S330K Maserati Grecale Trofeo - the Fastest, Pinkest, Most Potent Barbie Crossover to Date

Of course, the Barbification of the Trident automobile comes at a Barbie-lifestyle price – for the U.S. market, that score is $330,000. However, $33,000 goes to charity as a donation to the Barbie Dream Gap Fund.

The most eye-catching feature of the Barbie-themed Maserati is the color – the bright unmistakable glamorous pink that is famed worldwide. With only three such Grecale examples liveried in the Barbie staple shade and just one in the U.S., it's most likely that the car will draw undivided and unanimous attention wherever it pops up.

The result of a partnership between three solid brands – Maserati, Mattel, and Neiman Marcus – the bespoke hybrid vehicles are imbued with the artistic touches of their creators. True to Barbie's "always-in-the-spotlight" aura, the paint shimmers with a rainbow-glaring top coating. Watch the video and see if you can spot it.

The inside of the Barbiecore ride is adorned with intense accents that put the Mattel icon at the heart of this performance car. The toy company's description of the pink SUV's interior is swift and decisive: "High-tech flourishes and rich materials throughout the cabin also get a boost of Barbie colors: The decadent blackrace-inspired leather seats feature custom pink accents and stitching, and "B" badging on the headrests."



To break the pink-and-black arrangement, delicate strings of intense warning-sign yellow hue underline the Maserati Fuoriserie logo, grille, front splitter, side air vents, wheels logos, and rear diffusor. The Neiman Marcus and Barbie logos, discreetly written in a gleaming black tint, complement the car's exterior attire.

As it happens, the U.S.-market Barbie Grecale is the only one to sport the Neiman Marcus branding out of the highly exclusive run. Offered for sale at the price of $330,000, the luxury fashion retailer Maserati will see 10% (non-tax-deductible) of the amount directed to the Girl Empowering fund established by Mattel under Barbie's image. In short, it's the "Barbie brand's ongoing global initiative that partners with charities to help provide equal opportunities and remove barriers for girls."

Unveiled as one of the 2022 Neiman Marcus Fantasy Gifts at a company's event in Los Angeles, the car is – apart from its over-obvious pinkness (the photo gallery is worth countless words) – just like any other, more discrete Grecales. While Italians are very open-minded regarding fashion – and so the pink idea suited them perfectly – they are also very proud. And when it comes to automotive – especially supercars – they hold their core values at very high stakes.

So, to put the House of the Trident power in Barbie's hands requires a unique tool – the Maserati Grecale Trofeo. To reach her ambitious goals, Barbie rides tall and proud - on 523 twin-turbocharged horsepowers (530 PS) of the fiery Nettuno V6. (Nettuno is Italian for Neptune, the trident-yielding Roman god of the seas).

The ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox tames the three-liter raw Italian might and delivers it to all four wheels for the best Barbie performance (Offroad, Comfort, GT, Sport, and Corsa – that's Race in Italian). With the 457 lb-ft (620 Nm) of torque under her right bright pink shoe, Barbie can hit 62 mph (100kph) in 3.8 seconds from a standstill. And, if she is really in a hurry, the special Grecale will max out at 177 mph (285 kph).

At the end of this story, please note that there is slight inadvertence in the three brands' communication relay. The Italian carmaker announced that only two cars will be available to the general public (the already-launched Neiman Marcus edition and a second one, which will be announced in 2023). At the same time, both Mattel and the luxury fashion retailer mention a three-unit production run of the Barbie-themed Grecales.

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