CarBrandLogos archive · Maserati · 2004

MaseratiMaserati MC12

An Enzo underneath, a homologation special on paper, and a GT1 champion in practice.

Photo: Damian Morys from New York City, United States · CC BY 2.0

The story

A defining chapter in Maserati history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Maserati MC12, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Maserati had not raced as a works team since the 1950s. By 2004 it was owned by Ferrari, which had a straightforward way to change that: take the Enzo's carbon tub, mid-mounted 6.0-litre V12 and paddle-shift transmission, and build a new car around them designed specifically to win the FIA GT Championship.

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Design and engineering

GT1 rules required road cars, so Maserati built 50 of them across two years, sold to invited customers at a very high price. Frank Stephenson's body shares almost nothing visible with the Enzo. It is far longer and far wider, with a long tail ending in a full-width rear wing, a removable targa panel that has nowhere to be stowed, and no rear window at all — the driver reverses by mirror and nerve. The proportions are grotesque by conventional standards and entirely explained by the aerodynamics.

MC12 race car side · Francesco Gasparetti (Flickr account) · CC BY 2.0

In production

On track it did exactly what it was built for. The MC12 took the FIA GT constructors' title repeatedly through the second half of the 2000s and dominated the category to the point that organisers repeatedly adjusted its restrictors and weight, and Le Mans declined to homologate it. Its record in the Spa 24 Hours and the Italian series was similarly one-sided.

Doran Maserati · Trebz · CC BY 2.0

Legacy

Road cars are rarer than the sales figure suggests, since a number went straight into collections and several racing versions were built alongside. Sixteen years later the MC20 picked up the thread of Maserati as a maker of mid-engined sports cars.

At a glance