marieclaire.com.au 177PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES. TEXT BY STEPHEN CORBY; MELISSA GAUDRON.
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on the road
GO THE DISTANCE WITH OUR COOL-GIRL CAR GUIDE
MASERATI LEVANTE S
Famous for its high-powered Italian sports cars,
Maserati enters suburban SUV territory with
the Levante – breathing some much-needed
sex appeal into the vehicles that haven’t been
able to shake that soccer-mum tag.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Succeeding where others have failed,
the Levante puts the sexy into SUV, and that’s a claim not many can make.
Atelier Romy founder
Hermione Olivia reveals
the fave tunes she plays in
her zippy Fiat Abarth 595.
“WONDERWALL”
by Oasis
“Who doesn’t love Wonderwall?
Everyone knows the lyrics.
Truly one of the greats.”
“DREAMS”
by Fleetwood Mac
“Music that moves you? It’s got to be
Fleetwood Mac. Dreams takes me
back to summer holidays in Byron,
driving to surf at Wategos.”
“DRIVE”
by Ben Khan
“Ben is a friend and I absolutely love
his music. He’s an insanely talented
creative with new music coming
soon. You’ll be addicted. Just listen.”
“HOME”
by Maribou State
“Admittedly, I am
mildly obsessed with
house music and listen
to it all day long.”
LUXE TO LOVE: The brand meisters
have cleverly dubbed the premium five-
seater the “Maserati of SUVs”. And the
moniker weirdly works. Maserati is
the traditional polished keeper of Como
chic – think more Armani, less Versace.
CABIN FEVER: Inside is what you
would expect from those curve-loving
Italians. Sink into the cocoon-like
wraparound front seats – all sumptuous
leather and wood trims – which come
both heated and cooled. You can select
from 28 interior colour combinations –
including silk seating inserts from
Maserati’s famed collab with Ermenegildo
Zegna. While the dashboard touch screen
and sleek stereo - which can grow to 17
speakers - provides all the mod-cons.
HIT THE ROAD: The new Levante S
delivers a more sporty, petrol-powered
option and as expected, it boasts a super
suite of high-tech safety features: self-
parking, automatic lane-keeping
capability, blind-spot monitoring and
more. Our fave? The judicious trac sign
recognition (who hasn’t blinked and
missed our random speed-limit signage?).
And kudos to the soft-closing doors.
THE WOW FACTOR: On top of all
that sexy sports car DNA, the Levante
also packs a Ferrari-made V6 engine
under the hood. “Meh,” I hear you say?
Well, that engine means this baby purrs
like a YouTube kitten on loop, encouraging
you to slip into sport drive and instantly
take you away to the Amalfi Coast.
9/10