The Maserati Trofeo is the racing version of the Maserati CoupΘ Cambiocorsa. Assembled at the famous Viale Ciro Menotti headquarters, on the same The Trofeo Vodafone Maserati made is debut on the international automobile scene in 2003. The innovative format of the single marque series organised by the House of the Trident was widely appreciated by competitors and fans alike. The championship was spread over seven race weekends where twenty-six gentleman drivers battled it out on some of Europe's most prestigious circuits in events timed to coincide with Formula 1, FIA GT and DTM meets. Spyder, the Trofeo was designed to offer the driver an easy-to-drive car that was capable of stirring the emotions. The V8 90░ V-angle engine puts out 415bhp.

The six-speed gearbox set up is the same as on a standard road car, or can be set behind the steering column.

The removal of non-essential accessories have resulted in a lightened body, substantially reducing the weight of the Trofeo and improving the handling in mixed sections on the track.

The Scalextric Maserati Trofeo was show at the 2005 British Toy Fair at Excel. The red and white Vodafone One livery was on display together with the pinstriped Ermenegildo Zegna livery.

It is a sublime model, one that you could confuse for a banal saloon. The Maserati trident emblem is a giveaway, but unless you're a Maserati fan, this car might get lost among the masses. It has a sidewinder motor configuration, good slick tyres and a really stone neodymium bar magnet. This makes for a very fast car right out the box.

The red and white paint is pleasing. The tone of the red does not come out in the photos. It must have some fluorescent characteristics and comes out pinkish in these shots. The tampo work is good. A detailed cockpit with colored dials looks interesting.

The body screws on, mating with the chassis under pressure of the screws - if you loosen the screw, the body looks strange so you're obliged to keep them tight.

The lights are typical Scalextric Le Mans yellow in the front and red in the rear. The circuit board mounted diodes in the rear are very bright and unfortunately the light bleeds through the plastic top and bottom (bumper). It also bleeds through the back under the body (over the exhaust pipes) making for a strange scene as the car goes by. This will need some paint to fix and some masking under the lights on the inside.

This will be fun to race, but if you want to do it properly you can only race it against other Trofeos as it only raced in the single marque series. Lets hope that Scalextric bring out one or two more liveries to prevent total confusion on the track. 

Here are the two new Scalextric Maseratis. The Trofeo, racing version of the Maserati CoupΘ Cambiocorsa (left) and the MC12 (right).