KEY POINTS:
Around 90 per cent of snake bites in Australia are to the lower leg, 8 per cent to the lower arm and 2 per cent to the torso.
If you are bitten by the highly poisonous and aggressive eastern brown snake you have a maximum of eight hours before things get dodgy. A localised pressure pad is recommended.
Around 40 people have died from snake bites in Australia in the past 25 years. The eastern brown snake is responsible for around 50 per cent of deaths. The tiger snake, taipan and death adder pretty much split the balance.
This has nothing to do with the launch of the new Maserati Quattroporte (four-door) automatic saloon on roads northwest of Sydney the other day.
Just that a well-thumbed guide to Australia's poisonous snakes was lying around at a comfort stop on the 450km journey from Sydney to the Hunter Valley and back. You pass the Australian Reptile Park going and coming, too.
The only thing Maserati has in common with snakes is the carmaker's trident badge, the traditional symbol of Bologna, the Italian city where the cars were made in 1914.
A trident in the form of a garden pitchfork, or a sturdy rake is said to be an effective first line of defence against a grumpy eastern brown.
Now, Maseratis are made in Modena, near the Ferrari production line. Maserati moved there in 1940. French carmaker Citroen bought a controlling interest in 1968.
Five years later Maserati went into liquidation but was rescued by the Italian Government. Former Maserati race driver Alejandro De Tomaso got the company off the ground again and in 1976 launched the Kyalami and its variants.
Output thereafter picked up significantly and led to the appearance in the 1980s of the Biturbo, of which 30 different versions appeared, in coupe, four-door saloon and spider forms.
The turnaround for Maserati came in 1993, when the company's entire share capital was acquired by Fiat Auto. Four years later Fiat sold Maserati to Ferrari. A couple of years ago Fiat bought back Maserati.
The ownership changes have perhaps muddied the product waters. Says Edward Butler, general manager of Maserati in New Zealand: "You could ask 100 people in the street and they will all have heard of Maserati. But only 2 per cent of them would know what products we make."
The 2006 Quattroporte has been available with a DuoSelect gearbox, a sequential manual transaxle derived from the self-shifting gearboxes used in Formula One.
The carmaker says it went with the six-speed sequential set-up with gearshift or paddleshift because there was no automatic gearbox that could cope with the 7000rpm limit of the car's 4.2-litre engine, which is based on the V8 unit in the Ferrari 430.
It says that dropping the rev-limit to suit an automatic box was a sacrifice of driving excitement that its engineers were not prepared to make.
Now it has re-engineered the car to mate a six-speed automatic gearbox to the V8 engine up front. The car's centre of gravity is slightly higher in the automatic but Maserati is satisfied with the 49:51 front/rear weight split. The DuoSelect has a 47:53 split.
The 4.2-litre V8 produces 295kW (400bhp) at 7000rpm to the rear wheels in both sequential and automatic models.
But the auto produces marginally more useable torque: 460Nm at 4250rpm against 451Nm at 4500rpm.
Maserati is aiming the six-model Quattroporte range at the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7-Series. Prices start at $258,500 up to $287,500.
The Quattroporte is an appealing executive. Ride and handling on its active suspension system is predictable, if a little soft on the edges, and the engine is a gem. Inside, the blend of wood and leather is as comforting as the feeling of spaciousness.
Butler expects to sell about 180 Maserati models in Australia and New Zealand this year and 250 in 2008. He says the automatic option will boost sales.
Research shows that Quattroporte buyers "want the power but they don't want the paddles - that's why they want the automatic," says Butler.
It also shows that exclusivity is a significant part of the Maserati appeal. "Eighty per cent of buyers say that's what appeals to them most about the brand," says Butler. "They aren't driving a car that shares its badge with a van or four-wheel-drive. Maserati doesn't make the same car twice."
