NIce looking, yep, great sounding, yep, evocative , yep, great engineering.........?? Not so sure. Of all the latin exotics, maserratis are the worst for build and reliability by a long shot. OK, it certainly looks better build than the old biturbos (they were a mare!) , but I'm not sure they are up there yet.
Better engineering for 30k, well yep the 2 you mentioned, but how bout a 996, (I looked at a mint w plate carrera 2 for only 32k at a dealer with 21k miles), or a near new Boxster s.
I agree it looks like lot for the money, but I think running costs would be horrific on one!!