Maserati MCPura

evo's 2022 Car of the Year has a new name and some crucial upgrades that Maserati hopes will send it back to the top

- by YOUSUF ASHRAF

BACK IN 2022, ACROSS THE PENNINES IN mixed conditions against the very best that McLaren, Ferrari and Porsche had to offer, the Maserati MC20 stole our hearts and won evo Car of the Year.

Where did that come from? At the time Maserati was offering only the ageing GranTurismo and underwhelming saloons and SUVs, and out of nowhere came this completely bespoke and utterly bewitching carbon-tubbed creation with shades of F40 in its character. Maserati was back.

Or was it? Earlier this year (evo 335) we revisited the MC20 in a test against rival sports and supercars, and it wasn't quite the car we remembered. The bombastic personality was intact but it was missing finesse, and felt quite ragged at times - particularly compared to McLaren's brilliant Artura. Hmm. Was it the roads, or the context of the other cars on the test that exposed these rough edges? Maybe the fact that this particular MC20 wasn't box-fresh, having lived a hard life in the hands of other media, played a part. It was and still is a stellar supercar, but the magic it delivered at eCoty was harder to pin down.

The MCPura is Maserati's chance to win us back. It's an updated MC20 in all but name and, as such, the styling has been tightened up, the interior has been updated... and not much else. Maserati says that in the interest of preserving the MC20's approachable nature, no changes have been made under that carbon skin. So the MCPura's mechanicals are identical, but engineers have a habit of tweaking software and calibration at every opportunity, so there might a new experience on offer, too. If the end result is a fighting fit, polished MC20, we won't be complaining.