bank, discarding the rear) and the middle cylinders in half on another block (1.5 cylinders per bank, discarding the front) then welded the blocks together. The output was . The new V8 engine was fitted to Citroën SM for durability test that lasted and to prove that the chassis was robust enough to handle more power. Alejandro de Tomaso, the Italian entrepreneur who took over Maserati in 1975, cancelled the V8 engine programme. A single running prototype was built and tested in 1974. The 1973 oil crisis and the collapse of Citroën’s finances in 1974 prevented Maserati from gaining the EEC approval for the European market. The production did not commence until 1976, and each Quattroporte II was built to order and sold in the Middle East and Spain where the type approval wasn’t needed. Only twelve production cars were built from 1976 to 1978. The engineering and development had cost Maserati about four billion lire by the time the production ended in 1978. Quattroporte III/Royale (AM330, 1979–1990) The third generation of the Maserati Quattroporte (Tipo AM 330) was developed under the Alejandro de Tomaso-GEPI ownership. After the Citroën-era front-wheel drive Quattroporte II, the third generation returned to rear-wheel drive with a large Maserati V8 engine. The exterior was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. History From 1974 to 1976, Giorgetto Giugiaro presented two Italdesign show cars on Maserati platforms, called the Medici I and Medici II. The latter had features that would make it into the production version of the third-generation of the Quattroporte. A pre-production Quattroporte was introduced to the press by the then Maserati president Alejandro de Tomaso on 1 November 1976, in advance of its début at the Turin Motor Show later that month. It was only three years later though, in 1979, that the production version of the car went on sale. De Tomaso, who disliked Citroën, removed all of the influence of the French marque from the car. The quad-cam V8 engines built from scratch for the Kyalami were used as well as other mechanical parts. The SM V8 engine prototype under development in the Citroën ownership was also scrapped and the staff was replaced, the most notable being head engineer Giulio Alfieri who was replaced by Aurelio Bertocchi. The hydraulic system of the Quattroporte II was replaced by a conventional power steering setup and the suspension geometry was akin to the Jaguar XJ. Initially badging