The Viale Ciro Menotti plant in Modena is no ordinary factory. For almost nine decades, it has been the quiet stage where Maserati has dreamt up and built its most daring creations. Recently, behind its tall iron gates, one of those dreams passed from the hands of its makers to those of a man who has made a life of collecting them.
Jacques Sicotte, a nuclear engineer turned entrepreneur who lives in the south of France, has spent years curating a remarkable fleet of cars. More than sixty classics already sit in his private garages, among them the legendary MC12. For Sicotte, the latest addition was inevitable: the MCXtrema, a limited-run track machine, successor in spirit to the MC12 and one of only 62 ever to be made.
The delivery ceremony unfolded in a way that seemed as carefully choreographed as the car’s own lines. In the heart of Modena, Sicotte stood face to face with the machine that had consumed months of work from Maserati’s designers and engineers. Its bodywork gleamed in a matte blue and pearl white finish, a vast trident sprawled across the bonnet. On its doors, Sicotte’s lucky number, 77, gave a discreet nod to the personal touches that marked the car as his own.
Inside, deep blue panels wrapped around the stripped-back cabin. Options were chosen not for comfort but for precision: a passenger seat kit, rear-view camera and telemetry system. More than a car, it was something between a sculpture and a weapon.
For Sicotte, part of the thrill came not only from the machine but from the man who handed him the keys. Andrea Bertolini, Maserati’s chief test driver, had guided the MCXtrema from drawing board to track shakedown. He is also a four-time world champion in the GT classes, and one of the few drivers who knows what it means to coax the limits of a Maserati on the edge of speed.
The MCXtrema is not intended for the road. It is a track-only creation, an uncompromising machine with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 that produces 740 horsepower. Maserati engineers spent hundreds of hours in simulators, refining not just power but aerodynamics, shaping the car to perform across a range of circuits. It is the most aggressive Maserati built to date, a car designed to stretch the brand’s identity as much as its owners’ courage.
Still, owning one comes with more than just the machine itself. Each MCXtrema is tied to a small circle of buyers who are drawn deeper into Maserati’s racing world. The marque calls it the MCXperience, a programme that offers private track days, technical support and a bespoke racing kit developed with Sparco. The intention is to blur the line between customer and driver, between possession and participation.
For Sicotte, the Modena handover was not simply the arrival of another rare machine in his collection. It was a return to a particular kind of theatre that only certain cars can stage: the intersection of history, design and speed. The MC12 once gave him that feeling. Now, the MCXtrema has promised to do the same, only with sharper claws.
