Back in October last year, we got confirmation that Maserati South Africa would indeed be bringing in the range-topping Levante and when it arrived, we got a quick look at the angry SUV before lockdown.

It is called the Levante Trofeo and under the hood sits a beautiful Ferrari-built 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 engine delivering a potent 580 hp (433 kW) and 730 Nm of torque. This grunt will get the SUV to 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds and will run to a top speed of 304 km/h.

“Aside from being one of the most powerful Maserati models ever, the Levante Trofeo’s sporting interior offers all the comfort of a prestigious SUV. It is built to the enduring principles of a Maserati grand touring vehicle,” says Rens Rademeyer, Dealer Principal at Maserati Johannesburg.

The interest has apparently been very good and orders are into double figures already. Once a few prospective clients have driven it, this should convince a few more to place their orders.

We will most certainly be getting a chance behind the wheel of this angry SUV as soon as things “return to normal”. Check out the video below to see a small walk around, start-up and rev of the 433 kW V8.

Pricing was around the R3,5 million mark for a fully spec’d car but with the volatile exchange rate, this is likely to increase a tad.