The Maserati MC20 is a 620PS mid-engined supercar

Seen here without its camouflage for the first time, the MC20 bears a whole lot on its shapely shoulders. It is Maserati’s first all-new model for six years and the marque’s first series-production mid-engined car since the Merak SS, and Maserati made the last one of those in 1983.

It’s going to be a race car as well as a road car, too. A yet-to-be-revealed track version will take Maserati back into motorsport for the first time since the championship-winning MC12 GT1 of 16 years ago. The Italian brand first went racing with the Tipo 26 in 1926 but hasn’t been represented in GT racing since 2010.

The MC20 is a coupe, as seen here, and is also destined to lose its top for a convertible version. And most intriguingly, it is petrol powered – or, in an electric version yet to be unveiled – entirely powered by batteries. With so much going on you can see why Maserati says the MC20 kicks off a new era for the storied brand. In the past Maserati has teased us with what it has called the MC20’s “advanced electric powertrain”. What has now become clear is that the battery-electric MC20 is in addition to the petrol version, the car it is launching today.

Like its Merak ancestor, the MC20 is powered by a 90-degree, twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6, but unlike that car (whose engine came from the Citroën SM) there’s no outside connection here. Designed and made in Modena, it is Maserati’s first in-house engine for 20 years. Called Nettuno (Italian for Neptune) the engine is sure to play a big role across many different models in this new Maserati era.

And it sounds like quite an engine, with quad cams and dry sump lubrication, twin-plug heads and what Maserati says is F1-style pre-combustion technology. While electrified versions of the V6 are undoubtedly in the pipeline, in the form announced for MC20 there’s nothing hybrid about it – the only electrification is in the operation of its turbo wastegates.

Maintaining a Maserati tradition of high specific outputs, it claims an impressive 630PS (463kW) at 7,500rpm, for 210PS per litre. Torque peaks at 3,000rpm with 730Nm (538lb ft). It’s sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed DCT paddle shift auto and a mechanical limited-slip differential. Suspension is by double wishbones all round and brakes as standard for the UK spec car are carbon ceramic.

In a car that Maserati says weighs 1,500kg, it’s enough for proper supercar performance. The MC20, it is claimed, will do 0-62mph in 2.9 seconds and 0-124mph 8.8 seconds, with a top end that extends to 202mph. It is McLaren-esque performance, somewhere between the Sports and Super series models which puts it hard up against the McLaren GT, in any on-paper comparison at least.

Power-weight ratios are the same for both the MC20 and Macca GT at around 2.33kg per horsepower. On official figures, in any drag race the MC20 would be a couple of tenths quicker, both to 62mph and 124mph.

The lift-up doors ensure a McLaren flavour in the design but the MC20 succeeds in having its own strong identity. First impressions say it comes across as the best looking, most properly sporting Maserati for eons. Its ancestor the Merak was a 2+2 designed by Giugiaro; this is a strict two-seater designed in-house by Maserati Style Centre.

It’s a smooth shape, chunky rather than delicate in the Maserati manner, but with notable restraint in the bulges, scoops and wings department – the rear spoiler is so discreet it’s easy to miss – and enough Maserati character and design cues to set it apart. There’s some carbon-fibre in the structure, but Maserati doesn’t say how much and where, while there are big claims for aero efficiency, even though the Cd of 0.38 doesn’t sound great.

The cabin is as hi-tech as you like but comes across with a welcome touch of Italian old-school: it’s minimalist, predominantly black, with electric blue highlights in the trim pinstriping and stitching, and features a relatively conventional dashboard not overburdened by huge screens and virtual switches.

There are real switches here, on the carbon centre console (for transmission and drive modes that include a track setting), and on the steering wheel, with ignition button on the left and the launch control on the right. As well as cabin oddments storage there are luggage compartments front and rear offering a total of 150 litres.

Where does it fit in the market? Anyone expecting a bargain in the mould of the £60k Alfa 4C, of which the MC20 can be said to be a very grown-up version, may be in for a disappointment. To UK spec with carbon brakes, the MC20 will cost £187,230 on the road – or £20k more than the McLaren GT which Maserati has set its sights on, along with the Lamborghini Huracan.

Will that be too much for a car with “only” a six-pot engine and, as we understand it, not being primarily made of carbon-fibre? Or will 630PS, 200mph, plenty of Italian style and one of the most evocative names in automotive history carry the day? Either way it’s a spectacular return to form for a marque close to many enthusiasts’ hearts.

Pre-orders are now being accepted and the first cars will be in production by the end of this year at the brand’s historic Viale Ciro Menotti plant in Modena where they have made Maseratis for 80 years, and where until it was axed the Alfa 4C was assembled.

And the all-electric MC20? All we can say about that right now is that in this coming new Maserati era such a car should make a powerful statement alongside the all-electric new Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio 2+2 grand tourers when they are revealed next year. Interesting times ahead for the trident badge…