Porsche 911s Replaced by Maserati Super Sedan
John West and his Quattroporte

In our discussions with Maserati owners, we cover many topics. The obvious ones, of performance, quality, exclusivity; styling and design come up often, which should hardly be surprising.

One that rarely makes it out into the open, that usually remains an unspoken subtext, may seem surprising at first: practicality. Yet it’s an attribute that each car in the Maserati line-up possesses, and what ought to be surprising is that it doesn’t receive more emphasis. After all, what use is a high-performance pocket rocket if it can’t hold much more than a pocket-book?

That’s one of the things which guided John West in his choice of car. After a succession of Porsche 911s, including a Carrera S,  in the 1990s and early 2000s, John grew tired of their cramped quarters: “I wanted something that was more practical, where you could turn around and reach for a briefcase, and in the Porsche, that was really difficult,” he told us.

So he switched to a Coupe Cambiocorsa, then traded up to a GranSport. In turn, that made way for a 2006 Quattroporte; and one of the reasons he switched to the luxury sedan was practicality. “When I went to the dealers, they told me you could get two sets of golf clubs in the trunk, and one of the things I didn’t like about the Porsche was that it was impossible to get a set of clubs in without scuffing the leather,” he explained. “I told them they had to prove it – so they got two sets of clubs, and sure enough, they fitted.”

Outdoor pursuits are important to John, who is the managing director of a successful real estate development and investment company in Salt Lake City, Utah. We met in the luxurious surroundings of his golf club, near the ski resort of Park City, site of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Being in the Rocky Mountains means that John has some wonderful roads to drive his Maserati on – but the disadvantage is that the winter months make many of them impassable to almost any car. On the day we interviewed him, right in the middle of the ski season, it was a perfect day, with the sun shining from an impossibly blue sky, so John made the most of it. What made it even better for him was the trip to get there – one which John, 58, said was his favorite drive in the Quattroporte. “Out of Salt Lake City, up Parleys Canyon, it’s an Interstate, but there’s some curves and it’s a real incline, and you can really let it rip,” he told us. “Then the last few miles after getting off I80, it’s this marvelous road that twists and turns up the hill towards the golf club – it’s just great.”

It’s a road that John seems destined to spend a lot of time on in Quattroportes, in part because he next plans to buy a 2007 model. “The one problem with being here in Salt Lake is that it’s a long drive to get to anywhere interesting,” John pointed out. “We have an office down in Pebble Beach, and it would be really good to drive on some of the roads around there – but it’s a real long drive to get there.”

We chatted about the real estate business, and John explained that his company handles both residential and commercial developments, both on behalf of clients and for the company. “It’s an unpredictable business – there are times when it can be a real struggle, and other times when it goes really well. At the moment, it’s one of the times when it’s going well,” he said with a smile.

All three of John’s Maseratis have been equipped with the Cambiocorsa or DuoSelect paddle-operated gearshift, a technology that he appreciates – and one he feels that, like his favorite liqueur (Dow’s 20-year-old port) gets better with age. “I think that once you’ve got used to Cambiocorsa, there’s no reason to use anything else. And it’s still improving; the shifting in the Coupe was good, then it improved with the GranSport, and in the Quattroporte it’s now even better.” Nonetheless, he plans to try out a new Quattroporte Automatic when it arrives at Steve Harris Imports in Salt Lake City. “These cars just keep getting better and better” he says.

In one year, John put about 15,000 miles on 2006 Quattroporte. Even after a few weeks he had already developed a deep appreciation for the largest car in the Maserati stable. Asked to describe it, he said: “It’s a luxury sedan that performs like a sports car, but doesn’t really look like one. It disguises its size very well – if you look at a Mercedes, now it’s obvious that’s a big car. I think it’s the style – I think the Quattroporte is probably the prettiest car on the road today.”

After a pause for contemplation, John went further: “I think the Quattroporte is truly beautiful – understated elegance, and I like that a lot. That’s important to me - I know who I am, and I’m happy with that – I really like the fact that it’s a performance car, but it’s not a ‘statement’ car. In fact, one of my favorite things about it is just looking at it, every day.”

It may have understated elegance, but it still draws admiring looks. “Almost every time I drive it, someone looks at it and tells me, ‘nice car’,” John explained. “Just today, on the way here, I stopped for gas, and a guy in a Jaguar comes over and spends five minutes looking at it. One time these two young guys came over and they were so excited – they asked permission to take photos of each other next to my car!”

Of course, there has to be a downside, and John acknowledges it. “I definitely think it’s spoiled me for other cars,” he said with a wry grin. “The question is, what else could you have: BMW or Mercedes? I don’t think they have anything to compare.”

That comment might have made the answer to our final question a foregone conclusion – having owned Coupe, GranSport and Quattroporte, could he see himself buying another? “Yes, I think I probably will; although I haven’t seen any problems with this one – or the other two. So I’ve no reason to think it won’t last a while.” So when asked to sum up his car in five words, John works on it for a few moments, then settles on the perfect summation: “Beautiful, high performance, luxury sedan.”

John West

Favorite drink: Tazo chai latte
Favorite wine or spirit: Dow’s 20-year-old port
Favorite food or meal: Veal marsala
Favorite all-time TV show: Seinfeld
Favorite movies: Lord of the Rings, Fletch, and The Princess Bride
Favorite composers or musicians: Beethoven, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Andrea Boccelli, Simon & Garfunkel, Wynton Marsalis
Favorite hobby: Outdoor athletics – golf and ski mountaineering
Favorite vacation spot: The Alps, or Irish golf courses
What place would you most like to visit for the first time: The Dolomites
To what place do you most like to return: Alagna, Italy
Favorite man-made wonder: Michaelangelo’s David
Favorite natural wonder: Monte Rosa Massif in the Italian Alps
If you changed professions, what would you most like to do: Be a medical doctor
What do you still intend to accomplish: Better planning for the development of our communities and the preservation of open space
If you lost your Maserati and had to replace it with something else, what would it be: “If I couldn’t have a GranSport, then a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti.”