Maserati kind of flies under the radar as a manufacturer. Usually, they’re considered to be a kind of discount Ferrari. To be fair, the brand isn’t helping that with the 2021 Maserati Ghibli Trofeo. After all, the engine is effectively a Prancing Horse at heart. However, it’s not like having a Ferrari-derived engine is necessarily a bad thing.

Then, of course, there’s Maserati’s other reputation to contend with, in that their cars are considered inherently Italian in the reliability department. Can some cliched Italian “passion” and “flair” make up for that? Maybe.

Why are Maserati’s so bad?

Here’s a little inside baseball. In short, Google tells me to write that subheader to bring all you lovely people here to read. That says a lot about Maserati’s reputation, doesn’t it? Obviously, the 2021 Maserati Ghibli Trofeo needs to fix that reputation. Obviously, the big one here is Maserati’s reputation for reliability.

Usually, the Italian brand isn’t mentioned in the same breath as the word “reliability” like Honda is. However, people generally overlook that because of the engines built by the Italian firm. The same applies to build quality, another traditional weak point. Happily, the Ghibli remedies many of those things.

The 2021 Maserati Ghibli Trofeo makes up for Maserati’s bad rap

Unfortunately, we can’t speak to the reliability of the 2021 Maserati Ghibli Trofeo just yet. It’s simply too new. Hopefully, the brand’s new Stellantis overlords have addressed that. However, as The Straight Pipes found out, the interior quality has improved drastically over past models. In all honesty, you shouldn’t really care if it has or not.

And the reason you shouldn’t care is the Ghibli Trofeo’s fantastic Ferrari-derived twin-turbo V8. It sounds like no turbocharged engine I’ve heard before, and you can very easily make the argument that it’s one of the best-sounding engines the brand has made. Moreover, you’re getting 572 hp and 538 lb-ft of torque.

Maserait is totally reinventing itself

Despite the 2021 Maserati Ghibli Trofeo being totally defined by its engine, it is otherwise a stellar car. Sure, the infotainment is a little laggy, but just open the valved exhaust and hit the gas instead. It handles great looks even better. What’s not to like (other than the $109,000 MSRP)?

The Trofeo is part of a reinvention of the storied Italian brand, with the charge being led by the stunning Maserati MC20. Stellantis wants to turn things around, and it looks like the brand is off to a great start. Whether or not it pays off remains to be seen, but the world can always use more of that cliched Italian “soul and “passion.”