The Internets are romping and stomping with the "news" that the 2011 Chrysler 300C platform may spawn a sub-Quattroporte Maserati model, but we're just looking at the details, as we reported that both Lancia and Maserati would get a 300C-based car last October and touched the subject again in May.

The good news is that the details are beginning to fill out, though there's still not much in the way of meat on the rumored bones. First up is the date: the new car could be shown at the Frankfurt auto show in 2013 with an on-sale date of 2014. This means development on the Maserati-specific aspect of the car is essentially at square one at this point, and that any and all details are subject to change.

Given Maserati's existing lineup and plans to grow the next-gen Quattroporte, however, we can guess that it will be essentially a largish midsize sedan, built to slot in below the bigger four-door in price, performance, and packaging. That gives it a large window, but should sit around $75,000-$80,000 for a starting price.

Rear-wheel drive and a twin-turbo Penstastar V-6 are tipped as the powertrain. Don't expect a true manual transmission, though a dual-clutch unit is possible.

Beyond that, we have only the Maserati-Chrysler collaboration/abomination that was the TC project from the late 1980s and early 1990s. That's not a car anyone wants to remember, so it will be interesting to see how the duo pairs up this time around, over 20 years later.

[Autoblog.it]