Maserati GranCabrio review

For starters, really well packaged. OK, not the boot, which is a narrow slot leading into a small dark 172-litre cave (a mere 151 litres for the Folgore). But the back seats are good. Not limo good, but Bentley Continental GTC-good for passengers with high backed seats and tolerable legroom. You might see a four-up GranCabrio prowling through St Tropez and you’d envy those in the back. It looks like a nice place to be, no grimacing going on.

And for the driver?

Very good driving position. The front scuttle and bonnet are low, so it’s easy to place the car on the road and your view encompasses the cresting front wings. The seats themselves are beautifully shaped, and the fronts have built-in ‘scarf’ vents to blow warm air on your neck. They’re a bit weedy. There’s evidence that Maserati is offering new takes on luxury – the GranCabrio, like its siblings, can be specced with a recycled nylon from old fishing nets called Econyl. It’s actually rather lovely.

The cockpit has an imperious, cocooning sweep to it, with laser-etched trim and copper inserts or slivers of 3D carbon fibre if you want it. The door trims are works of art in their own right. Like every other prestige player, Maserati has a bespoke department that will relieve you of large amounts of cash in return for a serious statement car. And the quality is very good indeed. Look, it’s not quite a Bentley – the leather work, metal and finishing isn’t quite in that league, but it is a very well appointed place to find yourself. But for one thing.

Let me guess – the screens?

Bang on. The GranCabrio buries everything in one of four screens. Have you spotted them all? The main infotainment screen is a centrally mounted 12.3in job, with another 8.8in one appended below it for climate control and many other functions. The dash display is another 12.2in screen and the final one is the iconic Maserati clock. Which is no longer a clock, but now reimagined with stopwatch, compass and G-meter functionality.

Everything is buried either in the screens or operated via buttons on the steering wheel, of which there are so many they’ve spilled on to the back of it. At least those are not haptic. But for almost everything else you're jabbing a screen, even opening the glovebox and operating the roof.

That’s the same as the Mercedes SL, isn’t it?

Yes, and it’s not a good thing. The fabric can be lowered or raised on the move at up to 31mph, a process that takes around 15 seconds. Try keeping your finger steady on a screen for 15 seconds on a bumpy road. Not easy. This is a daft, daft, decidedly non-luxurious and often infuriating technological development and it needs to stop now. This is a convertible, operating the roof is as important here as a good manual gearshift is to a hot hatch. It’s core to the experience.

What this all means is that instead of appreciating the materials and finish you spend too much time prodding at screens. They’re not bad screens, but they’re cluttered and not that logical to find your way around. And the gear selector buttons feel cheap. And we didn’t need or want a door release button when a tactile handle was already a better solution.

Does this undermine the GranCabrio experience?

Yes, partially. It’s all largely carried over from the Grecale and makes the cabin feel like that of a car half the price. In a Conti GTC, you’re exposed to craftsmanship all the time. Here the tech interferes.