No more Maseratis
It's the surest sign of economic downturn: Your local Italian sports car franchise blows a gasket.
And that's what's happened at Maserati of Pasadena at the southeast corner of Del Mar and Fair Oaks: no mas Maseratis in the picture windows.
I went to the Web site to confirm, and since it now redirects the discriminating potential purchaser of a ride fit for the Mille Miglia to the Beverly Hills home base of the former Pasadena store, I called out there. Yep -- for new Ferraris (for a long time now, both have been owned by Fiat) and Maseratis you have to hie thee to the Westside. What a pain in the chiappe for the carriage trade, right?
Some may recall that the one-story brick building that until recently purveyed one of the toniest vehicles on Earth used to be owned by Casablanca Fan founder Burton Burton, who used it to house his mammoth collection of the people's limousine -- Volkswagen Beetles. Twenty-three years ago I did a cover story for the Pasadena Weekly on the hugely successful entrepreneur, and he proudly walked me through the dozens of VWs hidden away there, which included some very early twin-rear-window models and some gorgeous convertibles.
They were so nice that I think I'd take a '51 Vee Dub over an '09 Quattroporte. Better mileage, too.