Maserati Medici Show Car

The sharp lines of this Maserati Medici show car are characteristic of Giorgetto Giugiaro's designs.

The first Volkswagen Golf, the Alfa Romeo Alfasud, the Saab 9000, the Audi 80 and the Lancia Delta all have in common that they were designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. The same goes for this Maserati Medici show car, in which, with a bit of imagination, you can recognize features of the aforementioned car models. The name 'Medici' comes from the famous banking family from Florence, which in the 15th and 16th centuries exerted great influence on the development of art. The Maserati Medici Show Car, a luxurious four door hatchback for official occasions, is shown for the first time at the Turin Motor Show in 1974. A special detail is the glass roof, set in a steel frame. In 1975 the car is heavily modified by Giugiaro. The wheelbase is extended and the car gets six seats instead of four. Because of these modifications people sometimes speak of Model I and Model II, but in fact it is the same car. In 1976 the Maserati appears at the Paris Motor Show, where it was presumably bought by the Shah of Persia. Sharp lines are characteristic of the designs of Giorgetto Giugiaro, who has a multitude of well known cars to his name. He begins his career in the mid 1950s at the styling department of Fiat. He then works for both Bertone and Ghia and in 1968 sets up his own design studio, now known as ItalDesign Giugiaro. This Maserati Medici Show Car was taken over directly from ItalDesign by the Louwman Museum.