Maserati – Victory By Design (DTS)
Picture:
B- Sound: B Extras: C+ Program: B
For
decades, the most underrated marque has been Maserati, a well-known name that has never had one of its
production cars receive huge star status outside of auto circles and has even
been often thought of as secondary to Ferrari.
Considering these cars often tried out more technology than Ferrari,
that is wrong.
The Victory By Design series installment on
Maserati helps set the record
straight, with a focus on the thin line between the many winning racing models
and their links to their street equivalents.
Those models featured include:
|
|
- Tipo 8CTF
- A6GCM
- A6GCS
- 250F
|
- 300S
- 450S
- Tipo 61/Birdcage
|
The
engineering and innovations they Maserati Brothers came up with in the early
years set the tone for what is an amazing history of one of the greatest makes
of all time. The Birdcage model is
great, including the paint and even numbering, while some Maseratis even show
up that do not get driven. The A6GCS,
300S (two of which are featured here) were most ahead of their time as far as
the great current racers (street & track) are concerned. This is again hosted by Alain de Cadenet, who
drives the cars and talks about them, even when he is speeding down the
highway.
Though
originated on what looks like digital High Definition, then traded down to a
PAL master, the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is pretty good and like
all the shows in this series, is shot by people who love these cars. There is also stock footage, often of racing,
in both color and black & white, but the program is produced in colorful
color (you read that right) in the beautiful woods, amazing countryside and
quite greenlands of England.
Then the DVD adds another impressive 5.1 mix, which is here in Dolby
Digital, but really kicks in DTS. Like
the Aston Martin installment I am still
showing off to friends (reviewed elsewhere on this site with Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar and Alfa Romeo also on the site), the
combination adds a whole new dimension to what a home theater system can
deliver.
Again,
these have extra footage you will not see on The Speed Channel and they do not
broadcast in DTS. Add the must-see,
23-minutes-long promo documentary for the initial six installments and you have
a must-have DVD for serious car and DVD fans.
My only misgiving is that the print on the scene selection is slender
and cool, but might not be a legible on some TV monitors.
It was
too late for a comparison of the two luxury Quattroporte models, but this show
never even covers the original and skipping luxury models has been the only
true weak point of this entire series. This
and other DVDs from the series are only available from the manufacturer
exclusively, so you can order and get more information at www.VictoryByDesign.com or call toll
free at 1-877-466-6660 to get your hands on this great series. It is nice to see Maserati get its due.
- Nicholas Sheffo
