We drive Maserati’s most important car ever this month in MOTOR

Recent history hasn’t been kind to the iconic Italian Maserati brand, but change could soon be afoot with a renewed corporate focus and a range of intriguing new metal on the way.

Central to Maserati’s resurgence is the radical MC20, as the brand bets heavy on a sleek mid-engined formula. There’s chequered precedence within the halls of Modena, in the form of the 1970s Bora, but until now, the brand has lacked a true halo flagship to add magic to its range of otherwise handsome SUVs and sedans.

With a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6, an all-new forged carbon chassis, and a power-to-weight ratio that bests a Porsche 911 Turbo S, the MC20 might just be the most important new Maserati ever. We wrangle the first example in the country and spend a night out on the town to experience this monumental step change for ourselves.

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From the bright lights of Melbourne we travel to the sopping tropics of Queensland. Bundaberg native Cameron Kirby takes to the wheel of Porsche’s track-focused Cayman GT4, and navigates 398 kilometres of Queensland’s best roads while outrunning an approaching storm front.

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It’s no secret, however, that petrol-burning supercars are approaching their dying light. To reflect on the cars that made us dream, we take a stroll through history at LA’s Petersen Museum who have pieced together an astounding collection of icons that paved the way to our modern era of performance.

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Further back, we take to the track to settle the Mustang powertrain debate, once and for all. Boosted 2.3-litre four-cylinder versus bellowing 5.0-litre V8 – is there really a replacement for displacement? We take to the Haunted Hillclimb track two Mustangs and a RaceLogic Driftbox, digging deep into the data to find out which is better.

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Luffy returns to give you a turn-by-turn master’s guide to Sydney Motorsport Park, Andy Enright lists the Top 10 best hidden European racing circuits and Alex Affat considers the used-buy prospects of the Volvo S60 Polestar.

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We don our product planning hats to imagine a modern iteration of the Honda Accord Type R for this month’s edition of Sweet Dream and have our first drives of the supercharged RTR Ford Mustang Spec3, Mercedes-AMG CLS 53, Hyundai i30 Sedan N, McLaren 720S GT3X and Gunther Werk’s epic 993 Speedster.

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There is plenty more to see in the latest issue of MOTOR. You can find the February edition in stores today, or subscribe here and have them delivered straight to your door!