Great Roads, Incredible Car - Quattroporte on
Long Island
Sport GT Proves Ideal for Cruising North Shore Towns

Earlier this year we braved the winter weather by taking a Maserati Quattroporte out onto the North Shore of Long Island. As you might expect, the car was superb at shielding us from the elements – so good, in fact, that the bitterly cold wind came as an unpleasant surprise when we got out of the car to allow our photographer to take pictures of the car. Many of the elegant homes which line the North Shore were shuttered and dark, their owners finding other places to spend the winter months. So when we returned to this historic summering area we eagerly anticipated the difference a few months would make.

The first surprise was an unpleasant one – the increase in traffic. This is hardly unexpected; since the North Shore is one of the most prestigious areas on the north-eastern seaboard, it is also rather popular, and the warmth of the summer sun had brought people out in significant numbers. The next surprise was more expected: our Quattroporte Sport GT DuoSelect -  provided by Maserati of Long Island – was more than equal to the traffic, remarkable for a car which is the most sporting version of the ultimate sports sedan. Its DuoSelect gearbox, substantially improved for 2007, was a revelation even to us in its combination of rapid but even smoother, ideally timed shifts. In Auto mode the car unobtrusively ambled along with the general flow; but when a gap appeared, quick taps on the ‘Down’ paddle behind the leather-covered steering wheel and a firm prod on the throttle had the car surging forward with pleasing alacrity. The DuoSelect really is the best choice for driving enthusiasts who view every trip as an opportunity to exploit maximum performance; if you haven’t tried the 2007 model, you should, and if you’ve never driven one at all, you must!

Another surprise was that the summer had brought increased privacy to the residents of the area. Many houses sheltered behind fences, and so only offered glimpses of architecture which varied from the neo-classical to the truly avant-garde – but the trees and bushes which lined the roads and filled many gardens now offered additional cover, since leaves had grown and provided shade. We had little need of such cover, since the double-glazed cabin of the Quattroporte was exquisitely comfortable; the dual-zone climate control maintaining our selected temperature with effortless efficiency.

We cruised through the towns and villages of the Gold Coast – through Cold Spring Harbor, along its bustling Main Street filled with the kind of local shops which have all too often been banished by the ubiquitous mall. As we ambled along admiring the picturesque setting, we could see pedestrians returning the favor, their eyes naturally drawn to the elegant lines of the Pininfarina-designed Quattroporte.

Of course, while we drove along admiring the scenery, there were occasions when we found a quiet back-road which allowed us to give the Sport GT a work-out. One in particular – near Lloyd Harbor - wound up the hill from close to the shore. It offered a great, challenging combination of gradient and tight corners, well-surfaced and with little traffic. The solid wall on the near-side of the car waited to punish a mistake, but the Sport GT could allow us to charge up the hill at a speed few other sports cars could match, let alone any other full-size sedan. With the DuoSelect transmission in Manual mode and the Sport button pressed, the suspension tightened and the whole car reacted almost instantly to our inputs. This stretch of road reinforced for us the views expressed by countless other automotive journalists: the Sport GT DuoSelect is truly the most sporting sedan available in the world, with unmatched balance, braking and handling, it offers supercar performance in a four-door sedan body.  And as we exercised the Ferrari-designed and built engine, making the most of the available performance with the paddle-shift DuoSelect gearbox derived straight from Ferrari’s Formula 1 racecars, we could not escape the realization that this car is in essence a four-door Ferrari.  Ferrari management has repeatedly claimed they will never build a four-door sedan, but the secret is they already have, through the design and technical partnership with Maserati. 

We have to confess that the road was so exhilarating that we soon found somewhere to turn around, go back to the bottom and run to the top again. They say familiarity breeds contempt, but knowing that the lightning reactions of Traction Control and the Maserati Stability Program were monitoring our every move was reassuring; thankfully the only demand on their prodigious capabilities came when a particularly tight, cambered corner caused the inside rear wheel to go light to the point where it began to spin, but Traction Control had seamlessly taken care of it before we even realized.  Drives like these, in a car like the Sport GT DuoSelect, create memories that stay in an enthusiast’s head for a lifetime.

From Cold Spring Harbor we carried on to Huntington Beach, where a brisk onshore breeze did its best to offset the warm sunshine. This area of the North Shore is a fretwork of bays and coves, a maze of inlets which can often mean that one beach faces another, separated by no more than a hundred yards of open water. It also provides a large number of natural harbors, vital shelter from the region’s infamous Nor’easters. So it comes as no surprise that yachting, boating and generally spending time on the water is a favorite pastime of local residents.

One down-side is the effect that winter frost heave has on the road surfaces. Add in the regular pounding from vehicles, and the roads can become pock-marked and pitted with holes, scarred by repairs. Even with its gorgeous 20” wheels, the Quattroporte Sport GT proved itself remarkably well-suited to such an environment; the experts in the Modena factory have managed to devise a suspension which smothers such imperfections without allowing harshness to intrude on the cabin, yet body movement remains superbly controlled and the driver is kept aware of road conditions and levels of grip.

Next morning we headed out early for the south western corner of Long Island, a place which on a summer weekend can make the North Shore seem deserted: Coney Island. The reason we had to be early was the annual Mermaid Parade, the largest art parade in the United States. As well as attracting huge numbers of sightseers, it also meant that many of the roads would be closed. Our timing was perfect, and we were able to take our pick of parking spots, just a block away from the iconic ‘Parachute Jump’, built for the 1939 World’s Fair.

Our early start meant that we were even able to pull up just outside the famous Cyclone thrill ride. But since we had skipped breakfast, there was only one place to go – Nathan’s, the renowned hot-dog restaurant which just a few days later would play host to its annual hot-dog eating competition. Remarkably, we were able to pull up right outside; having eaten one, we now know why Nathan’s is so popular. However, making our way out of Coney Island we hit serious traffic; the Quattroporte Sport GT was completely unflustered, its 400bhp 4-liter V8 as well suited to burbling along in traffic as to firing the car forward when an all-too-rare overtaking opportunity was spotted.

Even given the traffic, it was with reluctance that we curtailed our tour and headed back to Glen Cove, home to Maserati of Long Island. Not only is there so much to see and do on Long Island – endless picture-perfect towns, state parks and beaches – but there are also many great roads in the area, roads for which the Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT is ideally suited. Offering astonishing performance and roadholding, combined with the superlative luxury of the elegantly furnished cabin, all wrapped in an Italian body which somehow shouts ‘style’ without ever raising its voice, it is the ideal match for the equally refined setting of the North Shore.

With its proximity to Manhattan, which was the hub of the great financial and industrial enterprises of the United States around the turn of the century, it was hardly surprising that Long Island should become one of the most desirable areas in the nation. The likes of Guggenheim and JP Morgan, Vanderbilt and Woolworth maintained huge estates close by the North Shore; Theodore Roosevelt’s family home at Sagamore Hill is now a National Park which amply repays the time taken on a visit. The Long Island Railroad and Interstate roads heading for New York have maintained its desirability, with many relatively modest homes changing hands for astonishing sums.

The people who live in such an affluent area have a natural appreciation for premium products, those items which are a step up from the run of the mill. This is partly from the desire to surround themselves with the finer things in life, and partly to make a statement – to show that they are leaders rather than followers. The Quattroporte Sport GT fits the bill to an almost uncanny degree; it stands out because of its breathtaking beauty, possibly one of the greatest designs ever to come out of the Pininfarina studio. It stands out without being ostentatious or excessively brash; indeed, one could argue that with its 400bhp 4-liter V8, and with the subtle design cues such as specific front grille and wheels, the Quattroporte Sport GT DuoSelect is the complete embodiment of Teddy Roosevelt’s famous expression: Speak softly, and carry a big stick.

With Special Thanks to Maserati of Long Island in Glen Cove, 516-671-7575, http://www.maseratidealers.com/longisland