Despite being a rare car, with around 1,800 examples ever made, the Maserati Merak pops up surprisingly often on the web, proving that there are still a lot of them being looked after and driven, even if it’s known that you need a lot of the former to even enjoy a bit of the latter…
The engineering behind the Merak was not shabby, though, and if you have the wallet and patience, you can still run a fully original one today, like the man in the video below, Bruce Wagner.
He owns a rare 1980 Merak SS, which gets more power and badging than the basic model, by using larger carburetors (of which it has three for the 3-liter V6) and a different cam. The sound it makes is glorious, and the way it looks compliments that perfectly.
Even the tires are fully original, and the exact compound that the car was designed to run on originally – they are stickier than average and offer good handling (according to the owner).
It’s a real peach of a classic that definitely deserves to be kept on the road, as the industry whisks us further and further away from the romantic early image of the automobile. Admire its shape and engine rumble in the Hagerty video posted below.
By Andrei Nedelea
VIDEO