As modern cars are increasingly saddled with features enthusiasts don’t want – interfering safety aids and heavy hybrid powertrains – we increasingly find ourselves drawn to the resto market.
This is the Modena Automobili MA-01, and – as fans of 1990s Italian coupés that suffer from crazy turbo lag will tell you – it uses the Maserati Shamal as a base.
That might come as a surprise to some. We’re big fans of the Shamal’s chiseled-jaw looks, but we’re not sure it holds the universal appeal of the iconic 911. Maserati only sold 369 of them, after all. But the other way to look at it is that the Shamal is just the kind of flawed gem that benefits most from a buff-and-polish restomod.
While restmod 911s are done to death, recent years have seen this growing automotive space gorge itself with the likes of the Jaguar XJS, Lancia 037 and Delta, Porsche 928, Alfa Romeo Giulia GT and Volvo P1800. Even cars that can pass as sensible family wagons, like classic Range Rovers, have gained fresh powertrains and modern cabin features jumping on the restomod bandwagon. We will probably have another restomod announcement while the ink’s barely dried on this one.
The MA-01 gets things off to an encouraging start, scrapping the original V8 engine. As a relatively small 3.2-litre V8 boosted by intercooled twin turbochargers, it was a curiosity of the time, but the linear delivery of modern forced induction was AWOL; the Shamal could lay down bucket loads of torque just when you didn’t want it.
Not ideal on a short-wheel-base chassis. However, with 0-62mph taking 5.3 seconds on the way to a top speed of more than 160mph, the Shamal had the performance needed to live up to its name badge, named after a Mesopotamian wind.
Reassuringly, the first thing Modena Automobili does is scrap the laggy old engine for the 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 motor from a modern Ghibli S, delivering 500PS (368kW) through an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission, achieving 0-62mph in 4.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 180mph.
Like the original Shamal, Modena Automobili’s machine uses a Biturbo chassis as a base; only it has been stripped, coated and strengthened. The looks, meanwhile, get the sort of enhancements we expect of a restomod with a body massaged to be more muscular, carbon fibre surrounds of the lights that make it look more modern and buttresses that add a classy touch that wasn’t present on the original model.
You get the same OEM+ approach on the inside, with the light leathers and grandpa-spec woods of the original model swapped for black Alcantara that’s much more of the time.
Modena Automobili completes the tick-off list for a restomod by giving its creation an eye-watering price tag – kicking off from around £500,000 puts it in the same ballpark as a Singer and Kimera EVO37. Will it be as successful? Guess we’ll find out when it goes on sale later in the spring.
Report by Russel Campbell for goodwood.com
