1974 Maserati Merak

Details

The Maserati Merak (model AM122) was introduced at the 1972 Paris Motor Show. The Merak followed in the footsteps of its ‘big brother’ the Bora and was one of the seventies junior supercars, much like Lamborghini’s Urraco and Ferrari’s 308 GT/4, that was going to tackle Porsche head one and be sold in significant quantities to underpin the cash flow of the company during the oil crisis.

Like the Bora, the Merak was designed by Ital Design’s Giorgetto Giugiaro and its ancestry is obvious though there are many subtle but significant differences in the Merak’s design. The Merak was a 2+2 though its rear seats were best described as ‘occasional’ or for golf clubs only! Its Italian competitors all ran V8 engines, however, Maserati opted to use a transversely mounted 2965cc V6 engine that had its roots in the Citroen SM. Given the company was owned by Citroen at the time it is not surprising that a number of Citroen components were used, including the engine as well as Citroen’s hydraulic systems and much of the interior. Interestingly when Alejandro De Tomaso acquired Maserati the car underwent a ‘make over’ of its interior which was well received at the time. In addition to the ‘standard’ Merak, Maserati bought out the Merak SS in 1976 which was lighter and had a more powerful engine and also the Merak 2000 in 1977 specifically for the Italian market which imposed a heavy tax on cars with engines greater than 2000cc capacity.

The formula made good sense and Maserati enjoyed much success with its Merak and 1,820 examples were built in a twelve year period from 1972 to 1983.

We are delighted to offer this Australian delivered, factory right hand drive, matching numbers example as confirmed by Maserati Classiche. This car was sold new into Melbourne, Australia and its production date was 30^th April 1974 making it quite an early car.

These junior super cars are really good news at the minute and the Maserati Merak has to be good value compared to equivalent Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches.