1979 Maserati Merak SS

Description

Cauley Ferrari is proud to offer you this stylish 1979 Maserati Merak SS that is equipped with its original 3.0-liter V6 and 5-speed manual transaxle. Finished in correct Rosso Maserati over a black interior, this is one of just 312 Merak SS believed to be produced for the US market.

The Maserati Merak was introduced at the 1972 Paris Auto Show, over a year after the Bora. The Merak and the Bora share the front part of body shell up to the doors. Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign was commissioned to transform the Bora into the Merak. Unlike its bigger sister the Merak doesn't have a fully glassed fastback, but rather a cabin ending abruptly with a vertical rear window and a flat, horizontal engine bonnet pierced by four series of ventilation slats. Giugiaro completed the vehicle's silhouette by adding open flying buttresses, visually extending the roof line to the tail. The main competitors of the Merak were the similarly Italian, mid-engined, 3-litre and 2+2 Dino 308 GT4 and Lamborghini Urraco P250. However unlike its transverse V8-engined rivals the Merak used a more compact V6, that could therefore be mounted longitudinally.
 

The lightened and more powerful Merak SS was introduced at the 41st Geneva Motor Show in March 1975, although it did not enter production until the next year. It featured a 50 kg weight reduction and a 30 PS power increase to 220 PS (162 kW; 217 hp), thanks to the adoption of three larger 44 DCNF 44 carburetors and a higher 9:1 compression ratio. The SS was recognizable from a black grille between the pop-up headlights. A Maserati-designed upper fascia with round instruments and a four-spoke steering wheel replaced the previous SM-derived interior furniture. Later cars were bestowed with the full driver-oriented dashboard and three-spoke padded steering wheel of the Maserati Bora. 1000 units of the SS had been made by 1983, when all Merak production ceased.