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Text and Photos by Francis G. Mandarano or courtesy of the MIE Collection.

Part of the reason Citroen bought Maserati was so they could use their engine designing and building technology to produce an exotic engine for their upscale Citroen SM, of which over 10,000 cars were eventually built. In the early '70s Maserati was mass-producing these V-6 engines, so the management felt it was only reasonable to produce a scaled-down Bora variant called Merak to make use of this new V-6 engine. The design-wise Citroen management again assigned the task to Giorgetto Giugiaro of Ital Design, who produced a strikingly similar car. In fact, from the doors forward, they were the same. The 2.7-liter SM engine was bored out to 3 liters and installed in the Merak, in a north and south position, coupled to a Citroen five-speed transmission.

These cars are light and well-balanced. I would go so far as to say the Merak is the best handling modern Maserati GT car; in fact, I consider the 1977 and later Merak SS cars to be one of the great, all time, every day Maserati drivers. The Italianized "SS" is sans-Citroen hydraulics and equipped with the Bora-style dash. It has all the latest horsepower and cosmetic modifications and is really a first-rate driver. Again, three different variants were produced: first series: Citroen hydraulics, Citroen-style dash; second series: European version with the squared off dash; third series: Bora-style dash and no Citroen hydraulics.

When inspecting a Merak for possible purchase, be sure to check the camshaft chains. The factory recommends these be changed every 35-40,000 miles. In alot of cases where the upper chains have been changed, the more difficult lower one has not, and therefore has become very sloppy. A loose lower chain is a bargaining point. The bad rap on the Merak engine is largely undeserved. The key to engine life is setting them up properly the first time, and then maintaining them on a regular basis.

1980 Merak SS Donnie Shearer Newbury Park, California