22.05.2004 Ferrari AND Maserati are gearing up for their biggest ever presence at the Birmingham Motor Show next week with no less that five UK debuts taking place

The Ferrari Maserati Group have announced that the new Maserati MC12 GT-racing aimed sportscar will be seen for the first time in the UK at next week's Motor Show Live at the Birmingham NEC.

Britain's most important auto event will see the biggest ever presence from Ferrari and Maserati.

The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, along with the Maserati GranSport and Quattroporte, will be making their UK premieres at the long running show. The new GTC handling pack for the Ferrari 575 M, first seen at the Geneva Salon in March, will also be making its UK debut.

Maserati will present the 4.2-litre V8 powered Coupe and Spyder, these pair joined by the new GranSport, a more extreme, 'edgier' development of the Coupe first seen in Geneva. With new aerodynamics and exterior styling, power raised to 430bhp and revised gear ratios, the GranSport is aimed at drivers who feel the Coupe GT is too tame.

Maserati will round off their collection with the super-luxury four door Quattroporte saloon, first seen in Frankfurt last September, and the new MC 12 sportscar.

The Maserati MC12 is a two-seater long-tail coupe-spider with a long wheel base (2800 mm). It has a typical racing/sporty set-up with a removable hard top. It is also powered by a naturally aspirated 12-cylinder 65° V engine that displaces 5998 cc and punches out 465 kW at 7500 rpm.

Highly advanced composites and alloys have enhanced its structural rigidity and kept its overall weight down. The MC12's bodywork is entirely carbon fibre, while its stress-bearing chassis is made from a carbon fibre and Nomex honeycomb sandwich. Two aluminium sub-chassis's support the ancillaries, help absorb bumps, and guarantee an excellent standard of safety.

The MC 12 will however only be on show on the Press Day, Business Day and Preview Day.

Ferrari will present a full range of cars with the 360 Modena, 360 Spider, Challenge Stradale and 575 M Maranello being joined by the new 612 Scaglietti which received its world premiere at the Detroit Auto Show in January and the new GTC handling pack for the 575 M.

Designed by Pininfarina, this all-new aluminium bodied 2+2 'Grand Tourer' is a stylish replacement for the long running 456GT. Blistering performance comes from the 5.75-litre V12 engine which delivers 0-100km/h in 4.2 seconds and a top speed in excess of 315km/h.

The race track inspired GTC handling pack sees the 575 M Maranello now boasting the carbon ceramic brake discs already adopted by the Enzo and Challenge Stradale, now for the first time on a front engined Ferrari. Revised brakes from Brembo, a new exhaust system and 19-in modular wheels see the 5.75-litre V12 model pushed closer to the limit.