Maseratis and Porsches and Corvettes, Oh My

Take a look inside the 2018 New York International Auto Show.

April 2, 2018 5:00 am

It may be named after the Italian word for trophy, but the all-new Maserati Levante Trofeo is far more than just a shiny status symbol.

That said, it’s plenty damn shiny too.

The Maserati Levante Trofeo at the 2018 New York International Auto Show.

Unveiled at the 2018 New York International Auto Show, the Levante Trofeo is one of the fastest vehicles to be outfitted with Maserati’s signature trident logo despite the fact it happens to be a four-door Trofeo SUV.

The primary reason for this is Maserati installed a Ferrari-assembled 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 into the heart of the Trofeo, giving it a top speed of 187 MPH and 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds. Capable of churning out 590 ponies of horsepower, the Trofeo’s engine connects with the SUV’s custom all-wheel-drive system via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The Maserati Levante Trofeo at the 2018 New York International Auto Show. The Maserati Levante Trofeo at the 2018 New York International Auto Show.

Not a bad way to get the kids to soccer practice, unless they mind riding on leather seats with accent stitching and listening to a 1,280-watt, 17-speaker Bowers & Wilkins premium surround sound system.

Even though they probably could have, Maserati didn’t use that system while introducing the Trofeo.

Though it was one of the brightest, the Trofeo was far from the only star to shine at the NY Auto Show.

Case in point: The lightweight 911 GT3 RS that Porsche showed up with.

An even more ridiculous version of the GT3  (0-60 in three seconds) Porsche brought to this year’s Geneva Motor Show, the kitted-out RS in New York was outfitted with the $18,000 Weissach Package.

The extra cash goes toward outfitting the standard GT3 RS with anti-roll bars, coupling rods,  paddle shifters and a roof all made of carbon fiber. Those upgrades, along with a few others, reduce the car’s weight by 14 pounds.

For those of you doing the math at home, that’s about $1,285 for each lost pound.  Not exactly a steal, but, if you’re going to drop $188,550 on a regular 911 GT3 RS, an extra $18k is basically pocket change.

Fittingly enough, since it costs a lot of green to buy a Weissach 911 GT3 RS, Porsche used a lot of green to show one off.

A Porsche 911 GT3 RS with the Weissach Package from the NY Auto Show.

Green was not the only color to see in NY. Here’s a look at the rest of the rainbow that was on display at the Javits Convention Center last week.

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