For many of you, I suspect that your introduction to the Maserati Merak came via TopGear, specifically from Series 7, Episode 4, the “£10,000 Supercar Challenge” that saw the trio buy used Italian supercars to put through their challenges before trying to drive to a strip club. Jeremy Clarkson’s vehicle of choice was a Maserati Merak SS that had supposedly received a once-over before he acquired it. If you’ve never seen the challenge, it’s worth a look, but suffice it to say that the Merak does not haunt the parking lot of the Spearmint Rhino in Slough in the end.
I’ve never given the Merak much thought, mainly because the warnings of Maseratis from back in the day being an exercise in self-torment kept me from being interested. A Ferrari or a Lamborghini had panache, even in the dark days of the Seventies. Maserati? They came out with a V6-powered Italian wedge that had been watered down. Prior to, the Bora had been the Maser to know and it showed up in America with a 4.9L V8 that thumped out 320 horsepower and 335 ft/lbs of torque. Not radical numbers, no, but very respectable. The Merak? It was the 217-horsepower version of a V6 that had initially been opted for the Citroën SM, which wouldn’t have been so bad if the performance outputs hadn’t been so dismal. 0-60 in nine seconds? 10-MPG with an engine downsizing? The only way this review could’ve been any worse is if the engine self-destructed!
I first heard of the Merak when one of the magazines did a mass sports car review (5 or 6 cars) and included both the Merak and a new Delorean. I don’t remember any of the cars standing out as a real performer.