The fearsome road-going version of the Maserati MC12 headlined the Trident marque's sporty line-up at the 29th Bologna Motor Show.

The 630bhp 6.0-litre V12-powered supercar joined the GranSport, the recently facelifted Coupe and Spyder models, as well as the Quattroporte saloon, on a spacious stand that bore out the Italian sports car marker's serious future ambition.

At the same time as the traditional end of year show was taking place, the first two examples of the Maserati supercar, while made its public debut at Geneva back in March, were being delivered to their new Italian and English owners. The first car was collected from the Modense company's avant-garde showroom by its owner, while the second was delivered to a customer in England.

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 an impressive 630 hp six-litre mid-rear V12 engine and boasts 41%-front and 59%-rear weight distribution. 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.

Designed for high level road use, it can exceed 330 km/h at full throttle, sprinting from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds. Although easy and pleasant to drive on the road, the MC12 is also a brilliantly dynamic car. It handles very sweetly and fluidly yet the driver can still feel all the power of a genuinely sporty thoroughbred under the surface.

The client version for road use is available exclusively in a white and blue livery, harking back to an old Trident tradition. In fact, blue and white are the colours of the America Camoradi (Casner Motor Racing Division) Scuderia which raced the famous Maserati Tipo 60-61 Birdcages in the very early 1960s with Stirling Moss as their lead driver.

As a result of its imposing dimensions (5143 mm long, 2100 mm wide and 1205 mm high), the MC12’s styling is very much functionally-inspired. Intensive wind tunnel testing and advanced mathematical computations, combined with work on the track and road, have resulted in an extraordinarily efficient form that absolutely exudes power and personality. The air intakes, vents and other aerodynamic components have been designed to optimise the car’s internal fluid dynamics and air flows to ensure optimal downforce (vertical load) and aerodynamic efficiency values.

The MC12 benefits from all of the Ferrari Maserati Group’s most advanced technologies and competition experience. It boasts a powerful naturally aspirated 12-cylinder 65° V engine that displaces 5998 cc and punches out 465 kW at 7500 rpm. Designed to meet the specific needs and characteristics of a road-going Maserati, it also offers absolutely excellent drivability. The MC12 delivers a maximum torque of 652 Nm at 5500 rpm and remains exceptionally nimble and fluid, even at low engine speeds. It has an aluminium crankcase, titanium con rods, and extremely aerodynamically efficient four-valve cylinder heads to boot.

All 25 MC12s produced in 2004 were sold immediately. The GT racing version, developed from the road-going MC12, won two races in this year's FIA GT Championship.