At the 2000 Geneva Motor Show, Italdesign presented its own interpretation of a luxury sedan, the Maserati Buran. Having set aside the idea of a coupé body, as well as that of an SUV (which was starting to become fashionable in those years), the work of the team of designers led by Giorgetto Giugiaro focuses on the development of a high-end limousine with the shape of a minivan.
The Buran, however, did not fully convince the top management at Maserati and, in 2003, the fifth series of the Quattroporte, designed by Pininfarina, arrived on the market.
Flagship luxury, MPV line
Named after a wind that blows in Siberia, the Maserati Buran has imposing dimensions. Long five metersalmost two metres wide and 1.63 metres high, promises the habitability of a limousine thanks to the body shapes that hark back to the classic models of the early twentieth century.
Giugiaro’s goal is to develop a luxury car that inspires safety and robustness and that is able to satisfy the needs of those who use the car for work but also in their free time with the family.
Maserati
“We didn’t want to propose the usual SUV – recalls the number one of Italdesign – nor a classic off-road vehicle. However, having understood that the formula of a tall vehicle would be the winning one, we started from here to develop a concept originale“.
The front is in fact square, unlike the rest of the bodywork: the iconic front grille is almost rectangular, as is the lower mouth dug into the bumper which in turn integrates three air intakes.
The small light clusters are made up of two elements, one of which follows the shape of the front bumper and then extends towards the belt line, which in turn ends by giving the profile to the large vertical headlights.
Designed for America
The Maserati Buran is very interesting above all for the solutions designed to improve the practicality of thecockpit. To begin with, instead of the classic doors, there are two large sliding doors at the back (obviously electrically operated) that allow you to get in and out of the flagship in complete comfort.
Maserati
Maserati Buran Concept, the rear
The luggage compartment, on the other hand, is accessed via a tailgatealso electric, which does not integrate the glass rear window and which rises vertically: in this way the occupants of the rear seats (or rather, armchairs) are not exposed to the outside air in case of low temperatures or bad weather.
Maserati
Maserati Buran Concept, the interiors
Inside, as you would expect from a Maserati, the materials are of the highest quality, while under the hood there is a mighty 3.2-litre longitudinally mounted eight-cylinder capable of delivering the power of 370 CV (the traction is four-wheel drive).
One last important note: the Buran, designed and developed in Italy at the Moncalieri Style Centre, was however assembled in an American factory, in Californiabecause it was designed to make inroads into the American market, which typically loves extra-large cars.
Source: it.motor1.com
