CarBrandLogos archive · Maserati · 2020

MaseratiMaserati MC20

A twin-turbo V6 with pre-chamber ignition, designed and built entirely in Modena.

Photo: Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Maserati history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Maserati MC20, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Maserati MC20 Auto Zuerich 2021 IMG 0421

Origins

Maserati spent the 2010s selling saloons and SUVs with Ferrari-derived V8s. The MC20, revealed in 2020, was the point at which it committed to building its own engine again — the first Maserati-designed powerplant in more than two decades.

Maserati MC20 Auto Zuerich 2021 IMG 0421 · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

The Nettuno is a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged 90-degree V6, and its distinguishing feature is a pre-chamber combustion system of the kind used in Formula One: a small chamber above the main one, fed by its own injector and spark, whose jets ignite the main charge more completely. A second conventional spark plug lets the engine switch strategies depending on load. The result is a very high specific output from a comparatively small capacity.

Maserati Nettuno engine front · pelican-actor · CC BY 2.0

In production

Around it sits a carbon-fibre monocoque developed with Dallara, an eight-speed Tremec dual-clutch gearbox, and butterfly doors. Klaus Busse's design at Centro Stile Maserati is unusually clean for a modern mid-engined car — no aggressive vents or slashes, and a nose that quotes the 1957 3500 GT's grille without labouring the point. The whole car is built at the Viale Ciro Menotti plant in Modena.

2022 Maserati MC20 Cielo · MrWalkr · CC BY-SA 4.0

Legacy

A Cielo retractable hard-top convertible followed, along with a fully electric Folgore version and, in 2024, a GT2 racing programme. It stands as the spiritual successor to the MC12, though it is a far more usable car than that one ever tried to be.

At a glance