The Quattroporte had quite a lavish interior, nice ruffled soft leather seats made this very much a car to be driven in. But they offered it with a manual gearbox, suggesting that would be quite the opposite. Whilst there was an obvious focus on passenger comfort there was a hint at driver appeal too.

The Quattroporte was officially replaced in 1986 with the “Royale” version. It was essentially the same car, a bit more luxury and power, up to 300 hp now from the same 4.9 L V8. The subtle restyling had interior upgrades including the soft leather seats and a large amount of burr walnut on the dashboard and doors. It even had the ultimate 1980s accessory, the radio telephone in the compartment between the front seats and rather nice stow away tables in the rear doors. Maserati only made 51 with this specification, so a rare car indeed and you’d be lucky to see one. Especially in the condition of the one in the pictures and video below.

In 1982, Maserati built a special armoured Quattroporte for the Italian President’s use. Something of a tradition with Presidents, who still uses a Quattroporte. The Dark Aquamarine car with beige velvet interior, was delivered to President Sandro Pertini in 1983 and became the car of choice for institutional engagements. Being a smoker, the President had a large ashtray with pipe holder between the rear seats. Something quite useful was the intercom to communicate with anyone outside. Makes sense on an armoured car. Less so was the roof opening to allow the President to stand a greet crowds.

The cabin was completely armoured and bullet-proof, the body reinforced with high-strength manganese steel plating. The electric windows were also bulletproof being made from 31 mm thick polycarbonate.

Maserati sold a total of 2,145 examples of the Quattroporte 3 from 1979 to 1990.