Maserati. Indianapolis. The Month of May.
Celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Maserati's Epic Speedway victory

I'm on a giant squared oval in Indianapolis.  The V8 screams with delight as I downshift before turn entry, the car sets on its outside rear tire as I hold my foot flat on the throttle pedal and slip past the other cars as we sweep three abreast through the apex, and ease up ever so slightly at the exit mindful of the need to save fuel and the dampness making itself known on the asphalt.  I won't actually reach the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) for a few more minutes, but I'm quite enjoying I465, which rings Indianapolis.  OK, the Interstate isn't that great, but the Quattroporte S is.  Its smooth black surface begins to glisten with hemispheres of rain turning to streaks as they deal with the opposing forces of still air and moving metal.  The Italian formed metal is winning; the Italian formed alloy of the torquey 425bhp V8 ensures it will.  This is a joy everyone who commutes in a Maserati fully understands. 

In fact, the drama could be ignored completely as I luxuriate in the Cuoio interior, virtually every surface covered by soft Poltrona Frau hides, the remainder replete in fine grained wood and Alcantara.  The seat may not be formed to the contours of my body as with an Indy car, but it feels like it is.  Supportive bolsters help hold me in place through every turn, releasing me slightly in the straights unless I tip into the throttle again and feel that ineffable push on my lower back as the car presses forward in what seems like an infinite display of sheer power.  It lasts until 7500rpm in every gear - the only automatic car on the market with this capability - and the only real concern is law enforcement, but I am keeping pretty much within the flow of traffic.

The Bose Media System, new for 2009, was simultaneously pumping out some rather nice classic rock and excellent directions to the Speedway. I eased onto 16th Street and headed east.  Conveniently, all numbered streets in Indianapolis are east-west and their number, if divided by ten, tells you your distance from the city center.  It was about 7:30AM, and on race day morning this street will be jammed with cars and people approaching the greatest spectacle in racing - and one of the oldest.  On the second day of Rookie Orientation, however, there were just quite a lot of commuters.  It turns out that Indianapolis is a vibrant city, and not just in the month of May when all eyes in the racing world turn their focus towards it.  Indianapolis, as I learned, is America's 14th largest city with a population of just under 800,000.  It will swell to over a million for Memorial Day weekend. 

I have driven from Maserati of Indianapolis, a Dreyer & Reinbold company, and was soon to be hosted by Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.  Scott Kenney, GM of Maserati of Indianapolis and as gracious a host as any I have met introduced us to Dennis Reinbold, principal of both the dealership and the team.  Dennis Reinbold's family has been involved with racing about as long as there's been racing in America.  His grandfather, Floyd "Pop" Dreyer was one of the premier motorcycle racers following World War One and became one of the premier sprint and Indycar builders in the 1930s and thereafter.  Dennis grew up in a house just outside Turn One, and now lives next to Wilbur Shaw's, and was always fascinated with the Indy 500.  He was also always fascinated by Maserati, and with one of his uncles a curator at the IMS Hall of Fame Museum he's very well aware that this is the 70th Anniversary of Wilbur Shaw's first win in the "Boyle Special" Maserati. 

Dennis Reinbold has arranged our photo shoot today, in which we will place a 2009 Quattroporte S, a 2009 GranTurismo, and the venerable Boyle Special Maserati 8CTF straddling the famous yard of bricks that stretch out across the hallowed track.  This is a motorsport Mecca. Dennis jokes that his grandfather might have had a hand in getting the 8CTF fixed since most European cars used to arrive in Indianapolis in "rough shape" in those days, and "Pop" Dreyer might well have had a hand in helping get Shaw's car ready for the race since its block had cracked due to an oversight in shipping.  In the old days, as now, racers often helped each other get into the big show, and Maserati was welcomed to Indianapolis with open arms having won almost everything there was to win in European racing between 1926 and 1939. 

Asked about the Boyle Special, Dennis quotes pretty much chapter and verse about the first car to win back-to-back victories at Indy, driven by the legendary Wilbur Shaw.  He is also well aware of Maserati's current success in sports car racing, and sees a direct link between the track heritage and the road cars he now sells: "Maserati has great products, is going in a great direction with the product line, it's a fantastic franchise, and having driven the cars, you know, it's easy to stand behind a Maserati because they really deliver on performance and styling and it's just a thrill to drive one.  My oldest son just loves my GranTurismo and he keeps asking to drive it but so far he's just admiring it from afar!"

Dennis Reinbold's team is a mainstay of the IRL series with over 200 starts.  He will have a part in fielding four cars in the 2009 Indianapolis 500 on May 24th, all having qualified.  His regular drivers Mike Conway (#24) and Milka Duno (#23) will be joined by old hands Davey Hamilton (#44) and John Andretti (#43), whose car is co-owned by the great Richard Petty.  Dennis Reinbold brings all four drivers with him for the 70th Anniversary Maserati photo shoot astride the yard of bricks and in front of the famous Pagoda, IMS' race control building.  Dennis also brings his business partner Robbie Buhl, former Indycar racer and now a commentator as well as a team owner.  Buhl and Scott Kenney stand with the cars as well, and a sizable crowd appears to watch what had been a low-key photo shoot.  This is hardly surprising when one considers the drawing power of Maseratis, even at one of the homes of motorsports.  The shoot is delayed a few times by passersby who just cannot help but take a closer look at the Quattroporte, GranTurismo and 8CTF.  Indy's famous yellow jackets - the people who run the track and make the month of May a possibility - were at first reticent about this little event, but they soon warm up to it and want to know everything about the road cars.  They are unsurprised by the amazing performance figures, but they are staggered by just how low the price of a 2009 Maserati is: well below their expectations, and well within the range of many such car enthusiasts. 

Asked about the three Maseratis, the drivers all have something to say.  Davey Hamilton is the first to speak: "There's a lot of history right there with the first back-to-back winner, and it's really something to be up close with a Maserati that ran and won the race back in the day.  The new cars are really cool, obviously, and while I wouldn't want to race in the old one today, I'll take one of the 2009s for sure!"  John Andretti, always quick with a quip, says "Dennis won't let me drive one.  I've asked nicely and I've even told him I'll put my own fuel in it, but he won't give me one...he won't even let me sit in it!"  Mike Conway, a rookie sensation, makes his preference clear: "The Quattroporte - I'll have that one."  Milka Duno, the Venezuelan former model with four masters degrees in business and naval and maritime architecture, and now the fastest new woman on the IRL circuit is unequivocal: "These are pretty and great cars.  As drivers we love fast cars, and these are fast cars.  They're a dream. It's great to put the Boyle Special here with the contemporary cars we have here today.  I like to see how things have developed and having the older Maserati here with these brand new cars shows me a lot about how far we've come.  The Boyle Special is the basis for so much of how we have come to this point in our racing cars and road cars.  I love these Maseratis."

After the photo shoot I get to watch the drivers on the track.  I have never visited Indianapolis before, but I have seen the Speedway for many years on TV.  Being here in person is a very different experience.  It fills in so many gaps to actually see the enormous track, to approach the banking, to hear the cars shooting around the circuit at over 200mph.  After a while, however, I am eager to get back behind the wheel of the Quattroporte S and see a bit more of Indianapolis.  Racing is like that: it makes you want to go out and drive a really superb car, and nothing really compares with the Quattroporte S.

Heading towards the center of Indianapolis I am reminded why I love driving the QP S and why I can always say when asked that it is simply the best sports sedan I have driven - and I've driven pretty much all of them.  No others hide their size so well and behave so much like a thoroughbred sports car.  There isn't another sedan with a suspension tuned for sheer driving enjoyment and control.  There's no other package that has made me feel so comfortable at speed, nor encouraged me to probe my own driving skill with such confidence.  It’s not about the speed, it’s about the control. 

Indianapolis is a revelation.  Residents call it a city of monuments and it truly is, with more inside the city limits than any other American city aside from Washington DC.  In fact, Indianapolis was patterned in the 1820s very much like Washington DC. Laid out by Alexander Ralston, who had assisted Pierre l’Enfant in laying out the nation’s capital, Indianapolis has the Soldiers and Sailor’s monument at its center, and roads radiating out from that point.  Its major north south artery is the aptly named Meridian, a street of cultural oases, good shopping, and enviably tasteful mansions.  The city center, originally a single square mile, is at once dense with businesses and living space, and alive with parks and public spaces.  As well as the monuments, the center is partly defined by the impressive Statehouse and Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. 

Indianapolis has some marvelously innovative architecture aside from the many monuments.  Most noteworthy are the Central Library with its chic modern extension masterfully grafted to the original Greek Revival structure, and the world-famous Children’s Museum of Indianapolis which is the world’s largest.  This superbly cosmopolitan city is a perfect place in which to cruise in a Quattroporte, which can take on the stately air of a true luxury car when its performance capabilities are not required, but which can always show its taillights to lesser cars when its heart and soul are revealed.  A QP S is the ideal transportation in Meridian Hills and Speedway Indiana

Southern Indiana is by many accounts the state’s best area for hard driving and long sweepers, and South Bend is renowned for its beauty, but I’m enjoying the grand tour of Indianapolis, the driver’s seat of a Quattroporte S being the ideal place from which to enjoy it.  With its newly opened dealership, Maserati of Indianapolis can now cater to everyone in Indiana who wants a Maserati, from racing drivers to car enthusiasts.  Judging by the smiles, waves and appreciative comments, there are a lot of them around Indianapolis.  The 70th Anniversary of Maserati’s first victory in the Indy 500 is surely an excellent reason for them – and you – to visit an authorized dealer and join in the fun.

With thanks to Scott Kenney and Dennis Reinbold of Maserati of Indianapolis and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.  Be sure to cheer for Davey Hamilton, Michael Andretti, Mike Conway and Milka Duno in the 2009 Indianapolis 500, May 24th.