1973 Maserati Merak
Conceived as a more accessible companion to the V8-powered Bora, the Maserati Merak debuted in 1972 with Giorgetto Giugiaro’s striking design featuring distinctive rear flying buttresses that preserved rearward visibility and allowed for small “+2” rear seats.
The body shared much of the Bora’s steel monocoque structure, though it substituted a conventional steel roof panel for the Bora’s removable stainless roof section to reduce costs.
Under the rear glass sat a 2,965 cc DOHC V6 (derived from Maserati’s V8 architecture and closely related to the engine used in the Citroën SM) producing approximately 190 horsepower DIN and capable of around 150 mph.
Citroën’s ownership of Maserati at the time meant the early Merak inherited the SM’s five-speed transaxle, high-pressure hydraulic braking system, and (on early cars) Citroën-style instrumentation and hydraulically operated pop-up headlights.
A 220 horsepower Merak SS arrived for 1975, and a tax-friendly 2.0-liter (1,999 cc) Italian-market version followed in 1976. Production ended in 1983 after approximately 1,830 examples were built across all variants.
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