Versione Corsa

Everybody knows a Maserati is a car for the most discerning of enthusiast – the connoisseur, if you will. Should you have been in the privileged position of being at the very top of the Trident marque’s Christmas card list back in 2005, you’d have been invited to acquire one of these, the MC12 Versione Corsa. Maserati built just 12 of these track-only behemoths for its customers to commemorate its outstanding victory in the gruelling Spa 24 Hours, the MC12 GT1 racer’s maiden twice-round-the-clock endurance race.

As its extreme aero-heavy outward appearance suggests, the MC12 Versione Corsa is based directly on the GT1 car. And what an exquisite base from which to start. Campaigned under the banners of a plethora of Works-backed and privateer teams, the MC12 won 40 of the 96 races it entered, racked up six FIA Teams’ Championships, two Manufacturers’ Championships and six Drivers’ Championships. Le Mans was the only peak it didn’t summit, and that’s simply because the ACO was too scared to let the car race for fear it would wipe the floor with everyone else.

The car with which Maserati had returned to international GT racing for the first time in 37 years had achieved the marque’s goals and then some. Suffice to say, the Trident has not returned to top-flight endurance racing since.

Devoid of the restrictors required by the bodies governing the various series in which the GT1 competed, the Versione Corsa’s six-litre V12 was allowed to realise its true potential – 755bhp to be precise, 110bhp more than the MC12 Stradale and 150kg more than the racer. The dizzying figure makes this car the most powerful Maserati ever built.

The performance is, as you can imagine, similarly scintillating. The aforementioned power figures is bolstered by a six-speed semi-automatic gearbox, carbon-ceramic brakes and stress-bearing carbon-fibre monocoque. This car tips the scales at just 1,150kg and will propel from 0–124mph in a scarcely believable 6.4sec. The noise which emanates from those two straight-through exhausts is every bit as soul-stirring as you’d hope.  

The ninth of the twelve cars produced, this is the third MC12 Versione Corsa we have been privileged to rehome. While all twelve Versione Corsas were originally painted Victory Blue, customers could, at a cost, opt to have their cars repainted in a small number of different shades. The original US-based owner of this 2007 car opted for Fuji White, the same hue as the launch-specification MC12 Stradale, contrasting dark-grey wheels and a gorgeous Bordeaux Alcantara interior. Since being delivered, this MC12 has been carefully stored and not turned a wheel in anger.

The MC12 Versione Corsa is the ultimate undiluted expression of what a Maserati should be. Not only is it considerable rarer than the Ferrari FXX, of which 30 were built, but we think it also boasts an elevated status as a proven endurance racing car. It is, after all, fundamentally the GT1 with a properly trimmed cabin and an even more powerful engine. This virginal example, both in colour and condition, is exactly as the factory intended, down to the last nut and bolt.

SOLD