Used to be if you really wanted to stand out - and rub your friend's and neighbor's noses in the mud in the process - and show that you're embarrassingly loaded beyond what's reasonable, you'd plump for the flashy sports car, usually Italian or sometimes German. A swanky Porsche or a sleek Ferrari will turn heads anywhere in the world, and in our status of divinity-encrusted society it would even manage to create a complete 360 head turn. But as with everything of that ilk, the more obscure, the more vaunted. So if the Porsche and Ferrari no longer floats your boat, why not try the Maserati on for size, because hell if you've gotten this far already then just flat out go all the way. So for the handful of people reading this that can go down that road, in both the literal and metaphorical sense, now is your chance, because the Maserati is now in town. The Maserati will be sold by MTI Egypt, and to mark the occasion a launch was held in the JW Marriot, so attendees could swoon over the vehicle, and in three people's cases, actually buy one. The event was organized by Events Middle East (EME) and co-hosted by Chivas. EME Managing Director Mariam El Hitami told Daily News Egypt "MTI wanted to create an innovative experience for their very exclusive clientele. Our Event Middle East team started working closely with the client to learn deeply about the target audience and to be better able to create a theme/experience that will appeal to the taste of all the attendees. To make the event as exclusive as the car it was celebrating, the banquet room's design was "built on the corporate identity of Maserati, the lighting plan was to turn the ballroom blue with the special equipment that was used, the music was completely new, El Hitami added. And thus the Maserati GranTurismo, styled by Pinin Farina, was unleashed in Egypt. The car sports a 4.2 litre V8 engine (any less in a sports car would be criminal) and boasts 405 horsepower under the hood (which is criminal). It also comes with an automatic gearbox which can be adapted to road conditions. The GranTurismo has been manufactured by Maserati since 1947 when the trident company, adhering to client demands, unveiled the A6 at the Geneva motor show. "Our main hope [for the launch] was to partner with our client to increase their sales by designing a client database and inviting guests to experience this novel event theme that would encourage them to interact with the car and feel it through a complete senses solution, which we achieved successfully, El Hitami said, "other goals included delivering a new concept for product launches in the Egyptian Event Management industry. This won't be El Hitami's last foray into the world of cars as EME has won the rights for the Pharaoh's Rally for the next five years. Maybe someone will be mad enough to race their swanky Maserati in it.
