This is Maserati’s next supercar

Cue the trumpets—Maserati is teasing its mid-engine halo car, but so far it does not have an official name or any clear specs. However, given what this car represents for the future of the storied Italian brand, we are paying close attention.

Maserati has released photos of its camouflaged, mid-engine sports car roaming the streets of Modena. The prototype indicates a departure from the classical Maserati style cues the GranTurismo made familiar. The car ditches the wide, oblong grille for a more compact snout framed by deeply recessed headlights that are much more oval and upright than the menacing beams of recent Maseratis, Levante included.

Though Maserati previously confirmed production plans for the Alfieri concept car back in March of 2019, the final rendition won’t debut until March 2020 at the Geneva Motor Show. It’s possible that the front-engined concept will take shape as a new, electrified GranTurismo; and that leaves the halo slot to be filled by this high-performance, mid-engine model. We also know that a hybrid-powered Ghibli sedan is on deck for 2020 and that pure BEV models will follow.

Maserati boasts that this test mule’s in-house powertrain “will be the forefather of a new family of engines integrated exclusively on the vehicles of the Brand.” The camo is a papier-mâché-style layering of XXMM (Roman numerals for 2020), heralding May 2020 when all shall be revealed. Driving data gleaned from this test run on the street will be integrated into the virtual simulator that we visited at Maserati’s state-of-the-art Innovation Lab.

Since Maserati’s contract with Ferrari expires either 2021 or 2022, the special-edition, tri-tone GranTurismo Zéda is the swan song of Ferrari-sourced engines powering Maserati’s Modena-built cars. Ferrari’s recent IPO means it technically broke off from FCA, leaving Maserati as the historic Italian jewel of the auto group. Maserati, with its own, in-house powertrain nestled in this camouflaged test mule, seems poised to step out from Ferrari’s shadow and into the spotlight.