Klaus Busse on 'surfacing with purpose' and the GT4 race car

Brands often speak of heritage in the sense of company longevity, but not every brand has a racing pedigree to boot. Maserati has channelled both aspects and on the eve of Goodwood Festival of Speed 2026 revealed a new race car that underlines its commitment to forms and performance: Project GT4. 

Based on the already sculptural GranTurismo, it elevates the design in several key areas including distinctive air vents on the bonnet, an enormous rear spoiler and aero wings below the headlamps. Most of these cues are the result of careful evaluations of drag, downforce and lift, but head of design Klaus Busse concedes that a handful of external components are simply to comply with racing regulations and, in an ideal world, would probably have been left off the car. 

For cars that already sport busy designs, this might have been a problem stylistically. But he points out that the GranTurismo is able to carry extra details quite nicely given the standard car's clean, unspoiled surfaces. 

We have to agree. In the metal (and carbonfibre) it is imposing but somehow not aggressive even with that striking lower splitter and accompanying aero kit that spans nose to tail. It is a strong base on which to build and one that seems to meet GT4 regulations without spoiling the original restrained design. Would it look better without those front wings under the headlamps? Probably. 

Standing with Maserati's head of design alongside a new race car and three re-worked sportscars, it felt like a good time to raise CDN's monthly topic of surfacing. When quizzed as to what 'surfacing' means to him as a designer, Busse reflected that this is "something I've never been asked before" and took a moment to consider. 

"I think surfacing has to be purposeful," he explains. "The first Maserati we made when I became head of design was the MC20, and that has no exterior wings. The world would have forgiven us for putting wings there, but we wanted to create something that was super pure, and to do that, the car itself had to be the wing. Rather than just one peak on the front fender, we have two peaks which creates a little bit of a flat surface, and the same is true of the MC12 and to some degree the MCXtrema. Those surfaces are extremely purposeful."

There is a similar mindset for Maserati's road cars, Busse adds, but to a slightly different end. 

"Here, the purpose is to create emotion and beauty in a rolling sculpture. That's why these three cars [the refreshed GranTurismo, GranCabrio and Grecale] all came from hand modelling again," he explains. "With the performance cars we do it in the computer and it is all about aero. With road cars, we really went heavily on hand modelling — we even reactivated a modeller out of retirement who had worked on the [Lamborghini] Miura. He was part of a team of course, but it was amazing to work with someone who's had such an influence on car design history. The sensuality of a car's surfacing is so important to us, whereas on the race cars, it's more about modernity and performance."

It's not about asking whether we can add another line here or there — the surfacing is founded in the construction of the car

Brand recognition and standing out from the crowd are key themes in the car industry today. The ability to name the manufacturer without ever seeing the badge, be it up close or from a distance. There are many ways to influence that, and lighting has become one of the more recent focus points for many manufacturers. But one age-old trick may lie in distinctive surfacing. Busse certainly agrees with that suggestion. 

"You approach the car from different levels. From a distance you see the proportions — and the beautiful thing is our proportions are just magic, right? — and then the big graphics, the daylight opening and reflections. The key in our case is that these reflections are not done by a designer looking for an additional feature on the side and just drawing a line or making a cavity. That's something you see a lot, and mostly on cars that don't have these amazing proportions," says Busse. "We use the same principles that were created when we went from track to the road.

"In 1947 they created the racing class of Gran Turismo, which meant you can take a road car to the track," he continues. "They basically took a Formula One car of that period — the central fuselage with freestanding wheels and a low grille — and basically covered the wheels. That led to these massive volumes because the nose sat below the wheel, so they had to come up and over. What I like about our GranTurismo today is it follows the same principles and that allows us to get this really low centre line, these beautiful sculptures to cover the wheel and integrate the headlights, and to make this supercar road legal. That creates the reflection and the shapes with purpose. It's not about asking whether we can add another line here or there — the surfacing is founded in the construction of the car."

While the exterior of the GT4 is a clear elevation of the standard car, the cabin is nearly unrecognisable with function-first bucket seats, a slew of switches and buttons (none of which serve infotainment purposes) and an affronting yoke-style steering wheel. And the yellow, blue and white livery would make excellent merch, we have to say. 

Maserati has done its part and the next stage is to find a team and driver(s) to take it on the circuit in 2028 and claim victory in GT4 competition. That is no tall order, going up against similar outfits from Aston Martin, Porsche and McLaren among others. 

Victory or not, the carryover to Maserati's production car activities is tangible. There is no better way to communicate performance prowess on the road than by ripping up the track. Bosses recognise this and describe the Project GT4 as a "laboratory for innovation and technical development." In effect, gains made in the racing programme will likely filter through into road cars.