WHEN YOU'RE LENT a Maserati Quattroporte for the day, you're entitled to daydream a little of brisk flits on Route Twisk, or slow cruises in Central, just to catch the eye of everyone you know. But when a friend told me he was getting married that day, I thought the top-of-the-range Maserati was a potentially fitting set of wheels for newlyweds. And I became the bride and groom's official chauffeur.
The Quattroporte's gleam would make a bridesmaid glow, and who wouldn't say 'I do' to those lovely, sweet-smelling tan leather seats. I particularly like the inlaid carpentry on the satellite-navigation screen and climate-control panels, and the traditional blue and silver Maserati clock between the vents. There's plenty of room in the front if you're 1.77 metres tall like me, and enough lolling space in the back for the groom and the bride in her gown.
The Quattroporte's switchgear seems more ergonomic than most Italian cars, and I like the simplicity of its drive. You don't have to mess about with systems such as Multi Media Interface, i-Drive or Comand, because the Maserati gives you one switch per function. Arrows also move a cursor on a screen that changes hue when the lights are on, so it doesn't distract too much if you're driving at night.
Thanks to software upgrades, the Quattroporte's Cambiocorsa gearbox is now much smoother in full-automatic mode, but I still prefer to do what little dirty work is left. The sole silver button in the cockpit toggles between auto and manual modes, cog-swapping offered by gorgeous chromed slivers behind the steering wheel. The Sport switch quickens the shifts and tightens the revised Skyhook adaptive suspension system.
The big Maserati offers more than just ground-shaking acceleration and thunderous speed. With a smaller-than-usual steering wheel and a perfectly judged steering ratio, you grab its thick rim and guide the missile with precision through slower-moving road blocks on Gloucester Road.
The highly tuned V8 sings so sweetly it's worth holding it in a lower gear than usual just to hear an almost American burble at first, as it growls to the red line when you take off. It's when you realise that the speedometer is marked in 30km/h increments that you decide it's better to slow down.
My alarm is set for an early start on Sunday, but with $1.5 million of beautiful Italian craftsmanship in my garage, I wake even earlier just to cruise a little before meeting the groom, Ian Lee. On the Tolo Harbour Highway I chase a swarm of exotic cars through the mist to Tai Po Industrial Estate. Equally at home on narrow lanes, the Quattroporte climbs crests and leans into corners on its huge 19-inch Pirelli Corsas. With a rare directness its steering seems raw compared with German counterparts.