The 599 was not on my radar, but on the way back from Le Mans 2 years ago I passed a beaten up, well thumbed black 599. That was the light bulb moment. In the flesh, so much better than the photos and those buttresses are to die for. It can seem a little heavy in side on view, bit the front, front 3/4 and rear 3/4 views really work for me.
As for noise, it is different. The GT MC Shift I had, standard exhaust definitely had more to it than the 599 at tick over to around 5,000 rpm. Deeper, bassier, more strident. I have to say the noise of the 599's V12 above 6,000 rpm is absolutely spine tingling - everything seems to come together from a mechanical noise perspective.
In terms of attention, the darker colours seem to hide the 599 better and I have to say I have had nothing but nice words from people. I an not sure what the reaction would be to a red one.
But ultimately, we need Maserati to get the pickle out of their a***. Build a 4 seat car about 4.6m in length and 1.92m in width, stick a 550-600bhp V8 upfront (with a hybrid option in its future model life), wrap it in a body like the current GT and get it to weigh 1650KG and be as pointy as a Gransport. Stick it on the forecourt between the 911 and Aston Martin Vantage in price. I would suggest the Alfa Giorgio platform as a starter for 10. Now that would get my cash.
The beauty of this debate is none of us has the right answer and none of us are too parochial not to think there are other cars we would want to experience.
