Rules and regulations are, for better or worse, a major restrictions when it comes to designing and engineering a car. Needing to comply with safety regs, sound levels, emissions standards, as well as homologation rules aplenty, means that cars are more cookie-cutter than ever before. It’s what killed pop-up headlights and tailfins, and this is the reason why cars are heavier and more complicated than ever before. Even on track, some rules and regulations still apply, but what if you could make a car that doesn’t compromise or bow down to any rules?
Well, do that, and what you might end up with is an otherworldly piece of machinery like the new Maserati MCXtrema. An unruly and uncompromising beast of a machine, only 62 of these be made, each one boasting Maserati’s mighty 3.0-litre ‘Nettuno’ twin-turbo V6, outputting an eye-watering 730hp. Of course, the fact that it’s been created with no rules binding it to the real world also means that you can’t drive it on the road. However, if you can afford to take this to a track, I’m sure the MCXtrema is one of the best no-rules hypercars around.
More Work To Be Done, But We’re Getting Close
Maserati has put a lot of work into getting the MCXtrema this far, so there’s no going back now. If you pay close attention, you might notice a lot of similarities between the MCXtrema and the roadgoing Maserati MC20. Indeed, you can think of the MCXtrema as an MC20, but unbound to road-worthy homologation rules. Everything about the MCXtrema, around its engineering and design, as well as the performance that Maserati has been able to eke out of it, has only done to push the boundary of what’s possible on a car, outside of maybe F1.
With that low-slung front end, slim headlights, sharp angles, aggressive aerodynamics, and enough wings to fly an aeroplane, the MCXtrema is as extreme as you could make it. This did mean a lot of testing and prototyping had to be done, and so far, Maserati has put in about 200 hours of testing in a simulator, with another 1,000 hours of virtual analysis to stress test the MCXtrema to the max. Since then, we’re now seeing the MCXtrema hit the track for real, on schedule for the first production models to be released in late summer 2024.
A Bespoke, Tailor-Made Brute For The Race Track
Now, if you’re one of the lucky few who’s been able to afford the MCXtrema, Maserati does have something special planned for you. Called the MCXlusiva programme, this is a bespoke, tailor-made personalisation initiative, where all 62 would-be owners of the MCXtrema could configure each car to their heart’s desires. You could thus design a special livery for your car, and maybe even change the colour of the wheels, add your own custom racing number, and pick and choose between different colours for the grips on the steering wheel.
As far as we’re concerned, no minute detail is left out to the imagination. Additionally, you’ll also be able to take advantage of Maserati’s MCXperience programme. Basically, it’s a high-end concierge service to brings your car to a track of your choice, and connects you with pro drivers, technicians and engineers to help set up your car. Life in the 1% must be really good if you get to experience something like this. But, for the rest of us mere mortals, I’m expecting that we’ll at least get to see footage of the MCXtrema where it really belongs – on track.
