There’s a certain music to Modena. You hear it before you see it — the rasp of a hand-built V6 bouncing off terracotta walls, the subtle hiss of tyres on cobblestones, the metallic heartbeat of Italy’s Motor Valley. And this week, that sound grew richer. Maserati’s homecoming has begun.
After years in exile up north in Turin, the GranTurismo and GranCabrio have returned to their spiritual birthplace — the Viale Ciro Menotti plant in Modena — where the Trident’s pulse first quickened nearly a century ago. And make no mistake, this isn’t just another ribbon-cutting exercise. It’s a full-blown aria of Italian engineering and operatic pride, a mechanical symphony Maserati calls Meccanica Lirica.
Because, of course, it is. This is Modena — where even pistons have perfect pitch.
The Opera of Horsepower
To mark the occasion, Maserati turned the entire city into a stage. For one luminous November week, Modena’s Teatro Comunale Pavarotti-Freni — that grand Neoclassical temple to high notes and heartbreak — echoed not with Puccini alone, but with the roar of Maserati’s reborn GTs.
At the Meccanica Lirica soirée, guests from across the world gathered beneath the gilded balconies to witness the unveiling of two bespoke one-offs: the GranTurismo Meccanica Lirica and GranCabrio Meccanica Lirica. As the orchestra swelled through Nessun Dorma, the curtains rose to reveal not divas but 550-horsepower divinities, each glinting like jewels under the spotlights.
And the colours — mamma mia — you don’t paint cars like these; you compose them. The coupe shimmered in Rosso Velluto, a deep velvet red inspired by the theatre’s own curtains, while the cabriolet wore Oro Lirico, a champagne gold that glowed with the warmth of a stage light. Even the exhaust tips were treated like instruments, tuned and calibrated by Maserati’s engineers and sound-sculpted by Sonus faber, the high-end Italian audio maestros partnering the brand.
In Modena, it seems, mechanics has its melody and music its own character.
The Return to the Beating Heart
Beyond the theatrics lies something quietly profound. The Modena factory, established in 1940, is a living relic — a place where racing legends like the 250 F and Quattroporte were born. Over the decades, it has survived wars, crises, and corporate handovers, but it has never lost its voice.
Now, it’s once again humming with life. Maserati has re-engineered the line to produce both combustion and full-electric models — the GranTurismo Folgore and GranCabrio Folgore — alongside the MC20 supercar. The feat? They pulled it off in just 45 days. Think of it as a mechanical ballet of over 200 technicians, 3,500 hours of training, and enough espresso to power Modena itself.
Automation? Barely. The plant runs on human hands and human pride. Only three robots exist here — two for painting, one for glass fitting. Everything else is crafted the old-fashioned way: by people who see torque curves as poetry and paint thickness as art.
The Art of the One-Off
The new Fuoriserie atelier — Maserati’s bespoke workshop — sits just a few doors down, where customers can conjure their dream Trident with a designer at their side. Want white-gold badging and burgundy leather inspired by a violin case? No problem. Fancy a poplar-wood dashboard painted the same shade as your favourite opera hall? Done.
The Meccanica Lirica One-Offs represent this philosophy turned up to eleven: handcrafted interiors, gold-leaf details, and even a “Creata a Modena” badge on the door — a small phrase that says everything. It’s the Maserati equivalent of a signature on an aria.
A Cultural Engine
Maserati’s new CEO, Jean-Philippe Imparato, calls the move “a homecoming of the heart.” But it’s also a statement of intent. The brand is doubling down on its Italian identity at a time when much of the car world is chasing scale over soul.
Alongside Alfa Romeo, Maserati is now part of the Bottega Fuoriserie, an initiative blending heritage, restoration, and ultra-limited production. It’s less of a factory, more of a creative studio — where the nation’s automotive artistry finds new form.
And while electrification hums in the background, the GranTurismo still sings with internal combustion. The 3.0-litre Nettuno V6 — the same heart as the MC20 — delivers 550 horses of theatre and thunder. The Folgore version, meanwhile, channels that same emotional cadence through volts instead of valves. Even the silence, they insist, has its own note.
La Dolce Revoluzione
Back in the city, Modena itself has been dressed for the occasion — Trident flags fluttering above the markets, the slogan “Modena, Città di Maserati” emblazoned across streets and billboards. It’s more than marketing. It’s identity. A small city that once gave us Pavarotti, Bottura, and the greatest noise ever to come from an exhaust pipe is reclaiming its voice.
And when that voice is Maserati’s — raw, melodic, unapologetically Italian — it’s not just a sound. It’s a feeling. A reminder that even in the age of algorithms and autonomous pods, Italy still knows how to make metal sing.
In Modena, mechanics has its melody.
And Maserati — finally — is back to conducting the orchestra.
Source: Maserati
