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It’s brutally fast and highly beautiful. It’s black and red. It’s a masterpiece from Modena. And we got an opportunity to drive it in and around its home-town in Italy!

“'Stradale' in Italian means road in English,” said Andrea, the Italian race driver who would be accompanying me for the rest of the day. I figured out that 'MC' stood for Maserati Corsa and, thus interpreted, the name of the strikingly beautiful Maserati MC Stradale would mean a race car, but one made and set up for the roads. Basically hailing from the GranTurismo family, the MC Stradale stands at the top in the Maserati line-up when it comes to outright performance – a fact that was enough to make me believe that a day behind the wheel of this machine would be nothing short of an exhilarating experience.

Standing outside the Maserati headquarters in Modena stood the MC Stradale, looking stunning in all-round matte-black paint on everything from body to bumpers and roof to wheels. We have to give it to the Italian designers, who manage to come up with styling that just doesn’t fail to make your jaw drop in awe. This car's is no exception. You can actually spend hours admiring the MC Stradale, wondering how magnificent it looks. The muscular flares, mean looking headlights, excessively sporty aero splitter, twin creases and vents on the bonnet and Maserati’s typical, vertically slotted grille make for the most aggressive yet extremely stylish and classy front end.

The car at my disposal even had the Maserati trident emblem painted in red on the roof, which looked out of the world – that is, if you happened to view the car from above. At the rear were triangular tail-lights, a lip spoiler on the boot-lid and a couple of exhaust pipes peeping out from under the bumper through the mesh – all of this making for a rather understated tail. Then there were side skirts, carbon mirrors and brake callipers painted in red that added aggression to the MC Stradale's stance.

Moving on (or rather in) from such racy exterior, there is more on offer inside the cabin. In a two-seater configuration, this Maserati manages to conjure up a perfect race car feel with its carbon seats that neatly hug your body, a roll-cage (optional) that occupies all the space behind the seats, a fire extinguisher (yes, they have given one in this road car), a four-point harness and a dash clad in carbon and Alcantara trim. After spending a lot of time ogling at the stupendous craftsmanship that went into the making of the MC Stradale, I finally turned the ignition on and brought its 4.7-litre V8 to life.

Getting out of Modena was easy enough with hardly any traffic obstructing either Andrea’s GranCabrio, whom I was following for directions, or my GranTurismo. Before getting to the highway the city roads were negotiated in the 'Auto' mode, which kept things rather comfy on the drive front – this is with reference to the fact that we are talking of a sports car that is generally purpose-designed for sporty use. However, this one is different and that is why Maserati claim its practical usability on a day-to-day basis. The steering feels light and suspension not too stiff while driving at 60 km/h on city roads and streets. The engine’s hum delights the ears, but it doesn’t entice you much in the 'Auto' mode, when the exhaust note tends to be suppressed to a great extent.