Maserati Merak: The Success Of A Troubled Car And Company

This Car Marked The Instrumental Transition of Maserati

Some of the cars we preview from the years gone by making the journey so fascinating that you can’t help but imagine the feeling these cars bestowed on their owners. Unlike in modern-day, these cars lived at a time when even the mere ownership of a car by a homestead was a commendable achievement.

The Maserati Merak distinguished itself and remains to be celebrated for the achievements of back in the days. The Maserati Merak is a mid-engined mid-range car that the automaker created to compete with the likes of Porsche 911 and the Lamborghini Urraco, Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, Porsche 911S, De Tomaso Pantera as well as BMW 3.0CSi.

The Merak bore a 3.0-liter V6 that powered the rear wheels. It was given a five-speed manual gearbox.

It dates back to 1972 when the badly struggling automaker fell in the hands of Citroën corporate umbrella. Merak would go on to carry lots of components from the Citroën SM. It was also very close in looks, design and performance to the greatly hailed Maseratis Bora.

The main difference was that the Bora carried a larger mid-mounted 4.7-liter V8. It would be an understatement to say that the Merak had nuggets of greatness.

It really was a successfully amazing outfit and this aspect would show somewhere along its journey. The Merak SS was introduced as the sporting version, it would see a weight reduction of 110 pounds yet its power had increased from 190 to 220.

It would also change from mid-engine to the rear. There was only a five-manual speed transmission supplied by Citroën.