Maserati’s new lightweight supercar, the MC20, was revealed in September 2020 to much fanfare. It was designed with both coupe and convertible versions in mind from the outset, and despite featuring the brand’s new advanced V6 engine, also considered the possibility of an electric powertrain in future. While a plug-in is still in the works – more on that later – a drop-top version, the MC20 Cielo, has launched as expected.

The Cielo – which translates to ‘sky’ – retains the dynamic stance of the original MC20, and visually there is little between the two. One of the most obvious differences is the inclusion of two speed bumps behind each headrest, necessary in terms of packaging that retractable glass roof, but also useful from a rollover perspective.

Despite that retractable roof, the Cielo weighs just 65kg more than the coupé, and special effort was taken to ensure the body was not distorted by the retracting mechanism. The challenge, says Klaus Busse, head of Maserati design, was that the original MC20 was already a very tight package.