On a drive to Goombungee, near Toowoomba, for a classic car show I looked down at the GranTurismo's steering wheel and noted the distinctive Maserati trident. My thoughts immediately went to Nuvolari whose legendary feats driving Maserati in the early 1930s are etched in motorsport history. The Italian car maker is at last on solid ground, a part of the giant Fiat Auto Company. The great Tazio Nuvolari would be pleased.

GranTurismo S automatic is the latest Maserati to hit our shores with it's primary claim to fame the addition of an automatic transmission. It's not just any auto. There's still the option of buying the GranTurismo S in MC Supershift sequential manual form. We suspect the GranTurismo S auto might just eclipse sales of the GrandTurismo S, with buyers opting for usability. Italian car makers are not known for producing practical cars. Quite the opposite. That Maserati – a company whose history is glorified by Grand Prix chequered flags – has been able to develop a car you can actually live with - borders on the remarkable.

A thought crossed our mind as we were about to drop the test car back at it's Brisbane dealership: that we might just keep driving to Cairns in the hope the GranTurismo S auto wouldn't be missed. Common sense prevailed. Firstly, refinement. When a car is powered by a 4.7 litre 323 kW and 490 Nm of torque V8 developed by Ferrari you think, correctly, of brute force. Link that to a remarkably smooth six speed auto from ZF and it's like sending in the lion tamer. Most of the time the lion is under control, but there is always the underlying knowledge this is a wild animal.

The ZF is an adaptive transmission which adjusts to the individual driver's technique. You drive sedately and the transmission reads your mood and changes accordingly. Drive enthusiastically, and the transmission delays changes already expecting you to be a little heavy with the right boot. The beauty of the transmission is that you have also options. Flick the gearstick across and you can change manually using the shifter, or alternatively use the up and down paddles attached to the steering column. Where the animal gets wild is by pushing the sport button to the left of the steering wheel which holds gears until the engines red lines at 7200 rpm.

Using this method you will hit 100 km/h in 5 seconds flat. Okay, that's not as quick as some competitors. But we will guarantee one thing. It is more fun in the Maserati, or as one of my friends called it, the Muzzarati. The reason for this is the sublime V8 roar that emanates from the dual twin exhausts. By pushing the button you open baffles in the exhaust that subdue the roar. Most enthusiasts open the windows to listen to the explosion of an angry V8. No need in the Maserati with the glorious symphony invading the cabin with the subtlety of a Rolling Stones concert. Or perhaps Jimmy Barnes sitting in the back seat belting out `Working Class Man' while swigging a bourbon bottle. Should you still wish for more – like this V8 burble junkie - then there's the option of downing windows. There is no other automatic transmission in a high-performance machine that can take the engine to the limit like this. When it does, it sends a shiver down your spine.

Inside the cabin is pure luxury. Power everything. Leather upholstery, genuine solid timber features with Maserati offering combinations that mean the car can be individualised to you and your taste. You can opt for one of ten colours in Poltrona Frau leather, thirteen possible colours for the stitching, seven for the carpet and three types of wood – Walnut, Rosewood and polished Wenge. The impact of this is an interior that is unlikely to have a twin anywhere in the world.

On the exterior there are two 20-inch wheel rim designs and – we are not jesting – a choice of six colours for the Bembro brake calipers. Henry (any colour so long as it's black) Ford would not be impressed. What he would like is the fact that you can play around with the colours on a computer screen in a mix-and-match before making your decision on a tailor-made interior.

The GranTurismo is a two door, four seater variant of the Maserati quattroporte – which stands for `four doors.' GranTurismo comes in two variants, the entry level car which has 4.2 litre V8 and the two top of the line S 4.7 litre V8 variants with different transmissions. The S automatic has several subtle differences from its siblings including unique 20 inch wheels, new, underdoor sideskirts. Inside there's Bluetooth technology as well as iPod interface. Under the skin the 4.7 litre engine has been slightly moved to bring the car to a 49/51 balance compared to the S sibling which has 47/53.

As a large touring car the GranTurismo S eats bitumen for breakfast with the chassis and suspension absorbing undulations giving passengers a super-comfortable ride. The roads out to Goombungee are not exactly autobahn standard and even with 20 inch low profile rubber, the ride was sedan-like. The car is beautifully poised. Anti-dive and anti-squat technology also prevents nose dive under braking and hard cornering and rear end flattening out during heavy acceleration.

The result is a car – even weighing a hefty 1880 kg and almost five metres long – that corners beautifully with just the slightest hint of understeer. It is just as well there's little nose diving as the car's signature Maserati grille sits well forward of the front wheels and is not far off terra firma. That, by the way, is why we could never have a Maserati in our driveway. Not without damaging the front of the car. In the four days we had the GranTurismo S it slept at our daughter's house where there's a flat driveway.