Maserati is the latest entrant into the rarefied world of track-focused supercar specials as it unveils Project24 – and confirms that it will build 62 units of the track-only special.
A spiritual successor to the spectacular Enzo-based MC12, Maserati hasn’t announced any intentions to take its latest project racing, despite the fitment of FIA-approved safety equipment.
In fact, it’s gone further than many race series would allow, as is becoming tradition for cars like this, unhindered by balance-of-performance regulations or power restrictions.
That’s why Project24, sharing some traits with the MC20 supercar, features a 730bhp take on the road car’s 3-litre, twin-turbo ‘Nettuno’ V6 engine – 109bhp greater – and has managed to strip weight to such an extent that it’s claiming a dry figure of only 1250kg. Add a nominal 100kg of fluids and it still clocks in at around 150kg ligher than the MC20.
The MC20’s eight-speed dual-clutch makes way for a six-speed racing sequential ‘box and there’s a race-spec clutch and mechanical locking differential too. Other competition-spec components include the Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, calipers, and electronic systems like the adjustable ABS and traction control.
The early images show a bit of a stunner, and a car very different – in the details at least – from the MC20. Aero is the order of the day, with deep airdams, scoops, vents and other severe-looking appendages, but there are enough curves in the mix that the real deal should be a stunner in the metal. There’s definitely artistry at work here as well as just wind-tunnel honing.
And if an MC20 mixes performance with refinement, there are no such worries in a track-only special. Maserati hasn’t released a sketch of the interior but the spec list definitely reads more like a racer: a proper racing seat (and an optional passenger pew), adjustable pedal box and steering column, a six-point harness, multifunction carbon fibre wheel with a built-in display, optional telemetry recording, datalogger… all the stuff you’d find in a GT racer.
Adjustment in the dampers and anti-roll bars, plus adjustment options for the front and rear aero will give another of Project24’s features something to do at your race circuit of choice; Maserati promises ‘track-specific experiences and state-of-the-art support’, presumably in the manner of Ferrari’s Corsa Clienti service.
There’s no price attached to all this, but prospective owners will probably be used to that. For the rest of us, we’ll just have to hope a few turn up at events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
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