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Photo: Maserati
Ultra-limited one-offs are an excellent avenue for the automotive marques’ bespoke divisions to flex their creative chops — so often restrained by costs, feasibility, and production timeline — to create something truly special.
The only problem is that the resulting car, as singular as it is, will most likely remain singular — meaning there will only be one in either a collector’s garage or museum or, if the brand wills it, wending its way slowly and carefully across the globe.
An example of the latter can now be found in Singapore under the auspices of Italian automaker Maserati, displaying their automotive coup at a pop-up in the bucolic enclave of Dempsey Hill.
The one-off in question is the Maserati GranTurismo Prisma: A riotous, vibrant tribute to the 75-year history of the brand and its Fuoriserie personalisation programme.
Photo: Maserati
First presented at Milan Design Week 2003, the Prisma features a livery bearing a “chromatic partnership” of 14 hues, painstakingly hand-painted to blend into each other, creating one continuous multichromatic tapestry.
The first dozen of these look to the past, selecting colours from the most popular GranTurismos of yore, including the Amaranto (purple-red) from the 1947 Maserati A6 1.500, as well as the 1973 Maserati Khamsin’s shimmering Oro Longchamps (gold) coat.
Completing the set are the final hues of Blu Inchiostro and svelte Nero Comet — both of which are said to “look forward to the future” — proudly displayed upon the canvas of the GranTurismo grand tourer.
Photo: Maserati
An embellishment of over 8,500 letters, also applied and varnished by hand, further solidifies the theme of past, present, and future by calling back to all of Maserati’s legendary models — as does the iconic Nettuno V6 under the hood, an internal combustion engine bearing technology derived from the brand’s efforts in Formula 1 racing.
While a groundbreaking innovation in its day, Maserati’s famous gas-powered engine will soon be phased out in line with the brand’s all-electric aspirations, earmarked for the end of the decade.
