Maserati MC12: Ridiculous Rebadge

Maserati MC12: Ridiculous Rebadge

Let’s get one thing settled right away: the Maserati MC12 is not a “rebadge.” You won’t find another vehicle that shares any exterior components with the MC12, except for possibly a large sailing yacht. (Seriously, why is the MC12 so big?)

But most people don’t realize that Maserati’s “halo car” is little more than a rebodied Ferrari Enzo. The two vehicles ride on the same mid-engine chassis, use the same 6.0-liter V12, and even share a transmission, which Maserati renamed “CambioCorsa” instead of Ferrari’s “F1.” To me, this is reminiscent of Chevrolet’s “MyLink” versus Buick’s “IntelliLink,” though admittedly the price points are rather different.

So the MC12 isn’t a strict rebadge, but you have to admit it’s still rather absurd. Rebadging is usually done in conjunction with marketing to convince the less intelligent among us that a Ford really is different from a Mercury. But the MC12/Enzo mishmash is proof that there isn’t a single segment immune to the wiles of a clever marketing department and an automaker eager to save some cash.

Unlike most rebadges, however, this is one I can live with. Both the Enzo and the MC12 are tremendously cool, as you’d expect them to be at more than $1 million. And they’re both highly distinctive on the road. The Enzo, for instance, looks like it’s ready to attack, while the MC12 looks like a fairly large relief map of snow-covered mountains.

In all seriousness, I will say this: I once saw an MC12 on the street. And while it was big and quite certainly overstyled, it was certainly a beautiful car – no matter what was underneath.

6 Responses to “ “Maserati MC12: Ridiculous Rebadge”

  1. Russell says:

    I personally have always liked the MC12 more than the Enzo. Even though I love both cars, and both are quite awesome.

  2. Bart says:

    I have seen that MC12 in Buckhead on a few occasions. I am glad to see the owner actually drives the car instead of letting it be another garage queen.

  3. becauseCAR says:

    I’ve preferred the MC12 because of its defeatable traction control and because it was a faster car around the Top Gear Test Track. Also, I prefer its styling over that of the Enzo and the fact that it’s a targa as well seals the deal for me.

  4. tentacles says:

    The Ferrari’s engine uses a conventional timing belt (with a dismayingly short replacement interval) while the more track oriented Maser uses metal timing gears. The noise is distinctive.

  5. RacingManiac says:

    MC12 was actually Ferrari’s modern take on their philosophy of “racing have rules, but we are Ferrari so we don’t need to follow them”. They built the car to race as a GT1 car in ALMS/Le Mans/FIA GT series against the other cars in those class like the Saleen S7 or Aston Martin DBR9 or Corvette C6R. The rule requires street cars so they built the car above. Since the rule book specifies certain dimension on the cars to be close to the road going counter part, Ferrari made the road car to have the long tail and long nose to exploit aero gain on track. But they made them so long that its actually not legal per rule book anymore. Hence it never really competed at Le Mans, and raced under special rule in ALMS and Ferrari eventually had to shorten the car to be legal for FIA GT. Still it was a successful car on track, even if it never get to race at Le Mans…

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