A six-figure, 200mph supercar is designed to dominate peaks, not motorway exits, but that doesn’t stop owners expecting more than just day-trip thrills. As luxury motoring evolves, the modern supercar is increasingly being asked to do what was previously unthinkable: carry luggage, handle long highway journeys, navigate valet driveways, and still arrive as calmly as the five-star resort it’s parked outside. The question isn’t whether a performance machine can go on holiday – but whether it can do so without compromising the feeling of effortlessness that true luxury requires.
We thought we could answer the question by taking the 2026 Maserati MCPura on a trip from Miami to the Florida Keys and finding out if practicalities would get in the way of performance. Now I’ve driven this car in the mountains of Tuscany and around the corners of the Concours Club in Miami, making the most of its 621 horsepower and carbon-tube handling. But how would it handle the trip from my hometown of Miami Beach, with the Florida Turnpike and US 1 going even further south to Key Largo, Islamorada, Tavernier and Marathon?
Part of the appeal of the facelifted Maserati MC20 is that it can be quite a docile creature, especially thanks to its 3.0-liter Nettuno V6 engine. Its market competitors are much more aggressive and the vehicle dynamics are positively cooled – which is exactly what you want for a multi-day Florida Keys excursion. What’s also crucial is the lifting capacity of the front axle, because once you get off the main route there are plenty of rough parking lots and speed bumps to get over – even though the general terrain in these parts is as flat as a pancake.
For starters, I’m taking the MCPura for a Golden Hour photo shoot, so take a trip from my house to Ocean Drive, say hello to a surprisingly surprised breakfast chef as I put the supercar under the Betsy Ross Hotel’s famous bubble, then take it on a cruise past the Versace Mansion (RIP Gianni) and the Clevelander. After the Bentley Hotel I turn right and take the 5e Street to the McArthur Causeway, past the multi-millionaires of Star and Palm Islands on the right, plus the cruise ships on my left. Turning the car away with the launch system at the traffic light briefly catches the attention of a motorcycle cop, but he just wants to take a look at the car and drives off before I take the turn to the exotically named Parrot Jungle Trail on Watson Island.
After taking a few photos, I’m detained by more officers, who have been ordered to close the road and take shots of a black Bugatti on the causeway – with a boat pulling alongside on Governors Cut. “That must be an important guy,” I say to myself, and an Insta search reveals that none other than Mate Rimac himself is driving the car. Small world!
After giving him a cheerful wave along the way, I head back to my house and begin the short process of packing up the MCPura. Just looking at the storage options, and knowing how hot the engine gets, the best option is to put a squeezable carrier bag in the trunk, which has a rather odd shape: long but narrow and almost triangular. Thanks to Rolex, who hosted me at Monterey Car Week, I have an elegant solution for this – although I notice that my smallest hard-shell carry-on suitcase also fits perfectly. Next time I’ll also ask for custom Maserati luggage!
Of course, being a mid-engine supercar, it has a frunk. This is small, but far from useless, and I find that my Oakley-Pirelli backpack fits just fine if I don’t overfill it. But if you think that this will not escape a fire like the trunk, you are wrong: the radiator in the front gives off enough heat, so my advice is to bring everything that ‘melts’ into the passenger footwell.
However, since it’s a trip to the Florida Keys, all we really need are shorts and T-shirts, plus sunscreen and bug spray. Loaded up, which all takes 30 seconds, I head to the Frost Science Museum to pick up my wife from work, and we drive east, past Zaha Hadid’s Scorpion Tower and Miami Marlins Park, then past Inter Miami’s new Freedom Park, which is under construction, the international airport, and then make the big turn south along Florida’s Turnpike.
I have the MCPura in GT mode, so it happily chugs along at the speed limit, the twin turbos whirring occasionally with wastegates flapping when I need to back up for one of the many random lane changes that lie ahead that will add to any form of multi-lane driving in these parts. The eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox makes this journey easy too, and with 538Nm of torque available on demand, if I need to jump ahead of someone, it’s done with the minimum of fuss – and completed in what feels like a split second after I think about it.
Even on the elevated concrete highway, the ride handles the bumps from the bridge expansion holes well, and our cruise south past Homestead air base and the race track is uneventful. Once past Florida City you are on your way to US 1 and the green of the southern Everglades soon wraps around us. It’s one-lane driving again and after a few minutes we encounter a random traffic jam. As I sit behind a boat being towed by a truck, I get no warning whatsoever apart from the brake lights – and for a moment it takes every inch of the carbon-ceramic Brembo brakes to activate. You’ll read some criticism of the feel of these, and the left pedal requires some force – but this proves that they work effectively when needed!
Naturally, my eyes go straight to the mirror to see if the GMC truck behind is about to test the rear crash test mounts of our all-carbon fairing, but with its higher gaze it’s already on the shoulder and taking full evasive action – no doubt mindful of the insurance claim of rear-ending this $284,675 creation. Thanks for paying attention, buddy!
While we sit in this traffic jam for a few minutes, I take advantage of this Open top of the Cielo model and open the roof for the rest of the journey, which passes without incident. It’s a bit annoying that you have to hold your finger on the touchscreen to complete the operation, as it takes 12 seconds, and this can be done at speeds of up to 50 km/h.
It’s not far along this route to The Buzzard’s Roost, our late lunch stop, a great place where you can see the dock workers maintaining some of the boats. And if you’re lucky, you might see one of them accidentally fall into the water, like we did, and enjoy watching him get teased mercilessly by his colleagues. Refueled, we head to our boutique hotel in Tavernier, where the MCPura receives envious looks from our fellow holidaymakers, most of whom drive rented Ford Mustangs, as they park in front of our luxury cottage. And of course, every time we leave our gated complex, I put it in Corsa mode and perform a launch so they can hear the Nettuno V6 singing its sweetest song!
For dinner we will of course go for Italian! – at Lido 73, a relatively new restaurant from the folks who run the Italian Food Company, with several spots throughout the Keys. First our host sees the Maserati in the parking lot, and she tells the waiters… who tell the chefs… and suddenly the MCPura is surrounded by a large number of excited Italians taking selfies as the sun sets. What it proves is that this car puts a smile on faces, and I still remember the Italian guy who slowed down on his superbike in Tuscany, insisted we turn the car into a tunnel, and then told us the “Bravissimo!” hand gesture.
It’s such a beautifully designed car that we got positive comments everywhere we traveled through the Keys, whether it was at the morning coffee shop or running errands at Publix to stock up on cheese, ham, chocolate, wine and margaritas by the water. But there’s no way for single-use plastic bags to survive the heat of the suitcases, so my wife has them neatly clipped into the passenger-side footwell for the quick return trip.
The only thing missing from our outing in this carbon-chassis, mid-engined sports car were some decent roads to show off its rocket prowess. But the Florida Keys are the antithesis of running around, and this is definitely a vehicle that can provide both relaxation and excitement. Maserati’s supercar remains a hugely enjoyable alternative in a segment where rivals often chase headlines at the expense of genuine driving pleasure, and the MCPura’s understated elegance, combined with its ease of operation, means it can be used as an everyday option that stirs the soul, rather than as a motionless garage queen.
Images: Charles Bradley
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