Maserati Merak

Styled by Italdesign’s Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Merak’s low, angular silhouette copies the Bora’s door skins and roofline yet stretches an extra 170 mm to house a 2+2 cabin. Fixed glass rear quarter panels open the interior to light, while the rear seats fold to enlarge the modest luggage bay. With its 4343 mm overall length and 1784 mm width, the car sits just 1149 mm high on a 100 mm shorter wheelbase than the Bora.

Maserati dropped its new 3.0-litre, all-alloy, twin-cam 90° V6 behind the driver. Smaller than the Bora’s V8 by two liters and two cylinders, it allowed engineers to shift the bulkhead forward, creating the rear-seat niche. Gearbox-mounted limited-slip differentials and fully independent double-wishbone suspension remained unchanged from the donor supercar, ensuring similar handling characteristics at a lower cost of entry.

Launched in 1972, the original Merak offered 190 PS from three Weber carburetors. A Merak SS introduced in 1975 boosted output to 220 PS and added split-rim wheels plus lighter bodywork. Final 1981–1983 Merak 2000 GTs targeted the Italian market with a 2.0-liter tax-break engine of 160 PS, maintaining the 2+2 layout throughout the eleven-year production run.

By the time production ceased in 1983, roughly 1,700 Meraks had undersold fewer than 600 Boras, cementing the model as Maserati’s first mid-engine commercial success. The configuration of a mid-V6 and practical 2+2 seating foreshadowed later exotic grand tourers and directly influenced the engineering trajectory leading to the MC12 three decades later.