1979 Maserati Merak SS Coupe

The Orsis family, which were owners of Maserati, sold out to Citroen in 1969. Shortly thereafter, Maserati introduced the V-6 powered Merak in 1971. It shared its platform and Giorgetto Giugiaro's Italdesign styling with the V-8 engined Bora.

In 1976, Alejandro de Tomaso took over Maserati and in 1978 improved the Merak by abandoning the Citroen hydraulically-assisted brake system and adopting the Bora's ZF five-speed transaxle and larger wheel and tire package. Not only did the balance and performance improve, so did the build quality.

This Maserati Merak SS is a matching numbers example finished in red with original checkered cloth interior. The V-6 dual overhead camshaft engine offers 220 horsepower and there is a five-speed synchronized gearbox.

The car was originally delivered to Parma and has remained in Italy ever since. The car was given a restoration in the early 1990s.

In 2012, this car was offered for sale at the Monaco sale presented by RM Auctions. The car was estimated to sell for €25.000-€35.000 and offered without reserve. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of €25.200 inclusive of buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2012