28,805 coupes and 11,715 convertibles, across every engine and trim. We found no source that separates the 4.2 from the 4.7 cars. That is why the number the catalogue used to hold, 40,520, has been removed from this entry: it counts the convertible and every later model. Maserati also did not publish a split, according to the CarBuzz review.

Reliability and what it costs

The wording across guides is consistent. PistonHeads says owners and specialists consider the 4244 cc V8 very reliable, and evo calls it largely bulletproof. PistonHeads also says the earlier 4200 car was reputed to be labour intensive, and recommends an annual inspection with about 1,500 pounds a year set aside. Service intervals are every 12,000 miles or two years, with a major service due every four years that some owners skip, so read the record closely. evo's service estimates are roughly 600 pounds for an independent minor service and 1,600 pounds at a dealer. CarBuzz sums it up as good reliability but high maintenance costs.

What to check before buying

• Oil leaks: look around the front engine covers. PistonHeads puts gaskets at about 30 pounds each, with half a day of labour as the real cost.
• Cam variators: some early cars had faulty ones, a roughly 300 pound part. PistonHeads and evo both say Maserati fixed affected cars, so ask for proof that every recall was carried out.
• Gearbox: the ZF automatic is called very durable by evo and the better town choice by PistonHeads.
• Battery: PistonHeads says to keep it on a trickle charger and not to jump-start the car, because the spike can damage the ECU. evo says problems after a jump-start point to blown control modules.
• Electrics: rain-sensing wipers, rear lights, a centre brake light that stays lit and parking sensors. PistonHeads says one failed parking sensor can disable the whole set.
• Brakes, tyres and wheels: the 4.2 has ventilated steel discs, so run a finger across the face for ridges and lips. PistonHeads quotes about 1,100 pounds for a set of tyres, and notes the 4.2 has 19 inch alloys. Ask for a geometry check, since inner-edge front tyre wear is common.
• Bodywork: the car is large, so expect parking marks, and check nose stone chips. Corrosion is rare and may point to a poor crash repair.
• Exhaust: PistonHeads mentions a bypass valve solenoid, about 250 pounds, that can stick in the quiet position.
• Interior: leather is standard on the 4.2, and the sat-nav in early cars is dated.

Prices as history

Maserati priced the 4.2 at 78,950 pounds in the UK in 2007, according to evo. PistonHeads put an early 4.2 at around 28,000 pounds in 2016, and evo found early high-mileage cars under 17,000 pounds in March 2024, with 4.2 examples under 35,000 miles from 19,500 pounds. These are the dates and sources, not a valuation, and we have not checked a current market.

Recalls and the DVSA check

We did not run the government checker, because it needs a registration number or the manufacturer, model and year, and we are not looking at one particular car. The page says a registration number shows unfixed safety recalls and MOT history, that otherwise you need the manufacturer, model and year, and that the manufacturer contacts you directly about recalls that are not for safety. We found no recall notice for this car in any source apart from the early cam variator fix, and absence from our sources is not a clean bill of health. A car imported from another market may not appear on the checker at all, so ask a Maserati specialist whether any service campaign applies.

About the photograph

The picture at the top of this page shows a black 2007 GranTurismo with the 4.2 litre V8 and the automatic gearbox, photographed in Leamington Spa in 2018 by Vauxford and published on Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. We cropped it to a wide frame and resized it to 800 by 450 pixels, with no other editing. The front plate holder on the car is blank, and a small rear plate on a hatchback in the background is too small and soft to read. No people are visible. It shows the original car in this guide, not an S, a Sport or a convertible.

Verdict

The 4.2 GranTurismo in this guide is a 399 bhp, 460 Nm, rear-wheel drive 2+2 with a claimed 5.2 seconds to 100 km/h and 285 km/h, built on the first generation from 2007 and sold in its 4.2 form until about 2017. It is the gentle end of the range, with a durable ZF automatic and a V8 that guides call dependable, but it is also a large Italian car whose bills and paperwork matter more than its figures. If you are shopping for one, confirm that you are looking at the 4.2 and not an S or a Sport, insist on proof of the cam variator recall and a record of the four-yearly major service, and treat every performance number as a claim with the caveats above. We have not driven it, so use the sources and a proper inspection to decide.