SOLD
1975 Maserati Merak, previously owned by and featured on the album cover of Andy Leek of Dexy Midnight Runners fame.
Our Maserati Merak has undergone a full ‘no expense spared’ restoration from the ground up and is truly stunning, adding this to our list of potential award winners.
An original Right Hand Drive which is quite a rare find, every part of this car has been either rebuilt or replaced to exacting standards. She has been repainted in her original colour of Verde Indy Green and has been re-trimmed in vibrant red leather with matching green stitching, green carpets, black centre console and dash covering.
The engine and gearbox has been fully re-built by our renowned race engine builder Don Warman.
A full project description and storyboard can be found on the Bridge Classic Cars website under projects.
This car is being offered at two thirds of the detailed restoration cost and we have figures to prove this fact.
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 bodyshell up to the doors. The front ends differ, mainly by the use of dual chrome bumpers on the Merak, in place of twin trapezoidal grilles on the Bora, but the similarities end at the B-pillar.
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 roofline 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.
Having been designed during the Citroën ownership of Maserati (1968–1975) certain Citroën hydropneumatic systems were used in the Merak and early Merak SS. In these cars the braking system was hydraulically assisted and operated, and the pop-up headlights hydraulically actuated. The clutches on these cars used the same hydropneumatic system as the brakes, but only some cars included servo assistance on the clutch.
Bridge Classic Cars are award winning Classic Car Restoration and Maintenance specialists. Your pride and joy is in safe hands with our expert Classic Car Technicians. Take a look at our awards here.
